Ain’t no party like a Thursday night party… was literally me until last night.
Overall, what a shite game that was.
The kids offered us up a prime serving of first-team-T-bone steak and it was not delicious.
Our midfield was porous, the defence was all over the place, and we made a pub team look as dangerous as the menace that was Sheffield United on Monday.
We went one goal down after 8 minutes. The familiar theme of having no midfield to protect the defence was apparent. Three of our ‘THEY’LL SAVE EMERY’ defenders conspired to give Edwards space to convert from 8 yards (Hector, KT, RH). Very embarrassing, but at least only 50% of of the stadium was there to see it.
You kind of hoped it was just a typical Emery start, that maybe we’d clunk back into gear and start treating the Portuguese outfit with the disrespect they deserved. We didn’t, we actually managed to make things worse. Zero shape in the middle, constantly exposed to the counter-attack, organisational chaos all around.
We clawed one back though, Kieran Tierney found the head of the Brazilian Kevin Davies, 5 goals for Gabriel. Sadly, it didn’t take long to gift the advantage back, AMN, sitting in centre midfield, turned into traffic, Vitoria broke against a weak damn and breached with a response within 4 minutes.
All I can say about the second half is the manager subbed in the correct players, namely, Nicolas Pepe. The much-maligned Ivorian showed his class with two brilliant freekicks from different positions. The first was from further out and curled precisely into the far left of the goal. The second was a rocket from closer range at the death from about 20 yards.
Majestic. BUT WHERE WAS THE GOAL IN OPEN PLAY?! Just jokes kids, I love Pepe.
So what did we learn?
Well, it seems clear that Unai Emery is losing the PR battle. He was booed fairly at half time by the 12 fans that bothered to show up to the game. His second string were as insipid as the regulars. We were a mess and my diagnosis is that the Premier League infection finally spread to the Europa League kids. We didn’t deserve to win, but we did. Last season, fans would have buried their heads in ‘BUT THIS IS WENGER’S TEAM,’ this season, I think people are wising up to the reality… performances matter and we’re still not delivering them.
The reality of the Emery is this: It doesn’t matter who he puts on the pitch, no one has a fucking clue what he wants. The gap between midfield and attack is so wide, it often looks insurmountable, the only option is a long ball… then when play switches, all our midfielders are behind the play. There’s no structure to our setup. Do we even bother playing between the lines? Our midfield seems offended by the concept, which makes our play incredibly one-dimensional.
Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin all add a bit of quality to proceedings, but they can’t fix an average manager that lacks the basic skills… like, you know, communicating in English.
‘Language isn’t important’
Real debate last season.pic.twitter.com/lJ0swF0eHO
— Le Grove (@LeGrove) October 25, 2019
It’s quite amazing that I had to debate the merits of language last season, but it’s so fucking obvious, if you can’t master the native tongue, you’re going to fail. Above is Robin, one of the greatest Arsenal strikers I’ve ever witnessed, calling out the fucking obvious: Communication matters. Poor English is a barrier, but more to the point, even if you could speak Spanish, would the ideas be any clearer? Doubtful.
Can I just repeat: People challenged the view that hiring a coach that couldn’t speak English was a bad idea. Seriously. That’s the internet at its best.
Mesut Ozil continues to be a problem. He’s out here posting a picture of himself looking like your mum’s best friend Trisha who works in ESSEX TRIMS in Clapton and the internet has gone wild.
‘Babes, I’m like, Trisha Gandhi right now, frosted tips and non-violent protest always’
The whole internet reacted viciously to his omittance from the squad. A bit unfair, Mesut hangs out with dictators, probably injured himself playing computer games last season, and he seems to have a deeper aversion to a hard days work than that bitch grasshopper who fucked about all summer while the squirrel gathered nuts. Point is, only Emery could lose a PR war to someone that’s a dosser. To be clear, I’m on Ozil’s side for no real reason other than the slight suspicion that if Emery is for something, I should be against it.
Emery won the battle yesterday, but perversely, that was another savage blow on his effort in the mighty war.
A lot of Arsenal players liked that androgynous Ozil Instagram picture. That tells you something. Firstly, they have bad taste in pictures, secondly, the players are siding with their teammate. When things go south for Emery, it’s going to be a tsunami that strikes him… and it’ll be far more brutal than anything Wenger ever faced.
Why? Because the players know they can end Emery.
Tr7
You were labelling Pepe Gervinho a few days ago
You’re off form
Give me ten reasons why Mourinho would be a good choice and I’d give you a hundred reasons why he wouldn’t.
Of course, as we all know, there is only one real reason why he should never step foot in the club.
That’s right, it’s because his name is Jose Mourinho.
Graham and Marc
I’m driving into work for an emergency but when I get the time I will resume this
Un
Hope that’s nothing serious!
1) proven winner
2) charisma
3) revered
4) gives his players belief
5) record points total in prem
6) record points in la liga
7) had ozil balling
8) record goals in la liga in one season
9) 2 champions league titles with under dog teams
10) improves defences undeniably whilst getting record points and goals
Stuck at temp lights
Fucking Friday traffic
Got to drive all the way to Vauxhall
Un na naai
Drive carefully mate.
Remember, this is only Football chat.
Unai, he’s a poisonous has-been however much you want to bring up past achievements.
‘Revered’ , ‘ gives his players belief’- his final stint at Chelsea and his Man U job- can’ t imagine too many players from those squads would agree with your comments.
Un na naai
Could be worse, you could be in a Vauxhall.
For those who believe a season and a bit is not long enough to sack a manager let me refer back to Bruce Rioch. At the time he improved our football and took us into Europe but he pissed off the players and there was someone better in the wings. Emery has done nowhere near as well as Rioch in my view . He is a very poor coach. I was there last nigh and we were awful aside from the three subs , Martinelli and Tierney.
Great to see Pepe’s luck turn .
https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/premier-league/11844661/lampard-mourinho-my-inspiration
Arsenal couldn’t afford Mourinho, the silly sausage would be targeting players like Neymar….lol….
‘You were labelling Pepe Gervinho a few days agoYou’re off form’
Yeah, Pepe doesn’t strike me as a potential top player. Overly one footed, predictable in the way he moves and dribbles and lacks the poise, balance and grace top players tend to possess.
A self-made millionaire decided that he was lonely and needed to find a mate. So, he organized a bit of a competition for it. As his search neared the end he narrowed the choices down to four. One was a doctor. She was a surgeon, made incredible money. She was focused and driven. Because she was so wealthy on her own, he knew she wasn’t in it only for the money. One was a lawyer. Again, a successful professional. A real tiger. She had practiced several forms of law, including divorces. She knew all there was to know about the… Read more »
TR7
The only positive to come out of last nights game and still you criticise him.
Welcome to Arsenal Pepe.
Call yourself a fan.
Frigging unbelievable.
TR7 you kind of said a similat thing about Mane once upon a time not the gervinho reference
Pepe is a left footer playing on the right side he’s going to look unbalanced. You put Tierney there it would look unbalanced.
Pepe dribbling is actually one of his strongest attributes he has very quick feet that chance he started by taking 2 players out he used both feet. He crossed the ball to Auba with his right foot.
Hes not a gervinho at all and I really hope he proves you wrong and some others wrong.
Samesong
I have always been a big fan of Mane. Was calling for him to be signed from Southampton as early as in his first season for them. You are mistaking me for someone else.
Pedro’s thread on Twitter re Mourinho states planets of good reasons why we shouldn’t go near him.
Just because Emery isn’t the right guy doesn’t mean we should jump out of the frying pan into the fire.
There are lots of exciting options from the continent which we should be exploring before Mourinho’s name is even considered.
I don’t get this “he’s very left footed”argument. Would you call a right footed player a very right footed player. Many ‘very left footed’ magicians have graced this game of ours.
Isn’t Messi very left footed as well ? Does that stop him from going through defenders like water through a basket ?
Chris
Exactly – Mourinho’s yesterdays man we need tomorrows.
It’s strange but people keep looking for ways to slag off Emery almost as if they’re trying to justify their view. There’s no need to over complicate issues – he should have got top 4 last season and fucked it up but was given the benefit of the doubt, Sanllehi did an amazing job over the summer and gave him a more balanced squad (not perfect but a move in the right direction) and he’s got the team going back wards.
That said I will be very happy to be proven wrong on Pepe. We have spent a fortune on him.
Apologies TR7. Your right about Mane.
By the way TR7 you’re still IMO one of the most consistent posters on le grove dropping knowledge bombs. 👌
Agree Marc, Emery should be producing better performances at this stage and it hard to see where the improvement is going to come from now. There is reasoning to Mourinho for a short term fix, but I feel that is the opposite of what we should be doing and is likely to leave another mess to clean up for the guy who follows him. It just doesn’t seem worth it. I would rather we went for another visionary coach who is likely to stay 5-7 years and be able to hand over a stable situation as seemlessly as possible to… Read more »
Match analysis from ARSENAL TRUTH. The heat is on for Unai Emery with Arsenal blogs and fans turning on the manager after the defeat to Sheffield Utd. The media in general, meanwhile, are unusually reticent to stick the boot in, but it seems Emery is on a slippery slope at the moment with every poor performance attributed to his lack of tactical acumen. There’s obviously some truth to that, but in all honestly, that criticism shouldn’t be so stringently applied to last night’s performance against Vitoria Guimaraes. For a start, the back four had three players returning who have all… Read more »
Samesong cheers ! Glad to be a part of this blog, one of a kind.
Leicester just walks all over Southampton
That tackle look nasty on the replay. Dont think it was intentional but defintely a red card.
How did we lose to Southampton last season?
Who said on here that Leicester are not even a top six side?
Seems a way off statement that one.
Sure things have gone their way in this game with the sending off but they have fully exploited it.
5 – 0 at half time. I feel sorry for fans. Such a rainy day watching your home team got the ass kick.
That’s a truly miserable evening out for any Saints fans who have gone to the game tonight, given the weather also, couldn’t be blamed for sneaking out to the pub or heading home!
SamesongOctober 25, 2019 19:59:50
By the way TR7 you’re still IMO one of the most consistent posters on le grove dropping knowledge bombs. 👌
———–
I concur..!! 🙂
I never thought I would enjoy watching a Brendan Rodgers side more than Arsenal. But here we are. He’s got his side playing the right way. It looks balanced. It’s going second in the table tonight on merit. I said on Talksport last night we need to get shot of Emery this season. They said they think he was there as someone who plays the same way Wenger did. But there’s no comparison. Wenger had a philosophy, but he didn’t build a side that could deliver it. Emery has no visible philosophy. You can’t be sure how the side is… Read more »
TR7October 25, 2019 16:42:13
Bamford not only speaks a lot of nonsense but also repeats his nonsense post after post.
———–
Nothing’s changed I see.Same ‘ole,same ‘ole with Banford..
Can’t believe that guy 🙂 went to Harvard??!! No way-nigh impossible,with some of the classics he continually drops year after year,after year for well over five years on this blog. Wedded to the fact that he is a self -confessed student of the game for over 20-30 years…And took nearly 20 years deciding upon which team to support!!!
Got to admit,he does provide a barrel of laughs on this blog..
How are you PhD ? You must have been busy with your thesis/assignments judging by your long hiatus.
TR7
One, you told Le Grove that Pochettino is the third best manager in the world.
Two, please tell me one thing I have said that is “nonsense”. I would like to hear about this.
Arsenal truth “Emery is not Wenger, i.e. not a lying, dictatorial fraud and malignant narcissist to boot. He’s doing a tough, pressurised job in difficult circumstance and has so far conducted himself with transparency and dignity. The only fraud is the person who wrote this absurd statement. Let’s dissect what he is trying to say “. He’s doing a tough, pressurised job in difficult circumstance” No different to any other manager…except that Emery has had 200 mil spent on the team, has a quality strike force and excellent academy players to bring into the side ” and has so far… Read more »
Bamford ‘our organisation has improved’… nonsense.
Jesus, Leicester about to smash the PL record here.
We could see double figures here, genuinely.
Blandford
‘ Two, please tell me one thing I have said that is “nonsense”. I would like to hear about this.’
Check any of your previous posts on any given day you deluded cunt.
“Two, please tell me one thing I have said that is “nonsense”. I would like to hear about this.“
So many things to choose from, but in recent days I’d say us being organised, well disciplined, and good defensively is about as much nonsense as can be said in a sentence.
Then qualifying that particular pov by stating anyone who doesnt see that doesnt judge the game well.
But as I say, plethora to choose from.
TR7
If I post “nonsense” comment after comment, please tell me what I said today, yesterday or the day before that was “nonsense”. I would love to take you up on one of these points. In truth you’ll come up with nothing in reply to this because you have nothing to add or to say. You’re full of fucking hot air.
Talking of limp wristed weasels
Bamford
“Two, please tell me one thing I have said that is “nonsense”. I would like to hear about this.”
You should rephrase that to ” please tell me one thing I have said that ISN’T nonsense “
TR7October 25, 2019 21:14:28
How are you PhD ? You must have been busy with your thesis/assignments judging by your long hiatus.
—-
How’s it going TR7?Long time no hear…Hope life is treating you well..
Yes,you are correct.Busy with my doctoral research.Had an annual review to prepare for..It’s been a crazy or hectic period,along with teaching as well,moving and having a wonderful woman enter the equation. 🙂
Goal difference of 15 and counting for Leicester. For comparison , we have 1, albeit with a game in hand.
They ‘ll probably make top 4.
Ayoze Perez is a good player, called for us to sniff about him in the summer, he’s got good attributes for the prem and seems to have hit a point in his career when he’s adding more and more goals.
30 mil maybe a bit steep, but good player.
Bamford
Check your comments in this post and the previous one. How on earth can anyone say we are well organized, disciplined and are progressing as a team. Paulinho defends Emery a lot but you will never hear him say we are moving forward. It’s just that he feels we don’t have the right players. Marko and Receding share similar thoughts too. Now we can debate whether it’s the manager or the players but at least they are not saying absolute lies like you do. Well organized and progressing ? Mindboggling stuff
LMFAO..Seems like I’ve lit the blue torch paper and all hell’s broken loose.
Either that,or someone’s chucked a grenade into the proceedings and it’s pandemonium all around..
Good ‘ole Le-Grove,good to see,nothing is dull around here.. 🙂
Really sad state of affairs when there’s faint envy toward a Brenda Rogers side. He covers the basics better than Emery, that’s a painful admission.
–
PhD
Go on lad, bit of fanny in the picture. Nice to see you on here again, all the best with the grind.
“being organized, well disciplined, and good defensively” We are better organized than we were under Wenger, and we are more disciplined. Anyone with eyes can see this. And I never said we are “good defensively”. I’ve said we’re better organized defensively, but that isn’t the same thing as saying we’re “good defensively”. Very like you to misrepresent another person’s claims. BTW, what did you tell Dissenter/Le Grove about Leicester City just recently?Not even close to top four quality? Interesting. That’s almost as good as you’re calling for Jose Mourinho to manage Arsenal. Another fucking peach. Or your three-year-long defense/championing of… Read more »
Let it go Bamford.
Let me get my popcorn ready. In for a night of entertainment.😆
TR7
Are you claiming that we’re not better organized now than we were under Wenger? Or that we’re not more disciplined? Or that we’re not more modern in our approach and tactics or training methods? Or that we’re not better in the transfer market? I hope not. Because all of those things are true.
Again, you’re full of a lot of hot air. You like taking pot shots at me but in truth you have nothing to say.
Bob
Why should I?
That touch just then from Perez was exquisite, how they didn’t score from it though…
Leicester may not make top four ultimately but they have more than enough to make a fist of it and should consider it a disappointment if they don’t finish up top six
Pierre
“No different to any other manager…except that Emery has had 200 mil spent on the team, has a quality strike force and excellent academy players to bring into the side”
Villa have scored more goals than Arsenal.
Excellent academy players like Willock and Maitland Niles lol lol
I said last season that Leicester would be a serious top 4 threat and got mocked for it by the usuals who wanted to play down how good a side Leicester were to use our defeat to push their anti Emery agenda.
Looks like we’ve got our work cut out because at the moment I see Chelsea and Leicester a lot better than we are, Spurs are also better and contrary to many, Man Utd are at least equal to us.
Pierre
Which is to say: you can’t name a single thing.
We will probably draw away vs Saints this year.
Benny
What do you think? Are these guys right, that all I say here is nonsense?
Champagne charlieOctober 25, 2019 21:28:36
Hi CC,
Thanks.
How are you in general?Hope all is well.
No,not that way at all..She’s a keeper!! 🙂
Football wise,can’t be arsed talking about Emery and Arsenal.I’ve seen enough to draw my conclusions over a season and a half.
In all honesty,I probably switched off after the Arsenal vs Spurs game.
That said,haven’t had much time in between what with work and all to dissect
the inner machinations of his tactics,line–ups,etc,etc..
Just not worth the hassle to me at this juncture.But for comedy value,when I will have some free time,will watch with amusement.
PhD
Wow ! Things looking up on all fronts, you deserve it.
Hasenhüttl not liking this Vardy party, getting rogered to the core.
Hasenhüttl will go Liam Neeson style in the dressing room.
Nice one PHD. Wish you all the best.
Valentin
“You and Bamford are the only ones who still find that Emery is a great coach. You still refuse to acknowledge that he is way out of his depth.”
Except that neither I, nor Receding, nor Paulinho, nor anyone else here who pushes back against the over-the-top, unreasonable, empty-headed criticism that Emery comes in for from certain people here has ever said that Emery is a “great” coach or that he is doing a “great” job.
So this is a straw-man, and an obviously dishonest one.
Bamford ‘Are you claiming that we’re not better organized now than we were under Wenger? Or that we’re not more disciplined? Or that we’re not more modern in our approach and tactics or training methods?’ Can you please substantiate any of the claims you are making with any tangible or measurable parameter or specifics ? As in how our organization is better now ? How has positioning of our back 4 and their movement changed from Wenger days ? Give me a few instances of tactical ingenuity from Emery. Tell me how are we defending our corners better or how… Read more »
TR7
Was saying that Pochettino is the third best manager in the world “nonsense”? Were you talking “nonsense” when you said that? I am curious.
Also, do you think Saka is a better footballer or a better prospect than Martinelli? You said something here the other day that made me think you might (mistakenly) think this. Do tell.
TR7October 25, 2019 21:37:06
I don’t know..Wouldn’t get too far ahead of myself right now.Slow and steady -hey !! 🙂
Still a bit of a way to go,but the last year up to recently was a bit tough.As they say,no sweet without sweat. 🙂
How about you?
Bamford
You should have gone to specsavers…
SamesongOctober 25, 2019 21:39:18
Nice one PHD. Wish you all the best.
—–
Thanks Samesong..
How are you?Hope you are keeping well.
I saw your post the other day,about doing a voiceover for some Barclays advert or something related..Nice one on that…Will look/watch out for it!!Congrats Samesong..
One away from the PL record, come on lads.
Yamford “We are better organized than we were under Wenger, and we are more disciplined. Anyone with eyes can see this. ” Are you certain about this? Because just cause you see something doesn’t make it true. You probably don’t see a big pink cunt in the mirror every morning but you still are one, do you see how that works? Even if someone were to play along with you and acknowledge some modicum of improvement in the defensive organization, is it really enough of an improvement that you’re willing to stake what is barely left of your reputation on… Read more »
8-0. Total respect for the Saints fans still sat there in the cold!
TR7
Also, the other day you added a “+” to WengerEagle’s post where he offered me a wager which stipulated that he would never post on Le Grove again if United finish above us (and that I could never post on LG again if etc. etc.) I would like to take you up on that wager now, except let’s adjust it to one year of non-posting. What do you say? I think Le Grove could do without you for a year.
Completely forgot there was football on tonight so just switched over. What the fuck 0 – 8 to Leicester?
I mean OK the conditions look awful but for fuck sake. Strangely it does look as if a lot of the Southampton fans have gone home!
Seems Mr Guy.. 🙂 has gone into fully-fledged melt down mode..Lol
Probably needs a box of crayons and some coloured smarties to calm him down. 🙂
Bamford
Don’t try to deflect now by talking about Poch and Saka. Enlighten us as to how have we improved in terms of organization and discipline and tactics. You are talking about training too, do tell what modern training methods Emery is employing. I will defend my stance on Poch once you have substantiated your claims. Let the ‘student of the game for 30 years’ take the lead first.
“And I never said we are “good defensively”. I’ve said we’re better organized defensively, but that isn’t the same thing as saying we’re “good defensively”. Very like you to misrepresent another person’s claims.“
Oh you didn’t?…. I’ll just leave this here for all to see…..
“Bamford10 October 23, 2019 11:41:01
Pierre Our problems are definitely not increasing — indeed they have been decreasing daily since Wenger departed — nor are they morphing. We’ve improved in terms of organization, discipline, collective defending and pressing. No question.”
🙂 semantic walkback incoming.
Chris
How many on here do you think would sit to the end of a 3 nil loss let alone 8?@
Hamford
Don’t beg for Benny’s help and drag him down with you, have some humanity you asshole.
Blandford
‘Benny you’re an impressionable mong, please tell me I don’t post nonsense’
LOLZ
Bamford, because at a time it’s palpably obvious that we’re struggling. I think most would argue that we’ve not played really well in any of our PL matches this season and yet you are suggesting that we’re improving. Not only that but specifically with our organisation. Our personnel has improved but our cohesion and way of playing, how our players are set up on the pitch, has shown no signs of improvement. Our coach has been completely unconvincing but you are trying to argue that things are improving. It should be obvious to any interested observer that our coach is… Read more »
I would like to take you up on that wager now, except let’s adjust it to one year of non-posting. What do you say? I think Le Grove could do without you for a year.
————-
LMFAO..
Another classic…Oh the self-awareness is absolutely on point..The irony.. 🙂
“For someone who gets everything wrong, you sure are an arrogant son of a bitch.“
Banford wrote this, can I just direct peoples attention to that.
“I would like to take you up on that wager now”
Positioning himself so he can root for United freely…is this detestable or subtly genius?
And it’s a pen to Leicester.
Oh dear
For the record, last kick of the game.
I wouldn’t like to comment on that Marc 🙂
Penalty to Leicester.
Could you have blamed the red for maybe looking the other way there haha
9-0!
“better organized defensively,”
Have you watched how we gave up that goal last game. They left a player free a few yards in front of our GK while defending a corner kick. Even my GF knows that one should assign a player to mark any opponent next to the GK.
PhD
Meant it in the warmest way possible mate, a good woman elevates a man without question and very happy for you to have someone who does that for you.
Sounds like you’re well on-course so can only wish the best of luck along the way in everything. I’m typically busy of late and like yourself have more of a passing interest in us lately as opposed to a full passion, sad really. Hoping for a renaissance at some point. Busy bee personally and professionally though, a lot of significant steps to take in the next 12 months or so.
9 fuckin’ nil away…….
Insane, just set the PL record. That United 9-1 over Ipswich looked like it would never get beaten.
Leicester look scary when they get going, credit to Brendan.
I think Mr Guy 🙂 needs to get laid…
As in,he bends over touches his toes and awaits the Rodger,Lodger signalling call to be entered or mounted!
🙂
Chumpagne
You literally just pasted in a quote in which I say we’ve “improved”. “Improved” ≠ “good”. Do you understand basic logic?
Bamford has a history of making a statement, getting called out on it and then not being able to let go. He then proceeds to dig deeper and deeper with other posters just taking the piss.
It never ends well.
That’s the record equalled for biggest PL win, but the new record for goals scored away from home in one game I thought?