Unai Emery is like one of those rich billionaire folk that falls off a boat in a hooker accident. The family are waiting for the major payouts only to find out the whole wealth game is a fucking charade.
Arsenal sit 19th in the league for pressing, almost twice as ineffective as the leaders (Leicester I think).
Data via @UtdArena
Data:
- 8.30 – Manchester United (3rd)
- 8.38 – Liverpool (4th)
- 8.72 – Manchester City (5th)
- 10.20 – Tottenham (9th)
- 10.39 – Chelsea (10th)
- 14.71 – Arsenal (19th)
That is some stat. But what does it mean? It’s hard to know, because really, what does Emery mean in general? Who is he? What does he stand for?
Some rumours are doing the rounds that the players say he doesn’t coach the press in training. Why would you take that approach in the Premier League? I thought he was a drill sergeant?
Could be worse though, he could be asking the players to press, but they’re not listening.
Whatever the deal, we’re absolutely awful without the ball moving forward and when we defend. Our transitions from deep, which you’d imagine he is coaching, are horrible, the players don’t know where to stand to create passing channels.
Sky Sports also ran a horrific set of numbers.
That is since Emery took over. Rumours are that the internal numbers the club has are even more depressing.
Fans went from, ‘give him time, it’ll come round’, to, ‘FUCK PULL THE RIPCORD WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE.’
Truth is, we’re somewhere in the middle. We might not die, but it’s looking increasingly likely we’re going to sprain an ankle out here if he doesn’t stop the rot soon.
Thing is, none of this is new. It’s been happening since our 22 game unbeaten run when we ignored our eyes because, you know, victories do that to a man/woman/child. I think it’s fair to say that we all wanted to believe as well. We used to do it under Wenger, we’d win ugly 9 times in a row and convince us that the shitty underlying performances were ‘exactly what we’ve been missing’, then the correction would land.
There is a familiar tipping point for nearly all Arsenal fans: Xhaka.
As Aash said on the podcast, the saddest indictment of the weekend was listening to OUR CAPTAIN tell the press that Arsenal were scared. That is an abomination. You can’t read that in a postive light. There are serious issues on the pitch, but even bigger ones off it if that’s an acceptable line to roll out to 100m people. Unai Emery told us last season he wouldn’t let players behave like cowards… a year on, it’s looking like that’s par the course when the going gets tough.
Auba was caught leaving a club at 3am looking very dazed.
I don’t blame him.
His goals should have us top of the league. If our pragmatic manager was good enough to, you know, park a bus properly, we could feed off his elite finishing all the way to fourth. But things are so bad, we can’t even stop the flow of shots with 3 holding midfielders in the team.
I repeat: We can’t park a bus.
The odds on Emery leaving before Christmas are increasing. I was told it was unlikely, but I can’t see Arsenal sitting on their hands if things don’t improve drastically.
It’s interesting to strategise what the club does. I think Freddie would be tempting based on what Chelsea have done, but please, look at what Chelsea have done. I don’t think you can let Freddie pick up December misery. That’d be like throwing on a kid to chase a game in which you are being beasted. Lots of fans talking about Jose, I’ve flirted, but I have my sensible hat back on and it’d be a disaster. He’s toxic, he’d make it all about him, and I don’t think players care for him anymore. He’s mean and he’s been a disgrace to Arsenal over the years. I think the smarted move would be Allegri. An elite Sam Allardyce. Strengthen the defensive structure of the team and create a system that can feed our finishers. The saucy Italian is out of a job, it’d make a lot of sense. Let me know what you’d do should the best worst happen.
We have Frankfurt away from home on Thursday. The season isn’t over. We can use that competition to inject a bit of form into the legs. Well, not with the first team, that should be a reserves exhibition. Still, any victory would be an exciting one for me at the moment.
A performance is needed, I’ll talk more about what that looks like tomorrow.
See you in the comments. x
DM
Bankz is here for the tr4phy again
DM again?+
Tr4phy
its mine today
Tr4phy
Sorry Bankz
Fuck off DM
And sorry Peter
Yes, park the bus …clean sheets… For the next couple of games it’s all about regaining our confidence. The only way to do that is positive results. Arsene Wenger said “You go up by the stairs and come down by the lift, that is confidence ” and that is exactly what has happened to Arsenal. The confidence in the team is rock bottom after the Watford performance , we have taken the lift / elevator down to the basement. A 0-0 v Eintracht and a scrappy 1-0 win v villa will get us back up to the ground floor, but… Read more »
Pedro Personally I am not usually a fan of statistical analysis, but on this occasion what you publish does not surprise me and is an accurate reflection what goes on when we play. We have conceded 3 penalties in games against Liverpool, Spurs and Watford all of which were avoidable. At least 2 other goals were conceded by schoolboy errors either by Leno or Sokratis from short goal kicks. Two of the remaining goals were also a result of defensive errors rather opponents brilliance. The only surprise for me is that we have lost only one game sofar this season… Read more »
Stroller “It is blindingly obvious to me that Arsenal’s vulnerability in defence is down the flanks ” Taking that into account, wouldn’t it have been wise to give the full backs some protection instead of playing a diamond in midfield away to liverpool and Watford that offers absolutely no protection to AMN or kolasinac. In my opinion, it will make little or no difference who plays at full back if we continue to allow a 2v1 overload as it is virtually impossible to defend… Liverpool exposed us and the bottom club Watford exposed us ,Watford’s tactics in the 2nd half… Read more »
“like one of those rich billionaire folk that falls off a boat in a hooker accident.”
Just like Leo Dicaprio.
Except that he don’t fall, he stay on his yacht. With hookers.
“Auba was caught leaving a club at 3am looking very dazed.”
Yes, but that would be even better if he could have the balls to TALK TO THE MANAGER ==> get your fingers out of your arse, or I’m on my way out.
Any odds on Auba pulling a Van Persie?
After all he is in his prime and is not ignorant of the shitshow that is the managers or players around him.
Saving grace is we have Edu and Raul, and I seriously hope they don’t follow the path of Gazidis of bleeding the cow to fatten the leech.
Interesting to see who will start tomorrow. 5 players remain from the line up that started last season’s campaign – Leno, Auba, Torreira, Sokratis and Holding, the other 6 have left.
Pierre Unlike many people who post on here and watch tv or extracts I watch live games. Both Maitland-Niles and Kolasinac spend most of their games ‘out of position’. If both full backs are off station at the same time it leaves our centre backs totally exposed all the time. When you watch our games both last and this season particularly after Bellerin and Holding got injured most of our opponents target specifically the space on our flanks. Delefeou creamed Maitland-Niles and the same occurred when Son played against us in Spurs game. My criticism is that Emery has failed… Read more »
Next time Xhaka touch the ball at The Emirates : just boo him.
His behavior as a Captain is purelly scandalous.
Or even better, sing a song : “Xhaka he is scared of the balls, because he don’t have any!!”… for example. You find the rest of the song, I don’t have time for this shit.
They are pretty damning stats, I have to agree. ln fact there’s a vast array of damning facts to be seen around the Arsenal blogs that paint a fucking black picture for us going forward.
Stats from the melon fucker. Cool. To be fair it’s just nice to see a 1st next to Arsenal but any stat that has us 19th out of 20 or first (bad) across Europe (the scumbags) is just awful reading. We don’t press. Can’t defend. Face more shots than Syria. Zero creativity. And a manager that looks like all of the worst of Arsene but wrapped in a blanket of bland. 5/1 he starts wearing a sleeping bag coat…it is getting chilly. The players being given time off for…I don’t know, ummm…playing good for 4 mins??? Is just plain dumb.… Read more »
Emery and his tactics/formations/personnel are very confusing. We play 4‐2-3-1 v Burnley and although not perfect, was probably our best performance of the season. . Since then we haven’t used that system. We played the diamond v liverpool , which I’m sure most would agree didn’t work . Started with a 4-3-3 v Tottenham which was floundering until Ceballos came on. Our next away game and for some reason it’s back to the diamond formation which was a disaster. Regarding personnel , he decides to play Ozil and Ceballos together in a physical away game to Watford. I’m sure eyebrows… Read more »
GOH, If we had played as woefully as we did against Watford and got a result, trust me, the EKBs would shout you down here if you tried to point out the play was poor. The results dictate the moods, if we win against Frankfurt, Villa, Forest and got a draw against United, people would begin to believe Emery is back on top of things…. until he fails when it matters and land us in Europa again. See it gives me joy to win every game, after the game against Liverpool I felt so terrible, so terrible it would be… Read more »
@Pierre Agree that results and clean sheets will improve confidence but here’s the dilemma. You get managers like Mourinho and Allardyce who drill defence, concede possession and punish errors. Some like Klopp and Pep drill offense and scare the opposition into giving up the ball and swarm them into errors. And then there are the middlers who drill both defence and offense but aim for balance. What I’m unclear of is what is Emery drilling the team on? I’d offer sweet FA as we’re no good at either. Things like beating a press or transitioning are well executed when they… Read more »
No surprise we have the stat of giving away the most penalties!! If we play football in our 18 yard box (i.e playing out from the back with a crab pass from a dead ball) it is inevitable. The first thing I learnt in football was ‘don’t play football in your own half’! If the ball gets turned over the opposition is in range for a shot at your goal! Somehow Emery has got to where he has without this basic knowledge. Fuck knows how! Definitely time for him to go. Let’s get Allegri….melon shaggers
GB
Agreed. A couple of things:
We’re definitely staying in Europa or worse.
Emery isn’t changing shit.
We’re already a year into this freak show and we’re getting worse. If we win, it won’t be because of Emery, but rather in spite of him.
Stroller “Both Maitland-Niles and Kolasinac spend most of their games ‘out of position’. If both full backs are off station at the same time it leaves our centre backs totally exposed all the time.” I continually made the point over one year ago that the manager was asking the full backs to play way too advanced leaving our centre backs exposed … This is when we had Bellerin and monreal at full backs . So basically what you are saying is that Emery hasn’t learnt from last year and continues to allow both full backs to be too advanced I… Read more »
From what I heard the only drilling Unai is doing to the team is through their back doors.
Where’s mavropanos?
Matt
“. Sadly I don’t see that Emery is doing the basics expected of any coach and therefore don’t expect to see an upturn in performances”
Will have to agree on this.
A lot of those horrible stats stem from the midfield.
The so-called heart of the team.
Pedro.
Melons: Water, Cantaloupe or Honeydew?
LT
All of them. He’s insatiable.
I don’t think we’ll be much better when Bellerin returns. Sure, he’s miles better than the stoned AMN but he also gets caught out of position.
We need a bastard of a manager who shouts at the players if they are so much as an inch out of position.
Emery waving his arms around on the touchline achieves bugger all.
He’s a melon slag.
Gentlebris “The results dictate the moods, if we win against Frankfurt, Villa, Forest and got a draw against United, people would begin to believe Emery is back on top of things…. until he fails when it matters and land us in Europa again.” This isn’t exclusive to just Arsenal fans. It applies to every fan of every club everywhere. But just like under Wenger Arsenal fans or at least those with a bit of hindsight will know deep down that things are not well at the club in reality. The only way Emery gets out of this pickle is if… Read more »
I’m going to stop now before I get banned. It’s all without proof anyways.
If a manager shouted at a player now, it would be on social media in 12 seconds and the millennials would be calling for reparations.
I’d prefer a manager than drills his team in private before a game and has a death stare if they do something wrong. Tuchel the serial killer has that look.
Stroller, I also watch games live and what you are saying is incorrect. Bar Liverpool 3rd goal, the goals we have conceded this year did not come players being out of position. They came from players facing two opponents and getting skinned or bypassed. Pepe is clearly under instructions to stay as high as possible to present a threat in quick transition with Guendouzi sliding on the right to help out AMN. On the other side, Willock (against Burnley and Liverpool), Ceballos (against Watford) slide toward the left to help out Kolasinac. The problem is that then create a gap… Read more »
I disagree on using tomorrow as a reserve exhibition…I mean ordinarily I would agree but for two things. Firstly, this actually isn’t that straightforward a game as Europa League group games go. We can’t really take another poor result. Secondly, whilst some changes should be made I think we’ve actually got to use this game to try and get a system in place, work on tightness and get some confidence in certain players. Unfortunately this game will be too soon for Bellerin and Tierney but apparently Holding is fit for it. I think I’d go for: ———————-Leno Chambers, Holding, Luiz,… Read more »
Emery realises he doesn’t have the players to press, so doesn’t bother. Suck teams in, leave Pepe high, and as Radiohead said; the opposition high and dry.
What a wonderfully adaptable coach we have at our club.
Let’s just wait until we have a left back playing for us that he can actually up and down the flank for more than ten minutes a game, and a right back that doesn’t play as if he has just been taken out of an induced coma.
Midfield will be mess all season. All the more reason to wait until the one possible solution – decent full backs – are available.
Chambers needs to come into that midfield, cover for the defenders is desperately needed in that midfield. Someone that can put in a tackle and at the same time won’t be shoved off the ball easily. Teams stroll through the midfield easily, no one to disrupt opposition play. It’s very obvious but still not addressed. The reason for all the shitty stats
Emery is turning to be another Wenger with intricate passing.He will have the defence wide open like when Drogba,Rooney and Ronaldo plundered goals for fun. Watch how Arsenal labor to score when confronted by 8 defenders. Sounds familiar? I t is and from a swift breakout ,Watford surged forward to shoot. Is it any wonder to Emery? He has achance to redeem himself . AV will have a weeks rest a nd wont be easy meat especially if the gunner s take a long time to get to the goal mouth to shoot let alone score. It wouldn’t surprise me… Read more »
Paulinho “Emery realises he doesn’t have the players to press, so doesn’t bother.” Its back to my original point 12 months ago. We have employed a manager who has a certain philosophy ,without the players to implement that philosophy with an owner who wont spend the money so he can implement that philosophy. There is a slight change in my comment , I would say . We have spent the money and brought players in , but does anyone really expect Pepe and Ceballos to be high level pressing players so yes , I can see paulinho’s point of the… Read more »
It’s Allegri all day long for me, it’s very much our Klopp moment with him sitting idly by. Previously he was surrounded by Juve officials showing him some bush and whispering in his ear about brining Ronaldo into the fold. Now our pitch lands to football admirer with no strings attached. I’m also highly dubious about this idea his football is bland. I think there’s a real upturned nose mentality when a coach is whispered as defensively sound, like you can’t be that and devastating up front. Personally I consider Allegri to be smart enough to know what wins in… Read more »
I think the time is approaching fast when Wwe may be able to field our best x1 Friday – Monday and our 2nd best x1 on Tuesday – Thursday and guess what Xhaka and Mustafi don’t make into either x1.
Best x1 (Friday-Monday)
Leno
Bellerin Chambers Holding Tierney
Torreira
Pepe Guendozi Ceballos Aubameyang
Lacazette
2nd best x1(Tuesday-Thursday)
Martinez
Niles Sokratis Mavropanos Kolasinac
Luiz
Nelson Willock Ozil Smith-Rowe
Martinelli
Well at least that would my teams
Ceballos has actually shown he is more than useful off the ball so there is no massive worries about him. He has won the ball back with off the ball play that has led to goals against both Spurs and Watford. Guendouzi has shown that he is capable of high octane press even if at his young age he will be erratic at times. Torreira can press. He does this for Uruguay. All it takes though is one dud in the midfield who isn’t capable to press to any decent standard and the whole team process of press gets thrown… Read more »
Oh here we go again, it’s the players once more. Now Emery doesn’t have the players to press, meanwhile 18 other sides in the league manage to press better.
We have less suited players than 18 teams in the PL? Seriously?
“Emery realises he doesn’t have the players to press, so doesn’t bother”
Oh yea top attitude and approach that. We also don’t have the players to play tiki taka from our 6 yard box but he’s been hell bent on that. You’re absolutely shameless with this player oriented stuff.
Allegri is good manager. No doubt.
But, I still remember their match against Spurs a couple of years ago. For 80% of that two-legged tie Spurs were by far the better side, and Juve were terrible. Bland, dull, uninspired. Needless to say, the sort of football that would get Emery sent to the gallows if Arsenal fans had their way.
Ishola
Who are you talking about mate? Go on, surprise us all.
Should be obvious to you Charlie.
It’s obvious to 95% of the other posters on here.
Gotta laugh at the obsession with pressing.
Klopp purposely dialled down the pressing last season, and Liverpool were better for it. In previous seasons they would go full pelt and leave themselves open to fatigue late in games and in seasons.
A lot of Liverpool’s success is down to nicking the ball off opponents and the pressure they put on them when they are in their own half.
Suffocated as Ceballos noted when playing against them
You saw the intensity of the Man City press even if it was evaded by Norwich the other week. Nine times out of ten it works for them.
No idea why anyone would try to downplay the press when it is such an obvious ingredient of both the top two teams in the EPL.
“Stats from the melon fucker. Cool. ”
Not very hard to guess who posted this… lol
Liverpool, City, Spurs are excellent at pressing with different styles of achieving it. They’ve been the best three sides in the league the last couple so really not hard to see pressing as an obvious weapon to the modern Arsenal.
Only reason it’s being dismissed as an obsession is because our manager hasn’t a scooby how to coach a team to achieve it. Literally 18 PL teams better at it than us and the response to that is ‘players’ and ‘what’s the obsession with pressing’.
Can’t make it up, Emery could sell his bath water to some.
Paulinho,
Klopp assessed his squad and his tactics. Realised that going full tilt 90 minutes in a more aggressive, physical, competitive league that does not have a mid season break was not reasonable.
Adapted his tactic to better fit his new paradigm.
What Emery does? Stick to the same failed tactic in the hope that miraculously one day it will work. Clear definition of insanity or stupidity.
He should have realised by now that even Jesus who alledgedly transform Water into wine could not transform Sokratis from a mad wrestler into a cultured ball playing defender.
It is no point blaming the players being out of position or making defensive howlers on consistent basis. The fact is Emery has spectacularly failed to address even a part of that mess. In fact the stats point to us being under worse mess than under Wenger. It makes me really depressed that we didn’t get the appointment right after the Dictator left us. Perhaps, the 3 stooges got so blinded by Emery’s presentation that they failed to take into account the red flags under his CV. Pedro got this spot on when he said that Emery lucked out landing… Read more »
Emery is not selling me anything. I prefer to see the back of him.
All that is being noted is that we have a player in central midfield, the hub player who is pretty poor off the ball and at pressing.
Can’t help can it.
Yes I saw the intensity of Man City’s press when they got battered 4-0 at Everton in his first season. It’s one aspect that can be effective, but it doesn’t mean it absolves of a multitude of sins in terms of personnel, you still need other pieces in place. Who knows if Klopp even purposely told Liverpool not to press, but last season they dropped off more than previous seasons. It requires the right personnel. You tell Ramsey and Ozil to press high, and despite the same instructions, you will see a marked difference in intensity and how long each… Read more »
When Bellerin and Tierney come back you will see a marked improvement in pressing anway. I can guarantee you that.
think we are all agreed then Emery must go lol…………………………..lol get the planes out
Paulinho
” You tell Ramsey and Ozil to press high, and despite the same instructions, you will see a marked difference in intensity ”
If Ramsey was so good at pressing then why did the manager bench him for 9 consecutive league games , starting from the end of September to the beginning of December.
Paulinho
“Let’s just wait until we have a left back playing for us that he can actually up and down the flank for more than ten minutes a game, and a right back that doesn’t play as if he has just been taken out of an induced coma.”
And when that doesn’t improve us , I take it that you will finally admit defeat on the capabilities of our manager.
Pierre – Because he felt he only needed that for certain games. Against Leicester he felt he didn’t need particularly aggressive pressing, so went with Ozil as a ten. Against Chelsea, with Jorginho their focal point, he did think it was important to press and suffocate, so picked the Welshman.
It’s called assessing the opposition and adapting accordingly. As I said, aren’t we blessed to have a such an adaptable and ‘talented coach’, as Danny Welbeck called him.
Paulinho is having a mare haha
Pierre – Yep. But it could take a year to Bellerin to get up to form. Completely normal of course, but agendas are rife, so I expect that one will get a short shrift from the Emery out crowd.
Charlie – You’ve had non-stop mare on here since you started posting. How do you deal with it?
Did anyone read ‘the downfall of ZZ’ on BBC. It was saying about his first RM tenure was sugar coated with an ECL win (although miles behind Barca in the league) and now Ronaldo has left he’s being exposed as a pretty average coach at best.
He’s ostracised some of his best players due to personal dislike and currently on a 48% win/loss ratio.
What’s others thoughts on his as a boss?
*him as a boss.
PaulinhoSeptember 18, 2019 11:40:28 Pierre – Because he felt he only needed that for certain games. Against Leicester he felt he didn’t need particularly aggressive pressing, so went with Ozil as a ten. Against Chelsea, with Jorginho their focal point, he did think it was important to press and suffocate, so picked the Welshman.It’s called assessing the opposition and adapting accordingly. As I said, aren’t we blessed to have a such an adaptable and ‘talented coach’, as Danny Welbeck called him. Paulinho Pooh so now he does have he players to press but he just would rather not for some… Read more »
Paulinho Was that the blog equivalent of ‘I know you are but what am I’ from the playground? Go on son. You’re a mile off on Emery, and you’re loath to say as much because you spent last season shouting down criticisms of him. We just witnessed the worst statistical defensive display in the PL era for Arsenal, the graphic in the blog states we’re worst for errors leading to goals/shots, penalties, and 4th for shots faced, worst this season for shots faced in Europe’s top 5 leagues since Emery took over – but everyone needs to remember Welbeck called… Read more »
Don- Was Ramsey available for those games and is he still here?
So daft it’s painful.
N5
I’ve never rated him as a coach and said he’ll struggle immensely anywhere his presence isn’t absolutely worshipped like Madrid or Juve.
Not surprised to see his second go start flat after a myriad of personnel changes, he’s a motivator not a tactician, and eventually that gig is up. His management was there for all to see with Bale, gone by Xmas imo.
Charlie – As I said, you would know about being a ‘mile off’. Doesn’t stop you blabbering away, undeterred.
Paulinho
Yea, empty words in response because you’ve fewer and fewer angles to deflect away from Emery with.
Now you’re telling Unaai that our team press was suddenly rendered useless because we missed Ramsey. What a time to be alive, a team press entirely destroyed by one solitary player.
Agree Charlie. Bale needs to get out of that toxic environment. The way he has been treated when he’s a quiet professional that behaves each day and gives his all is criminal
I think the fans are getting frustrated too. Especially because the club look to be getting rid of Ramos when his contract expires too. After serving the club his entire career they are going to cut lose without behind the scenes jobs. Much like how they treated Casillas.
Madrid are such a shit bag team I’m glad to see them doing poorly.
” What a time to be alive, a team press entirely destroyed by one solitary player”
It’s common knowledge you spanner.
If you press and one man is not in sync, you are indeed fucked.
I mean the pressing isn’t the major issue it’s quite obvious it’s that 10 tonne elephant in the room that’s standing on your foot. Errors. Errors leading to goals shots penalties whatever and that’s an individual aspect despite what others say. Pretty infuriating everytime certain (same) individuals make mistakes it gets passed off to the manager and it becomes a case of I suppose a different manager and it’ll be a different outcome. But I’m afraid that’s just not true. By all means sack Emery bring in Allegri or Marcelino but Xhaka will still be Xhaka doing Xhaka things. This… Read more »
PS sorry for derailing whilst another conversation was in progress, but I kind of see myself as a clown at a bullfight on Le Grove. Quickly grabbing attention before someone else gets gored 😀
Paulinho
“Against Leicester he felt he didn’t need particularly aggressive pressing, so went with Ozil as a ten. Against Chelsea, with Jorginho their focal point, he did think it was important to press and suffocate, so picked the Welshman ”
Are you suggesting that Ramsey’s only use under Emery was to be used defensively and not creatively. …
I am surprised you would defend Emery for his treatment of Ramsey last season.
Marko
If the team was set up correctly then players wouldn’t continually be exposed .
Surely you can see that .
There is only one person who can set the team up correctly…the manager .
Playing a diamond away from home leaving the full backs exposed is a definite no .
Paulinho
So we can only press with Aaron Ramsey in the side? Then he calls me daft.
“Bale needs to get out of that toxic environment. ”
Come to Arsenal, Gareth!! It’s the total opposite from a toxic environment, a real holiday camp!!
(Anyone knows if it’s possible to play golf around London ??)
Marko
“Individual errors”
It wasnt individual errors that allowed Watford to have 30+ attempts at goal …it was the set up of the team.
N5 Totally agree. Madrid is arguably the only place Zidane could’ve had that purple period given what they’re all about as a club and how the fans typically behave toward the side. I grew up loving them, and have a black away kit with Zidane #5 on the back that I got from the Bernabeu, but soon learned they’re a lot of what I really dislike in football and would have Barca over them 8 days a week at this point. You wonder if that ‘Madrid mentality’ will last generations or if another president will soften the club to act… Read more »
If the team was set up correctly then players wouldn’t continually be exposed .
That’s not true. We’ve had about a billion different formations and instructions the last few years and it’s generally the same result with the same errors. Plus it’s errors ERRORS. It can’t be any more straight forward than that that’s individuals making errors
Don – I’m going to have to call you daft again. Please make a decent point.
You can press with ill-suited players but it won’t be effective for a sustained period and it will just make a team more open. Hence my point earlier about asking Ozil and Ramsey to press and getting two different outputs.
Charlie – It’s not hyperbolic at all. Pressing in itself is extremely high risk/high reward as it, so one man not pulling his weight does indeed have highly damaging permutations.
“If the team was set up correctly then players wouldn’t continually be exposed .Surely you can see that.”
No Pierre, no he can’t. Yesterday he stated if Allegri arrived tomorrow we’d see “slight to no improvement” in matters, so you’re taking the floor with someone that in essence doesn’t believe in coaching.
Again Marko can’t agree with the downplaying of the press. In both Man City and Liverpool’s cases not only does the press give them more defensive protection and assurity it also acts as the platform for them offensively as well. They are earning that right to attack with hard work off the ball prior. Whatever the case Arsenal have to improve on that aspect if they want to progress.. You can be decent at the press but not have players to take enough advantage of it . Man City and Liverpool have both elements. Good press and the players to… Read more »
It wasnt individual errors that allowed Watford to have 30+ attempts at goal …it was the set up of the team. It was individual errors that lead to the goals and a lot of the chances I’m not sure one can totally blame errors for all the chances cause we had such timid pussies on Sunday who just were never interested in getting involved that Watford just kept coming back to us. Also you have to factor in some of the positioning of certain individuals was shocking and not to mention that in AMN we had a player that was… Read more »
Our players are not thrash as people say, with 2 notable exceptions of “disaster players”. We tried so many combinations and end result is same. Again nowadays the defensive starts from midfield so it is a system failure whose name is a Unai Emery. He had Bould sitting on his haunches. This guy had proved his mettle during periods Wenger used to shit the bed. But then it would expose the defensive coaching nicompoops Emery has forced on the Club, so Bouldy was never an option for political reasons. Time for surgery is NOW. We can never achieve our consistent… Read more »
“Pressing in itself is extremely high risk/high reward as it, so one man not pulling his weight does indeed have highly damaging permutations.“
Damaging yes, but not totally destructive as is being made out. We’re 19th in the league for it mate, not middle of the road because one or two aren’t doing the business and knackering us. efficiency.
“or if another president will soften the club to act more “normal” at some point.”
Million dollar question right there CC. Florentino Pérez is a nutsack of the highest order!!
Marko
Not really. It’s one of the major contributors but let’s be clear here, these errors are largely due to the players not knowing what it is the manager expects because the manager doesn’t know what he wants the team to be
He’s not coaching them properly
His tactics are putting pressure on the players.
Valentin
If you reread what I wrote I analysed all 8 goals conceded.
1. 3 Penalties
2. 2 Goals conceded through poor distribution from goal kicks.
3. 2 Goals from defensive errors e.g. 1 against Liverpool and the other against
Burnley.
My point about defensive stress is that mistakes made both last and this season are the consequence of wing backs either out of position or defending
poorly.
Marko
If,as you say , AMN was out of his depth , the manager has 3 choices
1) bring on a defender in place of him (probably chambers)
2) give AMN protection ( put willock in front of him)
3) change the shape of the team ( wing backs) .
Emery decided to do absolutely nothing.
“ It wasnt individual errors that allowed Watford to have 30+ attempts at goal …it was the set up of the team. “
Agree with Marko. The neurotic setup is ALL DOWN TO EMERY. Surprised it causes confusions leading to errors down leading to goals ? One should have a broad perspective to clearly see what would DEFINITELY would be forthcoming.
Amen
It’s the age old blame game rearing it’s head again. Take Sokratis at the weekend. Was it his error that led to the goal? Yes, clearly. Should anyone be asking him to play out from the back with his skill set? Definitely not. Which comes first? Quite clear if you ask me. – N5 I’ve only ever witnessed the gargantuan Madrid with their galacticos and elite shopping habits etc. Not sure about their history beyond that, but it would be a curious thing to see a Madrid academy produce for the first team and have a circle created there for… Read more »
Charlie – When our full backs come back we will see an improvement. AMN is a terrible footballer, but it’s off the ball where he really shines (sarcasm). He’s often way too deep and doesn’t push up aggressively enough, so the midfielder has to drop back to keep compact, and all of a sudden we are to deep. That’s not the only problem but one of many (Xhaka drops off too much as well). Bellerin’s at his best off the ball, he’s aggressive and consistent with it. So, he will massively help with playing higher line and being closer to… Read more »
so you’re taking the floor with someone that in essence doesn’t believe in coaching. You think it’s coaching that has certain players the way they are? You think Allegri comes in Kolasinac finally knows what position to play, AMN finally looks like he belongs at this level, Sokratis stops wrestling and Xhaka learns how to tackle and influence? I’ve got my doubts. Stand by what I said he comes in as is and the improvement is slight if at all. He improves us when he replaces certain types in the squad. Keep in mind Xhaka’s played under some good coaches… Read more »
I wouldn’t exactly say Pepe and Aubameyang are capable of the high press unless I’m missing something….and Ozil .
Sp to put the blame totally on xhaka is ridiculous.
It was obvious to me that xhaka had been told not to tackle v Watford and stay on his feet after being so heavily criticised for making so many fouls v Tottenham.