Emery an anti-Brexit chameleon

by .

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!

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Bankz

Bankz is here for the Tr4phy again

Bankz

Another clean sweep is on the horizon

MrT

Hello

Bankz

BOOOOOOM

Bankz

Nice try Mr T….nice try

MrT

😜

Joe

Suarez is on £52.,000 a week.

What did you say this “ epic proportions of a cock up” cost us Pierre 3/4/5 million??

HahaThink you need to rein in your numbers a bit

Pierre
You’ve just been called out on your bullshitting of epic proportions.

Wow.

Stoop to any level to protect your boy wenger wont you Pierre.

Even lie. You are like Trump’s aides.

Joe

He was what, on our books, for maybe 10-12 weeks?

He cost us maybe 700k? Maybe? If insurance didn’t cover most of it

And he wasn’t hurt when he came to us, unlike broken back kallstrom

Apples and oranges comparison Pierre.

Ishola70

” Think what you like about Sarri”

He’s a canute and continually picks his nose during pressers.

CG

An Oscar Award Winning Post!

Sensational from PedRo.***

( you do not get this on The UK s Telegraph online! )

(&IOCTU4it!)

*** and it’s all Free!

Ishola70

Excellent news re chameleons.

So totally not Arsene Wenger.

So all good.

Better than wanting to be Man City lite, Barca lite. Already done that with the barca lite.

Ishola70

Move on.

Don’t be eternal slaves to Arsene.

Chitom

DannyS Re Suarez loan from the previous thread , this isn’t even about having a difference of opinions or backing the manager or not anymore. It’s more about sounding sane vs off your rocker while making comments. Was the Suarez loan a mistake? Sure. I looked at his 7 minute you tube best and thought he would be too slow and probably fail in the PL. Does that make me an expert and give reason to gloat? Hardly. Keeping things in perspective is key here. I suppose some posters stopped worrying, or perhaps never have bothered about making themselves look… Read more »

Marko

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.

Who’s this?

Dissenter

I think Emery meant to just depict nimbleness and flexibility, instead it came across as chameleons.
Lost in transcription I believe

Gbat

I like Emery and think he’s a good manager. But for him to take us up a level we need to have an excellent transfer window. I’m hoping for a lot of ins and outs.

Ishola70

“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.”

Ah sweet those words.

Deep cleanse required to wash away all stains of Arsene Wenger.

And our Unai is getting down on his knees hard brush in hand scrubbing that front door step.

Marc

“‘But we were close’ is Gazidis talk (Milan finished 5th lolololol).”

I think this comment shows just how far you’ve fallen from the true way Pedro. What Gazidis needs is a £50 million Xhaka and a £40 Million Mustafi and we can help it happen. It’ll be hard to take the money I mean see those two amazing players leave us but I’m willing to do it to help Ivan out.

Such a shame that you’ve lost the vision to see what needs to be done!

Marko

Also the anti brexit stuff you’re playing perfectly well to your base around here. Pretty soon Emery will have the hordes filling the Emirates stadium. No wonder you get people on here debating whether or not our decline coincides with the amount of muslim players we have at Arsenal now.

Dissenter

Klopp has that loser vibe about him, that’s what’s worrying about the CL final.

Best week will be that we win and Liverpool trash Spuds 4-0 in the most lop-seed final ever.

Dissenter

*Lop-sided final

Marc

Marko

I took the anti BREXIT comments as sarcasm.

Marko

Like Ishola I too didn’t in the slightest find anything offensive or wrong with regards to the chameleon comment. For years under Wenger we only knew how to play one way we became predictable and it’s why we got so utterly embarrassed in big games. Being unpredictable and capable of change shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing

Dissenter

Pedro
I’m not sure you realize that there tase nationalistic jerks hanging unto every word that you write.
It’s foreseeable that the anti-brexit line will become a potent attack line for the likes of CG and Un na soon.

Marc

Dissenter

So you’ve got Kos leaning and the Scousers lop seeded.

I never thought I’d say this but time to lay off the booze mate!

Ishola70

lol UKIP smashing it.

Bring on the second referendum.

The Lib Dems are all that are left now lol. That deviant named Vincey Cable all that are left standing.

Marko

Maybe Marc but it’s the headline and it’ll grab attention to certain people who spot it on newsnow and Twitter. It could be considered inflammatory. I personally am not surprised. A Basque man who’s liberal? No way really

Dissenter

Marc
I almost missed the joke
I’m a teetotaler, Just like Trump
I will endeavor to get my v’s and i’s right from now on.

Dissenter

Marc
Totally unrelated question
Why is the UK still participating in the EU parliamentary elections, post Brexit?

Joe

The Newcastle purchase adds another team to the mix with money to burn on players.

Hopefully the word gets back to kronke, that CL will probably now be a 7-8 team battle with Everton splashing the cash and Newcastle once the takeover is complete will as well

Joe

Dissenter

Brexit hasn’t happened yet. UK is still part of the EU

CG

Unai Emery

“”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.‘” “”

Grow man!

Both are 30 years of age!

That’s not growth- that’s footballing shrinkage!

where is an Arsenal title winning team potentially coming from?

Where WOAB when we need him?

He must be lawyer!!!!?

Can we sue this Clown?

Marc

Dissenter

“Why is the UK still participating in the EU parliamentary elections, post Brexit?”

That’s a strange one to answer and you’ve got about 300 million people across Europe asking the same question.

The basic answer is our politicians are too fucking useless to get a deal done and the EU is playing games as they don’t want us to leave.

Dissenter

That third place play-off trophy is a disgrace.
Why don’t they just give the winner of the game a giant cheque depicting their potential winnings for premier league qualification.

CG

Dis

Play the Game.

Bundles to dissect with this rare interview.

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

Third team going up get medals n cup

2nd team who got auto promotion

Get fuck all

Stoopid

Dissenter

Joe
The Newcastle purchase just means they will become part of the premier league furniture
They won’t be a yo-yo team anymore and be like Everton; wannabes that are too far behind.
The scale of spending that PSG, City and Chelsea did 10-15 years ago is not possible under this amount of scrutiny.

Ishola70

Unai may be a transition manager for many but if he is the precursor of taking this club away and down a different path away from being Arsene FC then he will be hailed a hero in the future years even when he is long gone.

Danny S

PSG flop…. is this based on not winning the champs league? Or not winning the league in your first season?

Is pep a flop?

Marc

Dissenter

I googled Newcastle season ticket prices earlier. A premium ST (their equivalent to club level) costs about £200 less than mine which is upper tier. That £200 doesn’t include the discount I’ve had the last couple of years for not being in the CL. If we make CL my ticket will be best part of £500 more than a premium at Newcastle.

They’ll never be able to generate the revenue required without some really shady deals.

Marc

Danny S

Tell me how many attempts has Pep had at the CL and not winning it since he left Barca?

Receding Hairline

I loved that interview.. Thanks for sharing by the way TR7

Sarri has a vision of how the game should be played,that is why he lost the league after beating Juve at home and establishing a lead, that’s why every defeat he accuses the team of not playing his football.

I don’t care about a philosophy, Chelsea caught up with us in the premier league stakes by doing whatever it took to win, even if it meant playing ugly.

I am down for some of that

Ishola70

If Labour and the Left marched through those institutions in the 70s, 80s what we are seeing now in politics is the late 2010s version of it.

Labour and the ilk are now the hunted rather than the hunter. They are being walked through.

Danny S

Exactly @marc.

And how much cash money has he spent? Probably 10x that if emery.

Yet emery’s time at PSG was a flop because he won 1 league in 2 attempts and didn’t win the champs league which is apparently easy.

Champagne Charlie

“They won’t be a yo-yo team anymore and be like Everton; wannabes that are too far behind.”

Except you have Leicester making top 4 “inside two years” under Brenda.

Champagne Charlie

Receding

You’re, as usual, conflating having a philosophy with being rigid to one at the detriment of results.

Sarri isn’t the benchmark, Pep is the benchmark as Emery eludes to in that piece:

“Pep has made a mix. He has sacred principles, which are not touched, but these are only 50%. The other 50% is made up of the scenario and the variables”

Champagne Charlie

*alludes to

Receding Hairline

Yea pep is the benchmark.. So is 600m pounds in transfer fee to achieve that dream.

This obsession with building a team that plays like Pep’s is laughable actually. Now we want to be what? Pep lite?

Why isn’t klopp the benchmark? Or Conte or your pal Someone.

Up 4 grabs now

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.

Sarri who probably won’t be at Chelsea for year two you mean.
Also what fruits? Hasn’t he never won a trophy?

Receding Hairline

Simeone not someone ffs

Receding Hairline

Yea that line about expecting to see the fruits, if passing it to hazard is sarri ball then it isn’t going to be seen next year.

That’s basically what Chelsea played since the turn of the year, a football their fans hate with a passion.

Dissenter

CC
Leicester win the league four seasons ago. That guaranteed them opportunities to sign players who would have never considered them pre-2015/2016 season.
They’ve been selling high and re-investing the proceeds into their squad for three season.
I stand by my prediction. They will be on the edges of 6th-8th place this season.

Dissenter

*Leicester won the league

Dissenter

Pep doesn’t go nowhere that won’t let him spend big money
It’s like the manager of Harrods or Tiffany’s boasting abound making money.

englandsbest

Managers drip platitudes like pearls of wisdom. Please don’t lets go down that road with Unai, we had more than enough with Arsene. Football tactics is not rocket science. Any manager worth his salt knows everything there is to be known. Nothing much has changed since Chapman, and what little has changed is down mainly to rule changes and technology. The rule change on passing the ball to GK has had more impact than anything else I can remember. The tactics used is a matter of choice by the manager, that’s all. What counts far more is man-management and personnel.… Read more »

TR7

‘I don’t care about a philosophy, Chelsea caught up with us in the premier league stakes by doing whatever it took to win, even if it meant playing ugly.’ Chelsea in the last 15 years have been buying players who are finished articles , players who have the ability to play in various defensive systems. Even those experienced players found it difficult to switch to flamboyant style of play. In comparison, our squad is always going to be a mix of very young players, seasoned veterans and players with promise but nowhere close to being finished articles. Not sure we… Read more »

Receding Hairline

TR7 that’s what he wants to build You can’t on one hand accuse a coach of not having a philosophy and on the other hand accuse him of having an unrealistic one. People always talk about Pep, like Charles saying Pep is the benchmark, will Pep win the league with this squad? Why does he need to buy the best to make his philosophy work? He has worked in three countries and in every single one he had the best squad. If what Unai wants to build is a flexible team let him,he fails we show him the door. I… Read more »

Gbat

Give me Emery and that City squad over Pep and the Arsenal squad any day.

englandsbest

TR7 We should be talking ‘system’ not ‘tactics’. You mention ‘counter-attacking’ and possession’. Those are systems not tactics. Have you ever heard Pep or Klopp mention ‘tactics’? They are both smart guys, they know that getting your players to believe in you is paramount. And to do that players need a ‘system’, something simple that they can latch onto easily. If Emery tries to employ anything more complicated, he is lost. But I don’t believe he will, he is a smart guy, too. There is a mystique in being a manager, just like any other guild, profession, or specialist group.… Read more »

Valentin

There is a difference between having the philosophy of winning ugly and not having a philosophy at all.

Chelsea has always been about being solid at the back and nicking a goal with a battering ram either Drogba or Costa.
People may not like with that philosophy, but it is a philosophy.

Marc

Pedro

“Dissenter, super weird people with money always want to hire Pep.”

No one’s saying Pep isn’t a great coach but he operates with resources that mean any success he achieves should be a given not a surprise.

When he goes somewhere and does something on a shoestring he’ll pick up a lot of respect for purely relying on his ability not on the size of his pay masters chequebook.

Receding Hairline

Chelsea’s philosophy is winning

Ancelloti played some lovely football with Chelsea

Conte did too until he decided to go negative to bring home the league

Athletico Madrid play horrible football yet they win so it doesn’t matter but even they can turn it on if the opposition allows

Its Pep’s inability to sometimes change things that has been his undoing in Europe. They left themselves too open against Spurs, same with Liverpool the year before. His Bayern team were batters by Barcelona.

No one here knows how we will play on Wednesday, personally I see that as a good thing.

Receding Hairline

Nothing weird about it,if you have money to burn and want to win in style you go for Pep,that’s his thing. He needs very very good players for what he does and they cost money. No one is bashing Pep, we are just choosing not to ignore the money spent to do what he does.

Receding Hairline

Winning is a philosophy so Diego Simeone and Jose Mourinho. All they care about is winning.

What’s Allegri’s philosophy?

Marc

Receding

I also think Pep showed some real hubris against the Spud’s in the away match. He had a strong bench and left some good players sitting there until far too late.

Receding Hairline

What exactly happened to Emery when he had money? He won 7/10 trophies that’s what.

He lost the league to a team that scored 107 league goals, a team that dumped Pep out of the champions league. I don’t even think he actually lost to Monaco that season, they were just too good for the rest of the league. This Emery failed at PSG stuff is overplayed.

Words on a Blog

https://arseblog.com/2019/05/can-arsenals-owners-improve-the-clubs-fortunes-by-investing-their-own-money/

To emulate Emery’s spirit of pragmatism on the football pitch,I attach the above, which covers matters of finance.

What it shows is that there is no automatic barrier in the Financial Fair Play Rules to Stan and Josh putting their hands in their pockets for a bob or two, provided their owner financing is “sustainable”.

Message to Stan:

If we’re getting rid of rigid footballing philosophies, let’s get rid of the rigid adoption of the “self sustaining model”.

Receding Hairline

Marc he has been out coached in the latter stages of the champions league since he left Barca. Although I think he was just plain careless against Spurs.

Marc

Pedro “Marc, do we have to send Tim Cook to Alcatel to prove he knows what he’s doing?” Daft analogy – I’ve always said just because a guy runs a successful fruit and veg stall making a good living doesn’t mean his qualified to run Tesco’s. Certain people are good at operating at a certain level. Fact is being faced with the loss of a £50m star player for a match is a hell of a lot easier to deal with when the decision is which one of the six £50 million players who are usually on the bench will… Read more »

Gbat

Pedro

So you think that Arsenal with Pep would have finished this season higher than City with Emery?

And I’m pretty sure he won the league with PSG. He came 2nd to an excellent Monaco in his 1st season. Who correct me if I’m wrong, beat Pep and City in the Champions league. Did you not rate Monaco?

Marc

Pedro

On another note have you seen the documentary “The Inventor: Out for blood in Silicon Valley”?

It’s well worth a watch.

Marc

Words

What’s the alternative to the self sustaining model?

Receding Hairline

Gbat Emery had 10 possible titles he could have won with PSG, he won 7 of those.

That Monaco team had some of the best players still doing bits in Europe now for different teams and a manager many on here including Pedro still clamour for.

The he lost a one horse race stuff is just nonsense sorry to say, their go to retort whenever they don’t have an argument.

Receding Hairline

If Emery lost a one horse race to Monaco what did Pep do that year in the champions league? Lost a forfeited match?

Nelson

I can imagine that whatever the result is on Wednesday, this site will explode to over 1000 posts. If we lose, half of those posts will be from Mr. CG!

Marc

Nelson

You could be right on the other hand if we lose CG could wank himself to death.

Words on a Blog

I think that the degree to which Emery will play pragmatic and reactive football next season rather than trying to impose a discernible style of play will largely depend on how successfully the summer transfer window will go. If Arsenal do badly (spend little or on the wrong players, and fail to move out some of our dross) and the squad is more or less the same with one two more under-23 players, Emery will continue to play reactive football. If a few “special sauce” players come into central defence, central midfield and wide forward positions, we might begin to… Read more »

Marko

If Pep Guardiola was manager at Arsenal the only way he’d win us the league is with time and investment. A lot of investment.

Receding Hairline

Pedro I don’t need google,have watched both managers. They go ultra defensive when faced with any team that can string two passes together. They let their players express themselves against teams not much of a threat.

They both wanna win whatever way it comes.

Pep wants to win one way and one way alone.

Champagne Charlie

“Winning is a philosophy so Diego Simeone and Jose Mourinho. All they care about is winning.“

Winning isn’t a philosophy, it’s the result.

Both those coaches negate the opposition, that’s their philosophy

Marc

Pedro I don’t think they could go after her too much because there was a trial coming up – would have given her a get out of jail card. I’ve already said Pep’s a great coach I’d just like to see him build something that didn’t involve the debt of a 3rd world country. We spend lot’s of time on here talking about rough diamonds / hidden gems etc etc I can’t think of a single player that City have bought that comes close. Where’s the guy playing in the AC Milan reserves that 6 months later every one says… Read more »

Receding Hairline

I might be mistaken but no one here is comparing Pep to Emery.

Pedro maybe you should also count how many times any team in league one amassed over 90 plus points and scored 107 league goals that is not called PSG. That will bust your one horse race analogy.

Gbat

RH

Monaco’s 95 points has only been bettered once.

I could also say that Emery’s PSG gained more points, scored more and conceded less than Tuchels PSG. And won more trophies.

I think Pep is great. I’d love him at Arsenal. But it’s a lot easier to get your philosophy working when you can sign just about anyone. Make a mistake with a signing. No worries. I’ll buy another.

Receding Hairline

Ligue 1 not league one

Words on a Blog

Marc,

It’s not really a question of an “alternative to the self sustaining model”, but whether the “self sustaining model” prohibits owners from investing in the squad.

The way Pedro and pretty much every poster on here interprets it, Stan can never inject any funds into the club, as that would automatically is in breach of FFP.

It would appear that that narrow interpretation is utter bollocks, as every other owner has injected funds, as the FFP rules are actually quite flexible in terms of allowing them to do precisely that.

Marko

Rafa Guerreiro has a year left on his contract and Dortmund just signed Schulz. Could be a decent signing if 3-4-3 is the way forward

Marc

Words

Every other owner? Really in the last couple of years who in the PL?

Chelsea – no
Spud’s – no
ManU – no
Liverpool – no

You need to remember there are 2 FFP’s sources – the PL has limits on wage increases and UEFA. If you’re out of Europe UEFA rules don’t count.

Redtruth

I’d love to know which average players in the early years Wenger moulded to.play quality football.

Ishola70

So those on here that like Pavard his club Stuttgart are now and Bundesliga 2 side.

Just lost in play-off to Union Berlin.

Leedsgunner

What is the utter point of the Emirates? When it was being built we were promised that we would be able to complete the transfers at the top of the footballfood chain. Yet 10 plus years on we are nowhere near competing for the biggest trophies. Wenger and Gazidas called it absolutely wrong and they are millionaires many times over….

Still scrounging around freebies and bargains due to their incompetence.

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