You can analyse incidents in isolated moments or you can spread them across time to paint a clearer picture of what’s going on
Granit Xhaka; jeered and booed by his own fans, on the face of it looks like a horrifying moment. I don’t like it when we boo our own, I found it disgusting when folk in my stand used to do it to Theo Walcott, I find it embarrassing when they do it now.
However, it’d be unwise to cast this as a ‘bad fans / sad indictment of the social media generation’ type of incident.
Simply put, Granit Xhaka has been one of the worst signings of the past decade. He has never been well-liked by the fans and for good reason. He’s not built for the league, he has consistently been one of the most error-prone players in the squad, and he’s not a leader.
Unai Emery was so petrified of his decision to award a bang average player the armband, he waited until September, then leaked a sham captains election to solidify his skinny case for the defence.
Xhaka is a tactical liability for Arsenal. Not only that, he’s also demonstrated a real lack of leadership this season. This was him after his embarrassing Spurs mistake.
“We had a lot of chances, but this is football, nobody speaks about the chances, about how many we missed, always they speak about mistakes. That’s a part of football.”
This is our captain after the Watford game.
‘“We were scared in the second half. We knew they would come at us and push us hard but we have to show more character and not be scared.’
Scared? Can you imagine Tony Adams going on the record with such a stark admittance?
This is Xhaka after being jeered, presumably for slow-walking when we’re chasing 3 points at home to Crystal Palace.
He appeared to mouth ‘fuck off’ twice to the fans. Say what you will about how it must feel to be booed, that sort of response is not cool. You represent the badge and the fans are all that matters to your standing. He could have turned that moment on its head if he’d been smart, but instead, he played into the circus, now he’s on the backfoot.
He can’t even fall back on the decision being a poor one.
60 minutes of Xhaka on the pitch, Palace completed 219 passes, had 4 shots on target. Arsenal had 7 attempts, 3 on target (2 from corners).
30 minutes of Xhaka off the pitch, Palace completed 39 passes. Had 0 shots o target off 2 attempts. Arsenal had 8 attempts, 3 on target. We also had a fair goal disallowed.
It is not in debate whether he is good for the team. We are better with Xhaka on the bench. Baffling that Emery is only just realising this, but he is. He took his captain off on 69 minutes against Sheffield United, then removed the Swiss on 60 minutes today… which is a real fuck-you-very-much move.
Now the manager has a really tough decision to deal with. He has Mesut Ozil sitting in the stands for reasons he can’t disclose, but he did give us this.
“Here we have one agreed strategy as a club and a team. Because the most important thing is the club, the team and finding a performance.”
I am completely game for brutal decision making in the world of elite-level sport, you just have to be consistent. The manager made Mesut Ozil one his five captains in September, then he bombed him into exile, apparently because he’s poor in training. If it’s performance, I can get onboard with that, but you have to be consistent. Granit Xhaka almost never gives us a performance, fans were complaining that he was a 6 out of 10 today because that’s a good day in the office. If poor performances are an issue, why does Granit seem to be immune to the bench? There has to be consistency. Additionally, telling the fans to fuck off is presumably not a good look for Emery or exec leadership?
I also think we need to talk about the manager’s general performance. Palace completed more passes than Arsenal up until 55 minutes. A team that treats ball like an ebola grenade, completing more passes than us, in our backyard? It’s abhorrent to think that our game has sunk to those depths. Emery is destroying our identity on the pitch, he chips away a little of our pride in every outing, and we don’t even have results to show for it.
We have very little squad stability. The Mesut story is totally out of control, now we have a captain that just pushed the nuclear button on live TV, and we’re floundering in the league. Things are so bad, no one is paying attention to the fact our two star strikers are heading into the ‘we have to sell’ moment in their deals. Auba is final year next summer, Lacazette is at the point where he’d be sold if we take Raul at his word.
This situation we’re in is going to get worse. We haven’t hit the bottom yet, but believe me, we’re going to find it. Our plan is Champions League football. We seem to be betting on a manager with no vision to deliver that. We’re in ‘get it over the line’ mode. That’s not a real plan. We should be investing in a footballing philosophy we can build around. Emeryball is not that. His style of football a dog with wheels for back legs trying to climb the stairs. One step forward, 3 back.
The club needed to invest in a vision. We should have done that when we replaced Arsene Wenger. Find a young coach with an attachment to the fans. Map the coach to the vision of football you want to see. Build the backroom team around that. Sign players that fit the mold for the style you want. That coach could have been Freddie, Paddy, or Arteta. The plan Chelsea are activating is what a lot of us wanted when we replaced Wenger. They’ve set the bar low, told the fans this season is about the kids, and they’ve hired someone exicting they already love. Chelsea might not make the top 4 this season, but Frank Lampard is a young coach with an attachment to locals, one they’ll give time to, and one that believes in good football. He already has his kids playing better than Arsenal.
If we’d take that approach, could it really have been any worse than a sauceless manager that shipped out Ramsey, binned Mesut Ozil after making him captain, made Granit Xhaka captain, and gave us anti-football? It’s so sad, fans are clamouring for Jose Mourinho. Think about that.
So a point against Palace. We’re tanking our easy games. If you’re honest, we were lucky against Burnley and Villa. Not a single good performance this season. It’s bad. It’s only the beginning. Wait until December. Emery is an out and out disaster.
See you in the comments.
Bamford Heres what Raul is thinking: He’s running the numbers and calculating the damage with how much a gap can we claw back from. Just dropped 5 of 6 points leaving us 4 points adrift on target. Two very tricky premier fixtures approaching at what number does he make the hard decision and replace, is it 10 points off target? Liverpool replaced Rodgers having dropped 12 of his opening 24 potential points, Unai has dropped 14 of the potential 30, that curve is going to start looking untenable real soon if the next couple results go wrong. I’m not even… Read more »
Pierre u are indeed obsessed with Ozil. Red, plz cut the crap. Emery ain’t pulling any trees.
Xhaka deserves every pint of the boos he got. As captain, your team was chasing a win with the game in a tie, u decide to model of the pitch when substituted. It does go extreme if clowns attack him with death threats. Emery’s race is run and he deserves to be moved on.
Amazing that some of you still believe Allegri would want to join us….
Not a single news on Sky or BBC re the VAR fiasco. At the time, the casters said that VAR is checking for a foul, committed by Chambers, before any replay of the situation was shown. So they had info that the goal is overruled precisely for a Chambers foul. Then again, NO replay was shown on the TV screens like it was shown before, of the countless replays that the VAR is looking at. ZERO! Now both Sky and BBC are keeping it low-key and making the Xhaka situation the talking point of the game. And Emery, with the… Read more »
Jose Mourinho has one more chance to prove himself at the top, do you think he will throw it away? Jose is an intelligent guy, he knows this is no time for drama, he has been fired at two top English clubs because of his dramatic uproars, let me tell you, Jose knows he can’t afford to be fired at a third major club in England. We are going to get a Jose desperate for success, a Jose like the one Porto had. Think about it fellas! We had our chance to try a young unknown coach two years ago,… Read more »
“Apparent foul” and “alleged foul” That’s how BBC and Sky are calling it. While all of the comments on BBC under the match report are about VAR, BBC are busy making news about Xhaka. Of course it’s going to get swept under the carpet. Same way English branded all Bulgarians as racists, making news like “RACISTS 0 – 6 ENGLAND” while they have racist shouting and jeering on their own leagues every single bloody week in week out.It’s whatever suits them. Nobody is going to rise vs Mike Riley like my country’s Prime Minister asked for and eventually received the… Read more »
“What’s the point in having a manager, if what you say is true .”
Pierre we have a head coach and a director of football.
Lots of decisions are made over the coach ( I’m not saying Ozil was but upper management wants Ozil out.)
Remember Emery saying he wants Eddie to stay? What happened?
Emery has been slow cooking Xhaka.It’s cruel Unai. Cruel.
Only a retard would will rivel in this.
Why not admit your idol – Emery is full of shite and your are shite personified for.
raptora
“Not a single news on Sky or BBC re the VAR fiasco.”
It’s because VAR fuck-ups are so regular.
All across the board. All clubs.
It’s not news now.
Bamford, your ‘improved organisation’ is ridiculous when in the same breath you criticise midfield selections as if Emery wasn’t responsible.
Not sure why I’m responding to your speciousness.
Pedro
That’s a real shame, any noise on where? Stinks of United. Makes a mid season change all the more unlikely (as far as jizz worthy candidates are concerned). If there’s one thing the club lacks its balls, the Emery hire was evidence of that and I’ve little/no faith the resultant fallout will be handled much better. Over to Edu one hopes
Receding
Almost like I deem Emery the issue mate, weird that. Hold on, let me fire right into Bellerin for not being fit yet and blame his vegan lifestyle.
raptora
Relax man. Don’t work yourself into a pretzel.
Tee
My idol who when joined I said didn’t think he would do much for Arsenal?
Some idol that eh.
Your completely off I’m afraid.
Probably another that wets himself in frustration just because some on here point out that both coach and certain personnel are not good enough.
Not just the one.
“Another manager with this same team will be challenging for the title.” One of the funnier things written here in some time. A back four today of Chambers, Sokratis, Luiz and Tierney. Only Tierney is good enough to start for a title-contending team. A midfield of Xhaka, Guendouzi and Ceballos. Only Ceballos is capable of starting for a title-contending team. A front three of Pepe, Lacazette and Aubameyang. Only Aubameyang is capable of starting for a title-contending team, and even at that, he has fairly significant limitations. We are a long, long, long ways from having the personnel to contend… Read more »
Bob
Organization and selection are two entirely different things. Do better.
The whole point of VAR was to make decisions fair. It was supposed to give us crystal clear views and while some decisions are too hard to call even after 100 replays it was supposed to give us clarity, objectivity, a view above the one of a flawed individual aka ref. What was clear in tonight’s decision? Nobody knew why the goal got ruled out. Nobody showed a replay of the situation with VAR name on the screens. Casters were mindblown by the decision. They assumed what the problem was and showed their own replays of the situation while VAR… Read more »
The EPL is by far the most popular football league in the world right now but after the clear corruption that prevailed today, if no justice is done, people will begin to find a decent football league to pay attention to.
You should check the international uproars on Twitter.
Sorry, long post. All I’m trying to say is that our fans seem to overate our players. The manger, no matter how good or bad he is, can’t do better than what he has at his disposal. Man City lose Laporte and they look terrible at the back instantly. Somehow, the great Pep can’t wave his magic wand and turn Otamendi and Stones into a formidable pair. If Emery gets sacked, the next manager may lift the players but sooner or later, they’re going to hit a brick wall because they’re simply not good enough. The football hasn’t been great… Read more »
Chambers got pushed with two hands by Milivojevic when the ball was coming at him. It’s 100 times more of a pen than what they decided is a foul by Chambers on Milivojevic. https://streamable.com/sg3t2
Jorge Mendes was the Emirates apparently with Sanllehi.
Mourinho’s agent.
*at the Emirates
From a poster at ARSENAL TRUTH “Modern Arsenal fans show every day that actually, they are not genuine fans of Arsenal FC, but a bunch of social media warriors. Arse hole blogs like Arseblog (some joker who doesn’t regularly attend games but speaks like he’s some authority) and Le Grove (the same clown who desperately called for Arteta hahaha)….are fuelling this ridiculous “movement” against Emery. Where Wenger was brutally mediocre for a decade and the likes of Arseblog and the Emirates sheep made excuses? No such consistency on Emery. Do you remember the days AT when you would write a… Read more »
Bamford, Organization and selection are two entirely different things. Are you genuinely that dense, because nobody can genuinely argue that. It should be clear that Both are interlinked. You choose your organisation in function of the personnel available to you, but you also chose players who fit the selected formation. You don’t play counter-attacking football if all your players are slow. You don’t play hoof the ball if you only have midget as strikers. You don’t play possession football if your players have poor technique. Your excuse is that Emery has a better plan than Wenger but that he can’t… Read more »
A referee with a face couldn’t have pulled that off even in the jungle. But now there are faceless corrupt men hiding in a room, fixing internationally televised matches.
Someone with authority above football should question this ASAP, this has a huge potential of labelling England badly.
Solskjaer on the penalty given by VAR after it overruled the ref’s decision: “First one I don’t think it’s a penalty. If it takes 2 mins to make a decision then it’s not clear and obvious. For me that’s a wrong one. I’d be unhappy if I got it. But then Marcus did the honorable thing and missed it”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj0xENtieK8
What a bunch of faggots are ruling in the upper floors of the EPL.
‘Jorge Mendes was the Emirates apparently with Sanllehi.Mourinho’s agent.’
Jose will happen. He is too obviously the solution. I get the emotions here but people who are getting paid millions to run an outfit don’t make emotional decisions. They make calculated result-oriented informed decisions.
Thanks Valentin for saving me the bother of explaining the obvious to Bamford.
I’m almost impressed by the conviction he comes out with. Am tempted to go on an NFL team’s blog and assert my ignorance about bunched formations on de – fence!
Playing both Lacazette and Aubameyang at the same time is a waste. Aubameyang isn’t a wide player, and the two don’t work well together. Rotate them, and play genuine wide players wide. That should be clear to Emery now.
‘Solskjaer on the penalty given by VAR after it overruled the ref’s decision: “First one I don’t think it’s a penalty. If it takes 2 mins to make a decision then it’s not clear and obvious. For me that’s a wrong one. I’d be unhappy if I got it. But then Marcus did the honorable thing and missed it”.’
WOW! Just wow, here is a very fine gentleman.
A lot of people out there saying that’s it for Emery.
Someone made an interesting point that the 2 home games against Palace have been really damaging for Emery as well as naming Xhaka captain.
I said when he did I thought that decision effectively ended it for him, whenever that might be, it was going to be a big factor.
Didn’t expect it this fast.
Those pinning for Moaninho, do u realise his salary is above £10m(i stand corrected). No! No! No! to him. Need a catch who’s modern and gets the team to be centre of attention other than himself. Positively though. Moaninho maybe will be heading across the street to our neighbours.
Raptora, I support u. How/why the goal was disallowed and not being talked about is mind blowing.
Please dont look at the tree and lose the forest behind!!
Yes it was a shocking and disgraceful VAR decision.
However our performance with our BEST line up without Bellerin looked rather below the par once again.
And that my friends is the most sinister part today. Dont get swayed by VAR…
Wmery spent the whole time talking about VAR and xhaka and refused to comment on our performance..
It truly hurts the mess we are in at the moment
We are only 6 points worse off than last season corresponding fixtures. Today we did not lose against Palace when last season we lost. I know one soul on this blog who is going to argue that we were better organised and more disciplined than last season…
Cesc
No chance. We drew with Palace, the 6th-placed team in the PL. We’re four points off of 4th. You are generally one of the more intelligent and reasonable people here, but even you seem to be losing your grip on reality.
What is going on at the moment? Get a grip, people.
Cesc Appeal
“ Jorge Mendes was the Emirates apparently with Sanllehi. Mourinho’s agent.”
Wasn’t he the one who did Pepe’s deal? He must be pretty familiar with Sanllehi.
Probably (hopefully) nothing to do to with Mourinho. Man U failed to get him the players he wanted, which left him very bitter. I’m not sure how he’s going to get on at Arsenal. We need to look elsewhere.
‘If Emery gets sacked, the next manager may lift the players but sooner or later, they’re going to hit a brick wall because they’re simply not good enough.’ The next manager wouldn’t be responsible for recommending Ramsey’s contract to be pulled. The next manager wouldn’t ask Torrey to press high or to sit on the bench, the next manager wouldn’t be responsible for making Xhaka captain. The next manager wouldn’t be responsible for Emery’s lack of communication and man management skills. The next manager might make a case to Raul and Edu for Ozil to play, assuming indeed Ozil’s freeze… Read more »
Ruth
The arsenal truth article is great reading.
Its finally sinking in that he got it wrong from day one ( like many on here).
He was positively rejoicing at Emery’s treatment of Ozil a couple of weeks ago and now the fans in their thousands are singing his name and he cant bear it … brilliant article, you can nearly feel the desperation oozing from every sentence as he finally realises that he got it wrong , totally wrong .
I’m so looking forward to his next article.
Bamford You seem to be the only person in the trenches for Emery here. That should tell you something. Ignore the pro-Wenger rabble but there are a plethora of great football blokes on this blog who have all over a period of time decided Emery is not taking this club forward. You’re either a genius or you’re totally wrong. Odds are it’s the latter in the context. I don’t know what you’re watching if you think Arsenal are moving forward. Cannot defend, Emery is yet to set up an effective midfield and we are reliant on Auba digging us out… Read more »
Substituting Xhaka by Saka was really the last throw of the dice of the condemned player. It was sheer desperation piling more and more attacking player in the hope that somehow, somebody by hook or crook will get him out of this situation.
Nobody will convince me that there was a well concocted plan in throwing a 18 years old left winger as a No10 after having asked a DM and a CM to play there before.
RK He’s not my pick. But if he came in on a short deal I could see the club going for it. ‘Can you get us 4th with this squad? Do it and you will be handsomely rewarded for 7 months work basically’. He won’t be a lame duck manager either because even if the players think he’s temporary he has the weight as a manager to demand respect and obedience. I will say again, he is not my choice, but I can see Sanllehi thinking it’s the smartest option. EPL proven etc. All this clamour to appoint ‘Freddie’…massively risky… Read more »
Gentlebris “The next manager wouldn’t be responsible for recommending Ramsey’s contract to be pulled.” This is such bullshit. Ozil is on 350k and only played every other week in his prime days at Arsenal. To now not playing at all. Ramsey was seen as one of the better senior players and is going to ask questions and bring up why he is nowhere near the undeserving salary of Ozil. Ramsey rin down his contract to get as best a possible a deal from Juventus which he couldn’t get at Arsenal. In the process he also joined a club that is… Read more »
Bamford knows emery is not good enough he’s just one of those cowards who won’t man up enough to admit he was wrong about him
“Ignore the pro-Wenger rabble but there are a plethora of great football blokes on this blog who have all over a period of time decided Emery is not taking this club forward.”
Joke comment of the year lol
Raptora
I do think Lacazette was offside when chambers touched the ball
Will watch MOTD tonight , they will analyse it.
‘Ramsey rin down his contract to get as best a possible a deal from Juventus which he couldn’t get at Arsenal.’
Ishola,
You will find as fact that the club had agreed an extension deal with Ramsey. You will find as fact that Ramsey had to demand an explanation as to why his deal was pulled. You will find as fact that Emery refused to play Ramsey for many games until Ramsey forced his hands with a 9/10 performance in a sub appearance.
Pierre: “I do think Lacazette was offside when chambers touched the ball”
This is me right when the goal was scored – “raptoraOctober 27, 2019 19:19:25
Imagine if VAR rules it out for Lacazette being offside…”
But everyone said it’s supposed to be for a Chambers foul.
How is that clarity?!?!?! A goal gets overruled and nobody knows really why?! WTF?!?!?!?!
KAYboss
Who do you recommend right. now then that’s available? There’s not much choice around. a lot of people seem to think you can just walk in and take your pick from the best managers around. It doesn’t work like that. I’m sorry to say but Mourinho is the best that’s available.. I believe he has a point to prove.. in my opinion that’s probably when you get the best Mourinho!
He is not my first choice by any means. Allegri is my choice but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.
‘I will say again, he is not my choice, but I can see Sanllehi thinking it’s the smartest option. EPL proven etc.’
Our boys in charge will definitely think Jose is the ‘SMARTEST’ choice no question, and that would be smart thinking.
Gentlebris The deal was pulled on Ramsey because they couldn’t afford him. The club are paying in installments with the Pepe signing ffs like a food voucher family getting in a new washing machine. And you want us to believe that Arsenal were going to pay Ramsey top dollar along with Ozil and Auba. The lesser playing time for Ramsey was typical of a player that is already half out of the door. It’s been seen numerous times at other clubs wity their players when they are goners. But you want us to believe that the Ramsey situation was different.… Read more »
Bamford
Let it go, Emery has had the time to make his mark.
Twice in how many games has he lost a 2 goal lead?
The EPL is brutal and you have to learn to defend to achieve anything.
Emery has not learnt from his mistakes last season.
The big problem for me after tonight’s decision is that – – the people making decision in the VAR room saw multiple replays of the goal – they had all the information needed to make a decision – it wasn’t a “mistake” made in real time by a on-pitch referee who had to get by with whatever he saw in real time – their decision was absolutely well informed – they STILL decided to take the wrong decision, imagine a nonexistent foul and fuck us in the arsehole That’s actually frightening. And much, much, much more different AND obvious than… Read more »
Pierre desperately wants that decision costing us two points to be correct so he could score a full point on Emery.
That’s cheap, Pierre. Very cheap.
Emery is clearly bad, you don’t need to hide behind a corrupt decision to parade Emery as bad.
Gentlebris
Ramsey had the contract extension way before Emery arrived and he refused to sign it.
The contract was pulled the moment Raul became top dog and like Josh Kroenke said, we are an Europa league team on a champions league budget and the high earners are being culled especially the ones the club feel they can easily replace on the cheap.
@Gentlebris With a serious manger, all the players you named in your response to me (except Torreira, and the jury is still out on him) won’t even be at the club, not to talk of being available for selection. Ramsey’s fitness record was always a worry. Was it really Emery or the club that pulled it? It doesn’t matter now. But how many games has he played for Juve since he joined them? Xhaka shouldn’t have been bought in the first place. As for Ozil, the only reason why I would expect the new manger (or Emery) to play him… Read more »
I’m not a fan of Jose. But he’s been piping up a lot about us. And after the debacle with Chelsea and United he’ll will be on to show people he isn’t finished. Would we improve defensively have some type of system under him. For sure. He might even see this as a clever appointment, we’re a sleeping giant against the bigger better teams. It’s that bad. I’d be happy to see anyone come in knowing we had a formation and a first team 11 – who for two games in a row knew exactly what they had to do… Read more »
Emery and Xhaka are done.
The final nails in the coffin in regards to perceptions.
B10
Can you please logically explain to me what you see in Unai Emery that 99.99% of Arsenal supporters don’t?
I’m intrigued to gauge your perceptions on someone who is clearly no longer fit for purpose.
You do realise that you’re making yourself look a real basket case by backing someone who is constantly fudging things up.
Why are you putting yourself through this, or is it a subtle ploy or game on your part, just to wind us all up?
I am also not a fan of Jose and am not sure he is the right person to take over. Is he better then UE for sure but so is Brendan Rodgers Rafa and a whole heap of other managers we could easily get
Good post Pedro, but you should’ve put the the incompetent, and dare I say corrupt PGMOL on the headline as well..
They are really turning the PL into a loughing stock
Rodgers has won fuck all and Rafa got Newcastle relegated and as for chequebook Mourinho…lol
‘The lesser playing time for Ramsey was typical of a player that is already half out of the door. It’s been seen numerous times at other clubs wity their players when they are goners. But you want us to believe that the Ramsey situation was different.’ Ishola, Why resorting back to Ramsey to the extent of playing him while injured if the direction was to play Ramsey less frequently? Then why agree a deal the club couldn’t afford? One would have thought the best approach would be to put on table what the club could afford and if Ramsey refused… Read more »
Xhaka meltdown reaction is worse than the Galas one, he was subsequently srripped of the captaincy and so it should for xhaka.
Completely unacceptable behaviour from any player let alone a captain!
All I can I think about the var idiots that they think Chambers could the player. That should of been a penalty for us on chambers as Cahill tripped him.
Ref should of allowed the goal.
Gentlebris
Azed has explained to you as well.
Arsenal are not stocked at all and as Azed says have to look at ways of cutting down the expenditure on the playing side.
This was done.
Ramsey got his better deal with Juventus.
There really is no more to it than that.
All I can I think about the var idiots that they think Chambers could of tripped the player. That should of been a penalty for us on chambers as Cahill tripped him.
Ref should of allowed the goal.
I personally don’t want Mourinho but I can see how it might look like a viable option as things stand.
But he won’t come in on a short-term contract, unless he needs the money to pay off a gambling debt. He would want assurances that at least two players – a solid CD and CM – will come in January.
The talks will no doubt break down at this point.
From arsenal..com The use of VAR was one of the major talking points following our 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace. It intervened to award the visitors a penalty and then – more controversially – ruled out what would have been a winning goal for Sokratis. Here’s Unai Emery’s take: on the result… Good evening. It’s 90 minutes and a lot of matters to talk about. We can speak about two directions. We can speak about our performance and also the referee’s decision with VAR. We deserved to win. We started very well with our two goals and we didn’t concede… Read more »
Xhaka getting exposed on the motd Xhaka doesn’t want the ball. And it was plain to see on the footage.
“Completely unacceptable behaviour from any player let alone a captain!”
Yep… as good as the player is!! Lol
The next step is the next level.
Samesong is correct Ian Wright and crouch both saying he should not have done it. Also saying the 3 rd goal should have stood
Rodney,
Any manager worth his weight in potatoes will get much more out of this group of players.
The place to start is to identify your first eleven that can serve the purpose of a balanced team, complementing one another; not just 11 individuals who are even starved of clear instructions.
Did you see today game? Everybody started running around desperately without coordination or team direction after the equalizer, even Sok attempted to play as a winger. Are you saying a decent coach can’t get more than that out of this group of players?
I’m actually watching the game again. That was a fair goal. The first time I saw it, I was actually thinking no way VAR is going to pull the goal back and award us a penalty instead. I’d rather have the goal.
And then the goal is disallowed. Shocking! VAR is manned by humans who may or may not be biased after all. The impersonal nature and finality of it all, means they can do whatever they like and hide under some vague, indiscernible rules.
This is the post game interview video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEK4bNroSeY
Good on Emery for saying what he did. Clear situations going against us. Tonight it was plain robbery where they had all the replays and they, VAR and the people upstairs, basically invented the situation where the goal gets overruled. Ref was never in doubt. Never even thought about giving a foul. They invented a situation that was not a foul. And called it a foul. It’s insanity.
@raptora.
Brilliant post. I’m not quite as into the full blown conspiracy theory as you just yet.. but I am being swayed..
In the World Cup was it? Referees were going to the on pitch screen so they are able to make the decision. That’s pretty fair when it’s a hard decision to make. There has to be someone making a responsible decision in the end. At least you know who to point at. Now I’m flaming a rando hiding in a room.
Tonight wasn’t even a situation. They invented it…
‘The contract was pulled the moment Raul became top dog and like Josh Kroenke said, we are an Europa league team on a champions league budget and the high earners are being culled especially the ones the club feel they can easily replace on the cheap.’ Azed, That was a wrong decision. Ramsey should be here as captain right now. He had spent 11 years at the club and has the Arsenal DNA. An insightful coach would have stood up for Ramsey, and if Emery did he would have surely be granted Ramsey. The boys upstairs wouldn’t upset a new… Read more »
Some of that Wright analysis was a bit cringe.
In the last example it was Guendouzi’s fault for not turning and seeing him rather than Xhaka not wanting the ball.
Emirates troller this is exactly what I was saying about how the fans will decide if xhaka plays, not emery, it only depends on if the fans are willing to do the ugly things necessary It never matters if the manager likes a player or is stubborn. The fans have the ability to undermine that in a few short weeks if only they are willing to kick up a fuss. As with all things at arsenal, when the fans don’t make a fuss nothing ever changes. The fans start making noise with xhaka and after just two occasions this season… Read more »
Our fans should boycott the next match out of protest to that joke of decision.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7619781/MARK-CLATTENBURG-Wilfried-Zaha-clearly-dived-win-penalty-did-VAR-interferere.html
Gentlebris “Pierre desperately wants that decision costing us two points to be correct so he could score a full point on Emery.” Stupid thing to say. I have said that if the goal was disallowed due to a chambers foul then it is a farce . I was trying to find a logical reason as to why they disallowed it and if you look at it, when chambers last touched the ball , Lacazette was actually standing in an offside position , but to disallow it for a foul was wrong. Emery doesn’t need any help from me to show… Read more »
The problem with Ramsey was he didn’t fit well into our midfield as he was a n8 who vacated the defensive side too much but we have a shit defense so that’s not ok He also wanted ridiculous wages beyond his actual level because of the awful ozil contract Ramsey was also very injury prone so offering those numbers would’ve been a joke Don’t get me wrong, Ramsey is a very talented guy and losing him for nothing was ridiculously negligent, but paying him a salary that high to mostly sit on the bench injured and then come on and… Read more »
@Gentlebris we can argue till we’re blue in the face. The table doesn’t lie, we’re told. We’re just about where we should be. If we make 3rd/4th, it will be a miracle. If it were that easy, Spurs will be 2nd or 3rd. Their squad is unsettled because a few of their players want out. Yet somehow, all this talk about Ozil and Xhaka being captain shouldn’t affect us. We’re the Arsenal, we should be immune to stuff like that. The two goals we conceded today were down to individual defensive errors. Chambers conceded a penalty and Xhaka and Luiz… Read more »
Redruth
Rodgers has won fuck all and Rafa got Newcastle relegated and as for chequebook Mourinho…lol
Both of those comments are incorrect
Rodgers has done what emery has done won trophies in a one team league and Rafa did not get Newcastle relegated
He has also won the CL
This VAR needs serious improvement. It is not right for the fans in the stadium sitting in the dark. They should have big screens showing what the VAR officials are examining. What is being discussed? How is the verdict being arrived?
Since VAR was introduced, there were many questionable decisions. If more people are talking about those decisions, there is a good chance that similar mistakes will not be made in the future.
On 11 March 2016, Benítez was appointed as the manager of relegation threatened Newcastle United, signing on an initial three-year deal.[96][97] He suffered defeat in his first match in charge, losing 1–0 away to eventual champions Leicester City on 14 March.[98] Benítez would have to wait until 16 April for his first win in charge of The Magpies, recording a convincing 3–0 victory over Swansea City in the Premier League.[99] Newcastle ended the season with a six match unbeaten run, including a 5–1 final day win over third-place Tottenham Hotspur.[100] However, the team was relegated to the Championship due to… Read more »
“That was a wrong decision. Ramsey should be here as captain right now. He had spent 11 years at the club and has the Arsenal DNA.”
Gentlebris
Unfortuanetly, some business decisions will override sporting decisions and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
Gordon Strachan and Martin O’Neill have won titles with Celtic…lol
Great post Pedro, your observations regarding Xhaka on the pitch then off sums it up perfectly.
Peng post.
@Nelson At the end of the day, it’s humans who make these decisions. Even the majority can be wrong some times.
Seriously though, they’re trying to improve it. Until this weekend, VAR hadn’t reversed the centre ref’s decision. I guess in their eagerness to correct past errors, they’re making even more profound mistakes.
Arsenal were robbed today.
Rafa got Newcastle relegated?
Lol who’s the retard? He won the championship, then finished 10th and 13th with them in the prem.
He’d be a mile better than Emery, and he’s picking his arse in China currently so is actually not an absurd shout for a calming influence. Came into Chelsea similarly and won the Europa league.
It doesn’t even matter if the fans can see it, what matters is that the officials reviewing VAR are both competent and not corrupt I can’t accept that you have a team of professionals watching the disallowed goal who can explain how that was not a goal. There is no explanation because it was quite clearly a decision made for ulterior motives Either that or the entire team of officials are entirely incompetent (which is probably also very possible). There was nothing resembling a foul there. The nearest thing to a foul was chambers being bundled over which would’ve been… Read more »
Redruth has Rodgers for Leicester playing good football ? Are they playing better than us with a much smaller budget ? Is Brendan better than Unai ?
If these questions are a yes then I would have him over Emery
Emery freezes out Özil but ironically he’s the one crashing out and burning. 😂😂😂
Some skill of ineptitude to carry that off!!!
China I agree plus they should be going to the screen to look but they don’t
Blatant cheating
In China they do actually show the var review live on the big screens in the stadium Doesn’t mean the decisions are right but gives you a chance to see what they’re doing The officials are hopeless though. I watched them review a potential foul like 12 times when it was patently clear it wasn’t a foul. There is an absolute dearth of officiating quality in world football and this is a huge issue globally because no one wants to be a ref or a linesman. It’s not like in football where elite performers rise to the top, in football… Read more »
VAR has been a mess since PSG were fucked twice in the CL where it announced its incompetence for me.
Don’t get it, it’s not clear, it’s a clusterfuck.
Mr Serge
“Redruth has Rodgers for Leicester playing good football ? Are they playing better than us with a much smaller budget ? Is Brendan better than Unai ?”
Rodger’s is underachieving compared to Claudio Ranieri so I say no to Rodgers.
Today, Emery changed the formation from 4 3 3 to 4 4 2 to accommodate our two strikers. Still, the strikers didn’t receive much services. With this never ending change of formation, it will be difficult for the team to gel.