Unai Emery dropped a very detailed press conference with Elmundo.
He covered many areas and spoke in vivid colour about the league, his troubles, and a little of what he’s trying to do at Arsenal. The hot talking point seems to be his vision of being a chameleon team.
‘It depends. I want us to be a chameleon team, able to play in possession, in static attack against close opponents, or to counterattack. For the first, Özil comes very well, which has the virtue of discovering spaces. For the second, Aubameyang. To the extent that we are able to combine it, we will grow.‘
You can take this one of two ways.
The first way, he’s adopting a Jose Mourinho like approach to the game, nullify the opponent’s strengths and attack from there.
The second way, he could be trying to adopt an NFL like approach where he can be tactically nimble as a game goes on. Pep G has players that are smart enough to switch formations during a game without losing shape or effectiveness.
I think we might be dreaming if we think he’s talking about the second based on what we’ve seen this season. If we’re honest, part of the reason the football is so drab is because he’s a manager more concerned with the other team than building out a distinct style of football of his own. PSG players complained of that, and there were leaks a couple of months ago from Arsenal to that effect.
I think when you read through the interview, you do get the impression that the chip on his shoulder comes from feeling inadequate in the elite of football. He’s constantly having to explain the PSG flop, or why he does things that look small time. This line was interesting.
‘I like to know what others do, how they train and how they relate, and I take what I think of each one, be Guardiola or Mourinho.’
His thirst for knowledge is a compelling asset, but when you’re chasing a vision that mish-mashes the IP of others, you kind of end up with no IP. I think it’s very hard to be the best if you don’t have your own unique vision of how the game should be played. You’re constantly chasing progress by looking at what others are doing. Think what you like about Sarri, but he has a vision of what he wants to do, year 1 is laying the foundations, year two we should expect to see the fruits.
I don’t know what’s coming in year two for Emery.
He’s the ultimate response to Wenger. We’ve gone from a puritanical artist, happy to accept failure if it’s in the name of beauty… to a hardcore pragmatist, who is happy to throw the middle-finger to the doubters if the results stick.
‘I do not promise titles, I promise to compete.’
Except… at Arsenal, it’s not really about the results.
‘At Arsenal, I have the feeling, for the first time, of winning to build, not to survive. I feel the respect towards me even when we lose, but I want that the defeats hurt more, because it is a step to improve competitively. I want the mourning to lose be greater than two hours.’
We’re building a pragmatism machine that didn’t do the job in the league, and the success of the season is weighing on a coin toss on Wednesday.
‘But we were close’ is Gazidis talk (Milan finished 5th lolololol).
When you add this sort of chatter up, with the buzzy, but ultimately non-commital vision set by Raul and Vinai, you start to build a picture of a machine that’s not really geared to make a rapid ascent up the progression curve.
That’s why I’m finding it difficult to understand why any Arsenal fan would accept losing to Chelsea if it meant Spurs lost at the weekend.
Worry about your own house. If Spurs win the Champions League, good for them. We’ve had plenty of chances. If the dice rolls that way, so be it. The reality is, this Europa game is integral to our 5 year plan. We need to bring in elite players this summer, if we have to do it on a budget, it’s Banega on toast, washed down with a glass of BANG AVERAGE. There is no circumstance in which losing the final is acceptable.
So let’s not start acting like cucks. A European trophy is on the line. You should never want your own team to lose… unless it’s like, some sort of technicality in the group stages… or it could see Spurs relegated. Positive losing is the only way I can accept it, and not winning a trophy is never positive losing.
Emery on a budget would add 3 years of misery to our Arsenal lives.
Let’s not go down that path, even if it is just a hypothetical.
x
P.S. Emery anti-Brexit.
‘We already know what nationalism is. Crises give wings. I am Basque, I know what I am talking about, and I am comfortable as Basque and Spanish. When there are problems, people tend to be enrooted, to defend the inside. Personally, I think we have to open borders, not close them, and when you go outside, you have to make an effort to enter into another culture.’
Someone chuck a milkshake at him!
Philosophy is an English word and it’s meaning is quite straightforward.. No room for ambiguity there.
Mourinho is guided by one thought alone to win at all costs hence I still maintain his philosophy is winning. He on the other hand hates any talk of a footballing philosophy, simply calls himself a winner.
You are hung up on something or someone, I’m not. Each case is unique
Receding,
It’s called positioning.
If Arsenal lose the Europa, Emery will be weakened, and this blog will become much more stridently anti- Emery, with a fair dollop of I-told-you-so in the analysis.
If Arsenal win, there will be a hold on that position, and it’ll all depend on how the squad is restructured and what we do next season…..so it’ll be more a case of somewhat gentler Emery-scepticism.
Pedro et al fundamentally don’t rate Emery, they need sexier football and want a saucier Manager.
It is what it is, and you won’t be able to change it.
they need sexier football and want a saucier Manager
Doesn’t explain Arteta though does it. Or Tuchel for that matter. It’s all about philosophy these days all of a sudden to Arsenal fans that’s important
WOAB yea one of his followers has already declared Pep the bench mark.
So it’s either we play like City or we get a manager that imitates them… You know who.
I read that interview today and I really look forward to watching Emery try what he wants to build. I don’t cast envious glances at City nor are they a bench mark for me.
I actually admire what Klopp has built better and to a lesser extent Pochettino work at Spurs. Although his has come as far as it can and he now needs investment
That’s not to say Pochettino hasn’t spent money, he has, 300 odd million of it.
It’s funny but clubs like Barcelona and Madrid their philosophy doesn’t come from the manager it comes from the top down and so in that regards we don’t need Emery to have a philosophy we need the DOF or TD to have one. They of course know this but it still comes down to what’s Emery’s philosophy.
Words.
You must be an attorney…
If you are not- you should be..
Good Ebening.
Read the Post…. I think any reasonable person.. can see That Emery is going to be Emery. I’m not sure flexibility is what I want in my football squad.. I would rather they just dominate playing whatever brand of football. Given that… however…. I want to win the Europa trophy.. .. All the over the top criticism is just that… And frankly tedious. I will say history never remembers the moderates. and I think that is what Emery is. More concerning to me is some sort of weird grooming that CG is trying on Pedro.. watch your back dude. Creepy… Read more »
There’s a vast ocean of difference between league one and the teams fighting for the CL places.
Which is why I don’t get this clamor to get Bielik isn’t the squad
One of the sure bankers that a position is wrong is when there’s a legrove song being sung in unison.
Maybe Bielik can get a loan to. Championship club next season to replicate his division 3 performances.
Words.
“”Emery-scepticism “”
Like it…
Class.. like all of your offerings
As an aside, one thing that emerged from Emery’s interview with El Mundo, was that he was clear that what was distinct about the premier league was its combination of technical prowess and physicality/intensity. Having good technical players was not enough, you needed the players to also be physically competitive or “intense”. I think this feeling is shared across the football side of Arsenal, when you see that Torreira and Sokratis were two players who came in last transfer window That gives us a clue about the type of player who is likely to come in this summer – we… Read more »
Midwest
I too have noticed that CG is really trying to groom Pedro with lots of fatuous praise and sycophantic language.
Pedro is way too smart for that.
Oh shit Words.. CG is grooming you now.. Maybe he is trying to recruit you into his insane clown posse.
Midwest, don’t be jealous.
I too have noticed that CG is really trying to groom Pedro with lots of fatuous praise and sycophantic language.
Pedro is way too smart for that. <<< 🤣🤣🤣
Lol Pedro… you will always be my first blogger … we will always have St. Louis.
Valentine Up till now there’s isn’t a pointer Emery is capable of delivery Pep’s level of success with City given same resourcesGuy is a middling coach, a very good cup manager but shits his pants when it comes to playing in the big leagues.. He gets outsmarted time and time again. I didn’t not see anyone even remotely suggest emery is pep level. Infact I saw multiple posts saying exactly the opposite. What was being argued though that it makes it much easier to enforce a philosophy or style when you have the budget to get the exact players you… Read more »
Words
Like Suarez?
Dissenter,
Yes Charlton is (now was) a League 1 team, but it’s also a club where we have traditionally sent younger and/or fringe players on loan.
I recall that Coquelin broke into the team having played on loan at Charlton.
Don’t thi there’s that much of a clamour. He’s played well on loan, he’s homegrown, so people are suggesting he might be a cheap back-up
You’re so transparent at times Dissenter, really odd way of sniping at certain things.
Mslintat, Arsenal being elite, Emery, Mavropanos etc all get some weird treatment from you. Always desperate to land a ‘what did I say’ moment.
We need some star power in our midfield.. Project youth.. isn’t doing it for me. No offense to young people. Win the Europa and lets get down to some transfer business.. And I will judge this regime in August.
Midwest, you know they are gunning for a football team? I am pals with one of the guys spearheading it.
MidWest,
I’m on full alert against CG’s grooming….as I’ve said before he is the Salvador Dali of this blog, and it’s much too easy to be sucked into his surrealist vortex.
What’s the loosers cup?
Footballers contesting a final with their shoe laces untied?
Shorts too baggy and falling down?
Handles of the trophy loose and falling off?
Yeah Pedro…. they have been for some time.. They are a football crazy city.. Hot bed of youth players.. I actually played on a pro team there for a minute back in the 80’s / Indoor football.. on astroturf.. hahaha
But they deserve something after Kroenke screwed them over with the NFL and a football team would be big for them. And if they could build a stadium on the riverfront near the Arch.. could revitalize the city. So I Hope they get one.
CC You mean I’m consistently consistent? My positions are actually very simple -Mavros was crowned the solution in waiting on the basis of a dead rubber game at OT. I objected because one game is a very small sample. Recently, you don’t read anyone say now that we already okay next season because we have Mavros. People didn’t even reckon with him when future-planning. -Sven Mislintat was billed as some roadmap to success when in fact he was just recycling his old time hits at BVB. That too was an easy call because Pedro himself knows that Michael Zorc is… Read more »
As another aside, Sheikh Khalid of Abu Dhabi (half brother of Sheik Mansour of Man City) looks like he’s about to buy Newcastle from The Fat Pint Quaffer. If he gets it done, he’ll retain The Portly Spaniard, who according to some, has Special Sauce, and according to others is a has-been, but regardless, is loved by the Geordie Faithful Hordes. Will be interesting to see whether this is another Man City in the making. Sheikh Khalid owns and runs a massive conglomerate (plenty of sponsorship opportunities to inject the owner’s funds into the club) so it will be a… Read more »
*People don’t even reckon with him when future-planning
*The nurse sure deserves credit
Words- Hahaha I was just messing with you…I know you got your radar on. I read that article on Kroenke and FFP.. seems like he could buy back any debt/losses we go into .. Under FFP and we would be ok.. as long as we made a profit within the rolling 3 year period. Seems like we could push the boat out if we wanted to on transfers…(Yeah I know) makes the EL thing even more important so that we have incentive for him to invest in players given future CL income. I will be so depressed if we lose… Read more »
Words
I think the sheik is buying Newcastle at the wrong time.
If he had bought it 10 years ago, he could have been able to spend the vast sums required to get them to a top club. At the time, Platini turned a blind eye because PSG were spending vast sums of money.
Now there’s an ultra focus on violations, Newcastle’s revenue is meager and it’s difficult to pad stuff now.
MidWest,
Yeah, if Kroenke was persuaded to, he could push the boat and we’d still be fine under FFP. But (especially if we don’t win and make it tot the Champions League) he’d probably feel reluctant to do so as he’s just shelled out a lot of money and take on debts to buy out Usmanov.
You’re right: alot rides on the Europa final on Wednesday…..not just the outright extra revenues from the Champions League qualification.
If I was a billionaire I would buy an MLS expansion team…. the US is about to explode on Football in the next 10 years. The youth sports momentum has finally caught up with and is competitive with the other sports here. Youth football program is going great guns and we are starting to see youth players.. make it to the top European leagues.. I watched the U-20 world Cup today.. US team has 3 or 4 top teenager prospects playing in Germany now..and at PSG. Pulisic will be the tip of the iceberg. Of course If I was a… Read more »
Dissenter,
You’re right that it would have been better for him to have bought the club 10 years ago. Then FFP was about strict rules, lax implementation.
But now it’s looser rules, stricter implementation. so I think he’ll still make a go of it. Plus he’s more of a genuine businessman than Sheik Mansour.
Maybe not necessarily another Man City, but certainly another candidate to compete for Top 4…
Bielik is actually a test for this regime. Are they going to walk their talk? or are they just spewing corporate trash? The boy is tall and he is as aggressive as should be, plus he is good at long balls. He has been pivotal to a team, and he won promotion with them. His leadership qualities are obvious and he is just aged 21? What else does a player need to do to deserve a chance? Play Chambers against Bielik and Bielik will look like a rottweiler coming attacking a cairn terrier. And if anyone thinks we don’t need… Read more »
Midwest, it all sounded very exciting. Same day I was with him, I by chance sat next to the head of brand for MLS. He was streaming Sunderland on his phone. Sounded like a very fun job.
MidWest,
I’m devastated that you don’t have the financial wherewithal to make Kroenke a horse’s head offer.
Maybe we can set up a comsortium to raise funds to make Stan an offer. I’m pretty certain that CG would advance us a few hundred million to get the gall rolling.
Over to you CG…..
Dissenter
Yea, that’s it….consistent. Not militant toward particular subjects whatsoever.
You love a scrub nurse analogy. What’s your specialty?
Pedro- Yeah MLS is going to be a big boy League in the near future they just have to transition away from being a full on retirement league.. and figure out how to do a single table with relegation instead of a playoff system.. But yeah from a Marketing prospect now would be a great time to get in… Becks is going to be an owner in Miami next season I think. and many of the old-timers who played here will want to invest in other teams. And the MLS is in full on expansion mode. I’m moving down to… Read more »
I have Dissenter down as a Lobbyist. I think he said he was in DC area.. has to be advocating for something.. am I right?
Words
You’re right about the new Newcastle owner
The dude has two PhDs one in economics and the other in war studies..
it’s great for the premier league to re-energize a big club.
I think he’s medicine, doesn’t strike me as a cutter though. You Ben Stiller in ‘Meet the Parents’ Dissenter? 😉
Dissenter,
Yeah, I have to say that, setting aside its finances at present, Newcastle is a really good acquisition candidate for a wealthy and ambitious owner.
Cheap relative to many other clubs.
Huge, passionate,support base.
Historically underperforming.
Experienced, tactically astute manager.
CC
I’m the one that gets called when your folks act out because they didn’t get their patch or when you think they are cuckoo.
Ghostbuster confirmed
It will be hard for Newcastle though
Mike Ashley has them set up as the pound store, barely surviving each season.
They have to clear out the entire team and start buying a new caliber of players.
They will need a marquee signing to start the rebuild
Can we present out secret weapon, the one and truly Mesut Özil to the sheikh.
Sarri may have received criticism in some quarters but I like his management style. I like the fact that he recognised who was his most potent weapon at the start of the season and told him to play in areas where he would inflict most damage to the opposition….this must have been music to Hazard’s ears ..19 goals and 15 assists is confirmation that Sarri got it right. I feel our manager is the polar opposite of Sarri, if Emery had Hazard in his side, there is no way he will or be producing anywhere close to those figures due… Read more »
You’d never know by reading the above that Chelsea only finished above Arsenal in the league by 2 points.
More like 22 points by the tone.
Imagine where we would have finished if there wasn’t so much indecision in our style of play.
What 22 points ahead of Chelsea?
This makes your praise of Sarri redundant then.
Arsenal players were planning to wear and show off t-shirts with Mhiki’s name on them to show their solidarity to the Armenian before kick-off. UEFA have banned this planned show by the players. This is getting silly now . This final shouldn’t be about Mhiki. Mhiki is a proud Armenian who has decided not to travel to Azerbaijan. Other Armenian sportsmen have travelled to Azerbaijan in the past to participate but these sportsmen are lower profile than Mhiki. Mhiki knows full well being the most high profile Armenian sportsman that him going to Azerbaijan would have meant scorn from his… Read more »
Ishola
as far as I’m concerned, the points total is irrelevant ..the point I was making was quite simple , Sarri has belief (rightly or wrongly) in his style of play and Emery appears to not have the courage of his conviction to adhere to his own style of play.
Pierre
We know your point.
Like plenty of others on here you pine for “Wengerball”
lol
The Azeris are reporting that Mhiki will be sold this coming summer and one of the main reasons for that will be because of his refusal to travel to Baku for the final. He is seen to have broken his contract terms and although Arsenal are showing support for Mhiki at this time in the media deep down they are disappointed in him.
They also state that the Arsenal players intention to wear the Mhiki t-shirts was a provocative action and is seen as sabotage.
Pierre
Where did it go wrong?
Why do we find ourselves in this terrible situation?
Never mind, only a major Final tomorrow evening.
Why didn’t you kick Wenger so hard when he was constantly underachieving?
Maybe it was all down to our “style of play”.
Hardcore loser talk from emery. His understanding of global politics is as muddled as his understanding of how to run an elite football club.
We have the Teresa May of football at the helm and just like her his failings will be exposed before being replaced after a short and highly disappointing turn as leader.
Thought I’d add my own brexit analogy on the situation.
it’s kinda funny when some posters said “it’s just 2 points”.
it’s just 2 points but we couldn’t catch them. you lot sound like BBC that is using different qualification to big up Liverpool.
Liverpool fucked up in the league, end of. there is nothing like best runner up.
we also messed up the champions league spot. nothing like it’s just 2 points.
clatching at the straw at its best,
Graham “Why do we find ourselves in this terrible situation?” Your words not mine …..I happen to think we have a decent team, a team that is used to playing in major finals , a team that is used to winning major trophies as is our manager…..I think it will be a close game with very few goals and could go to pens. I’m really looking forward to the game as I always look forward to our cup finals. This will be the first time you have wanted Arsenal to win a final in the last 5 years and you… Read more »
There is no clutching at straws.
This wasn’t about CL qualification.
This was about Pierre bigging up Sarri.
Who has failed to deliver and improve the respective teams the most Sarri or Emery?
This question is asked with the knowledge that Chelsea won an EPL title a few years back and still have players at the club who achieved that coupled with one of the most valuable offensive players in Hazard. Arsenal in contrast as we know haven’t won any EPL title now going on for two decades.
Mhiki out, Ziyech in would be a nice move for Arsenal this summer.
@Sid, A few weeks ago before a home game warm up (I think it was Crystal Palace), some people in stadium were telling that something big happened with Steve Bould. Then the warm up started and initially he was nowhere to be seen. During that game, I spotted that we had switched from zonal marking to man marking at corners. After the game, I asked Pedro if he had heard anything about Steve Bould. Except some twitters message about it, nothing was in the newspapers. A few weeks later, reports started to emerge in newspaper that Steve Bould was being… Read more »
Ishola
I too believed that Mykhi missed the final is because he is boycotting the event.
That said, it’s difficult for Arsenal to fire him since we tagged along on the bash-Azerbaijan wagon.
Dissenter “That said, it’s difficult for Arsenal to fire him since we tagged along on the bash-Azerbaijan wagon.” Well the club can say that he was sold because of him not really being of a high enough importance to the team which would be true. And everyone knows for the wage he is pulling in he isn’t pulling his weight like anywhere close that he should be. People go on about Ozil in this instance but Mhiki is a problem in this regard as well. And if Arsenal deep down are disappointed in Mhiki and him “boycotting” Baku then of… Read more »
I don’t think that Mhikitarian is boycotting the final for political reason. I believe that he is genuinely scared for his life. All you need a motivated angry Armenian hater with access to heavy weapons. And in that part of the world there is no shortage of that. He could make a much bigger impact by simply turning up with a political message on his tee-shirt during the training session open to the media. UEFA has a rule for in game political message, but does not for training session. I also think that Arsenal was already trying to get him… Read more »
The G Thanks for the Bould linq. Surely if Bould goes- he needs to be replaced by another defensive coach.? (Freddie is patently not that.) I also hope Freddie L goes nowhere near The Chameleon and his Clipboards. He has a good chance to be our next manager. But he will be seen to be tarnished goods -if he ‘steps up ‘ into the first team coaching set up. (You cant be seen sitting next to Emery and his uglies on the first team bench – when we are taking 3 nil pummelings…..) My advice to Fred L Stay Put.… Read more »
Valentin
“He could make a much bigger impact by simply turning up with a political message on his tee-shirt during the training session open to the media”
And what would that political message be? “Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenian?”
Azerbaijan were willing to let Mhiki travel there and participate in the match. That he is not there is a Mhiki decision.
@Pedro, when you’re chasing a vision that mish-mashes the IP of others, you kind of end up with no IP. I think it’s very hard to be the best if you don’t have your own unique vision of how the game should be played. I think that you hit the nail on its head. He is so focus on nullifying the opposition that Cup games and games against top opposition is where he excel. That underdog mentality fits him like a glove. However games where Arsenal is the top dog, he does not know how to fix it, because the… Read more »
Valentin The Azbekhs gave all the guarantees required short of having their dictator call Mykhi to grovel this feet. Mykhi valued his nationalistic desire to boycott the event, that’s what this is all about. I think he let Arsenal down. It was not in the national interest of Azerbaijan to let anything happen to Mykhi in their capital city. They too have a lot riding in the game. Mykhi would have been as safe he is on the streets of Dortmund or London. I guess Jesse Owens should have stayed home as well in 1936. Instead he used the powerful… Read more »
@Ishola, Read the interview given by the Azerbaijan ambassador in London. To me that sounded more like a veiled threat than security reassurance. Plus as far as I know, Mhikitarian has never made big public statement about that region. He could have said that I am not going because inflammatory reason. He did not. Arsenal British fans with Armenian sounded name have been refused visa. Some are not even Armenian nor do they have Armenian heritage. Azerbaijan is in the wrong and they know it. They are just trying to intimidate everybody who could rain on their parade and remind… Read more »
@Dissenter,
People from Azerbaijan are Azeri not Azbehk. Uzbehkistan is an all different country.
You should not use Dortmund as an example for security against a single nutter with weapon, after their bus attack the eve of da Champion’s league game.
Again I don’t think that Mhikitarian or Arsenal were worried by official military personnel. The president has made it clear that there would be drastic consequence if anybody disobeyed his orders. However there are enough local militia men who want to make a name for themselves. All you need is a single motivated angry Armenian hater with an AK-47.
Azerbaijan may not have wanted normal joe public Armenians to travel into their country. Armenian fans. That could indeed have caused real security problems.
But they gave the go ahead for Mhiki to play in Baku.
Would the Armenians let into their country normal Azerbaijan citizens just fans if the final was being held in Yerevan?
lol how many British Arsenal fans have Armenian sounding surnames?
You sound like the Armenian propaganda minister Valentin.
I was born in England and have no Armenian parentage or ancestry but guess what?
My surname sounds very Armenian like.
Come on now.
Ishola
“This was about Pierre bigging up Sarri.”
Not bigging him up , just said I like his management style and admire that he is sticking to his footballing principles.
I also like the management style of pep, klopp, poch , Brendan Rodgers ,Eddie Howe and Daniel Farke of norwich….just my preference….managers who all stick to the footballing principles that I find preferable to watch..
Not so keen on managers like Mourinho, Allerdyce, Pullis, Hughes ,Houghton ..again ,just my preference.
Emery is somewhere In between .
I am French with absolutely no link to that region of the world. A friend of mine has a Armenian sounding surname, because maybe more than 5 generations ago his Armenian ancestor came to England. I also know a woman whose first name is Rafi, she is of Nigerian origin. However Rafi is a very Armenian first name and it was in the newspaper that applicant with Armenian first name were refused VISA. When confronted about that by journalists, the Azerbaijan ambassador double down and argued that they could not take the risk of Armenian infiltrating their country under the… Read more »
There is a New Post mates.
Sounds a little contrived to me.
You didn’t answer the question in regards to this situation if it was reversed.
Yerevan holding the final. Would they react any differently to the Azeris in relation to letting them into Armenia?
@Ishola,
The Armenians said they would, but they would say that anyway. It is anybody guess if it is true or not.
Even if they did not, that would still not validate that kind of attitude by Azerbaijan.
I fancy Arsenal to win the Europa Final , not because the team is better than Chelsea – it is not – but because Emery has a habit of winning the trophy.
If so, whatever we may blame him for, we must give him credit for that.
Valentin
For whatever reason, Uzbek was ringing in my brain.. I should have been writing Azeri.
Thanks for the correction.