courtesy @allthatchas
I thought I’d wait to see what the BIG DOG DAVE ORNSTEIN penned on The Athletic this morning before dropping a post on the aftermath of Xhaka-gate yesterday.
Predictably, the piece points towards a familiar story… a lack of leadership at Arsenal.
I’m not calling time on anyone yet, but my deep fear is fancy players aside, the direction of Arsenal is somewhat off-track again, or, more to the point, has never been on track. Rumblings I hear from the club around leadership have been far from positive, and the fact that there was a motion to offer Unai Emery a new deal last summer tells you that the expertise levels in some parts of the boardroom are well off.
The big talking point today was the list of managers that were under consideration in 2018. The shortlist was pretty much where we expected it to be. I was surprised Enrique / Jardim weren’t on the list. I was surprised Lopetigui was on there. Outside that, the shortlist had all the obvious candidates.
Arteta was the frontrunner, the point that is missing for me is that Unai Emery most certainly wasn’t on the original shortlist. From what I understand, he was a last-minute sub when Ivan lost his nerve on Mikael Arteta. I don’t think it’s hard to piece that together from the timeline of events, and I think even the staunchest Emery fan would be hard pushed to convince anyone that Unai was a better candidate than most of the names on the list. I know that his English was raised as a concern by people at interview stage, namely, that he couldn’t speak a word of it. I know from doing my own personal numbers and research he was a bad candidate, so I can’t imagine our number crunchers gave him a thumbs-up, most likely because no analysis was done due to the time crunch. Even a cursory look at Google would tell you he couldn’t organise a defence, he had trouble with egos and the football was overly negative.
So unless every single person on that list rejected the club, it really must have just been Arteta at the death before we switched attention to someone that had been freshly fired.
Arteta’s lack of a backroom team was apparently a problem. Again, it’s another contradiction for me. The club has gone out of its way to talk about the new modern infrastructure, then the first thing we do is let Unai Emery bring in 5 of his own coaching staff, completely unvetted after being fired by PSG? How is that due diligence? We literally bought in a strength and conditioning coach when we already had one that had won a World Cup with Germany and transformed our pitiful operation back in the day. We had an assistant. We had a keeping coach. We had video analysts. We could have just copied what PSG did for Thomas Tuchel, namely, gone out and purchased whoever the best assistant in world football was at the time. If the only problem you have with a candidate is they don’t have 2 additional coaching staff, that’s kind of ideal. It reduces the candidate’s power, gives leadership more control of the direction of the club, and gives everyone the assurance that quality control measures were in place.
Major point here: The club fired Wenger in April. They had time to work out all of these kinks. They had the opportunity to rebuild Arsenal around a vision. Fuck whether that was Arteta or not. The idea was correct. Bring in a young coach with big ideas. Set the bar low with the fans, tell them we’re building an exciting future around kids, and we’re going to build from the ground up, and we’re going to make The Emirates the most exciting place to watch football in the world. Exactly the approach Chelsea took this season.
How could last season have been any worse than what it was? We’d have had a style in place now, a City light. The players would have known what they’re doing. We’d be in year two now and we’d all know exactly where we were heading as a club.
Again, I have to return us to the original point. Some of our leadership team wanted to give Emery a new deal last summer, despite the mountain of evidence he was tanking the squad. This season, seeing that we’re in deep decline again, with fires literally everywhere, we’re being assured the manager will be given time.
Based on what? A lack of a replacement could be a fair point. Not surprisingly, there’s no contingency plan outside Freddie Ljungberg, which is a huge problem and a major red flag. How can no thought have gone into contingency after watching the insipid Europa League final? How can they not have a list of 5 candidates after travelling down to the training and seeing what’s going on? We should have someone waiting by the phone, studying our squad, making plans.
You know what happens when you don’t have a plan? Jose Mourinho. The lack of direction we have is similar to that of United. Because you don’t know where you’re going, you outsource your decisions to super agents. Make no mistake, Mourinho would feel good in the moment, but he’s an arsonist. He’d bury us in 2 seasons. OGS is taking a lot of stick at the moment, no one is out here pointing the finger at Jose for the wreckage he left him to fix.
Interestingly I was told that Edu has been the black hand behind the Mesut Ozil issue that’s going on. Questionable strategy against a player that has public sentiment on his side, not to mention the fact he’s consistently communicated to the media that he’s going nowhere. Again, is this what you’d call leadership? Creating a huge media fuss for what is essentially a losing battle that has in part, contributed to the break-neck speed in which public sentiment has turned against the manager. I would also bet that this inconsistent behaviour has led to some of the dressing room split that lots of papers are reporting on this morning.
Remember this: Arsenal pulled forward transfer budget from this upcoming summer to make last year happen. It wasn’t a gift from Josh. It wasn’t anything clever. It was a major gamble. The missing part of the commendable effort was considering the manager. He’s not very good, we could all see that last season, but Raul has been so invested in the decision, maybe he can’t see beyond his nose here?
Let’s see where it goes, but it’s worth noting we’re in October, two of our captains are in disgrace, the football is terrible, there’s a dressing room split, the fans have turned against a manager so petrified at the moment he has ‘good ebening’ Tourettes syndrome and it’s affecting him in interviews.
Not a good look. We need strong leadership and we need it now. Showing faith in something that’s clearly broken is not that.
What’s the plan, Arsenal?
Benny
Confirming what I’m saying you wobbler.
Guns of SF
I think our mids have the ability to perform better than they are right now as long as Xhaka isn’t part of them. And if he is, then the right partners must be selected for him. So that means no Xhaka- Guendozi.
Xhaka needs to be a sub, and cup player.
His lack of athletic ability is the reason why we get overrun in midfield with him tugging and fouling all the time.
OTOH, he cannot develop to be quicker. He can read the game better maybe but NOTHING can fix a lack of mobility and quickness.
So, he needs to sit and come on when tired legs happen as a sub
Cesc Appeal
Is that for real re-Emery voting process ?
When will he figure out it’s his decision and not the team ? Smh.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7623505/Granit-Xhaka-clinging-Arsenal-captaincy-Unai-Emery-set-consult-players.html
here it is
IF this is true, Freddie needs to take over now.
Enough of this wish washy BS. What exactly does Emery do?? Cannot make a decision anymore?
Highbury “Leicester vs. Arsenal. There will be blood – and probably not theirs.” Well, it’s in twelve days, so hopefully Bellerin and Holding will be fully fit by then and in the XI. And hopefully Emery will have replaced Xhaka in the XI as well. Even then, we’ll still be weak in midfield, but I don’t see it getting “bloody,” as you (giddily?) suggest. “The worst is yet to come.” I love this idea that a 2-2 draw to Palace is beyond-the-pale, horrible-terrible. “The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Palace came back from two goals down!!!!” Anyone remember… Read more »
Distant Legrover
That’s what I read.
He’s fearful of a backlash apparently.
‘Fearful’ basically characterises Emery as a manager now.
If Xhaka and the players cannot understand why his behaviour was unacceptable and that he would be lucky to play for Arsenal again let alone be the captain then the whole lot who don’t get it need turfing out.
Guns of SF
We can only hope bro. I know i m tired of seeing those Hollywood passes that takes a decade to reach their targets. Also it’s no coincidence that our midfield lost it’s attacking and assists ability when he joined.
Spineless if true, dead man walking stuff.. ‘afraid of player backlash’?
Take Lucas T with you Xhaka… and Emery.
A sissy who cries on the bench- I thought he had more toughness in him.
Uruguay kid- where is that steel???
This is the problem with our team…. choir boys always
We thought we were getting the new Cesc/Xabi but we instead got the Per Mertesacker of midfields.
Champagne charlieOctober 28, 2019 19:32:34 UnaaiIt’s not hard to cherry pick the good of managers at their respective roles, but you’re refusing to digest the whole picture and extrapolating that one Liverpool season to be reflective of Rodgers as a manager, period. It’s a nonsense. Champers No. I’m not. I’ve already said I actively used to tune into his Swansea team for the sheer joy of watching them play. His Liverpool team for me was the only thing comparable to the invincibles for sheer, breathtaking attacking football and world class goals every single weekend. And now he’s at it again… Read more »
This is such weak management from Emery regarding Xhaka.
The players were incorrect in the first place in their judgement if the reports are true that they voted for him as captain.
This could also be of course that Emery himself wants him as captain still and is using the players as safety blanket.
Either way as others have said Xhaka is going to be a major downfall for him.
Weak, weak management.
If none of our players got into Xhaka’s ear, then it says it all.
They are weak. Hell, i think if we had Licht, he would have probably said something not so nice in the locker room to Xhaka.
This group? Who is going to get into the face of Xhaka? Ozil? Auba?
Nah
Maybe Laca???
Sokratis? Not sure… maybe
disgraceful
Bamford
“Well, it’s in twelve days, so hopefully Bellerin and Holding will be fully fit by then and in the XI”
Did you see Holding get turned inside out against Vitoria in the Europa League by one of their forwards?
Always had time for the guy but he is being massively over-rated now.
He is talked about like the second coming of Alessandro Nesta.
Goooo compare
Emery
2-0 loss to city
3-2 loss to Chelsea
3-1 loss to Leicester
3-0 loss to wolves
3-2 loss to place
5-1 loss to Liverpool
3-1 loss to Liverpool
4-1 loss to Chelsea (euro cup final)
1-0 loss to Sheffield United
1-0 loss to BATE borisov
3-1 loss to Man U
3-2 loss to Chelsea
1-0 loss to West Ham
3-1 loss to Rennes
He’s only had 15 months in the job 😂 😂
Bamford
If the reports are true about Emery in relation to Xhaka best give up on him real soon no? Like now.
He is ducking out in making his own managerial decisions or just as worse is continuing to rate Granit Xhaka.
Bamford 10
Most of the teams you listed were bigger and better teams than us at the time. And bigger and better often has the upper hand. Yes Wenger suffered against better teams but more often than not he whooped the small teams. Emery has won 6 in his last 17 PL games ??? Can you imagine Wenger with a record like that, even at his worst ?
Bamford now the new Pierre of Le Grove… oh how times change.
Unaai
Brendan Rodgers sets the bar low for Arsenal, he’s not a caretaker manager and he’s not in the same realm as an Allegri.
–
Banford
We’ve lost 2 two-goal leads in 10 PL matches this season.
More than we have done in the last 6 years combined. There’s your improvement you spatula.
Distant
That’s sackable form right there!!! 6/17??
Atrocious
Jeez, picture on the internet of Gallas stropping, Van Persie celebrating scoring against us for United, Kozz stripping off his shirt for the Bordeaux reveal and now Xhaka telling the fans to fuck off.
Brief history of Arsenal captains.
Crikey.
Un na naai
😠😠😠 Didn’t know we ve had that many losses already. And when you add all the unnecessary draws, its a frankenstein picture.
CA
Don’t forget cesc putting on a Barca jersey and throwing a strop to leave
CA
Another reason Arteta was massively underrated when playing here.
Total captain material.
Distant
When you consider some of our wins and draws have been by the skin of our teeth. We’re it not for Aubameyang and Lacazette that list would surely double
Unaai
Oi give it a couple of days, solid chance another Liverpool drubbing is incoming.
Add it to the list Emery.
Ishola I agree that Holding is not the second coming of this or that, but he has more pace than Luiz or Sokratis, so he can probably help us at the moment. Further, your saying that Holding isn’t all that great (despite so many pining for him) only further underscores my point that Emery isn’t working with great options. As for Emery asking the players what they think about Xhaka, I might agree that he should simply make the decision himself, but it’s not like asking the players what they think is some horrible, terrible, unforgivable approach to a team… Read more »
Charlie
You’re not going to change my mind and I won’t change yours. I’m convinced he’s going to win something big one day. Until then he will over achieve at clubs like Leicester and neither of us can prove how good he will be until he gets the nod at a club with money and status again.
Ishola just can’t stand English players. It seeps into his comments daily.
Champagne charlieOctober 28, 2019 21:43:53
UnaaiOi give it a couple of days, solid chance another Liverpool drubbing is incoming. Add it to the list Emery.
What?? With our improved defensive organisation and tactical frame work? No question
If they dont make an example of our Xhaka things are going to go haywire. The Ozil situation will keep festering even more… He needs to be stripped of the captaincy. The fans are the ones who pay all these millionaires – we are the blood of the team. How dare he pull some of that shit on us? We can cheer or boo if we like… we are the ones shelling out $ to support the team Xhaka needs to be made an example of. End of… if he remains captain this shows just how out of control we… Read more »
Bamford Both you and I know that Xhaka is an unsuitable captain for Arsenal. The majority of fans know he is an unsuitable captain for Arsenal. Most of the pundits give out that he is not captain material. Many regardless of captaincy think he shouldn’t be in the Arsenal XI at all. It matters not what his footballing team mates think because their judgement is obviously clouded on the matter. So what is Emery about here? Why does he fail to make such an obvious decision off his own back? You can only infer from this that he is weak.… Read more »
What about the FOUR goal lead we lost against Newcastle or the THREE goal lead we threw away against Anderlecht.
Lot of anger and mockery online about this whole vote thing
With an international break coming up if the results don’t improve Emery could be gone
Per Mertesacker was also a great captain, even in his final season when he was fucked. Immense behind the scenes apparently.
He must be a bit of a thick Spaniard to keep allying himself with the most error prone weakest player he has in his first XI.
Comical and tragic for him really.
Lets just hope Raul isn’t a thick Spaniard and finds the logic needed to push club forward
Telling the fans who are booing your performance- and telling them to fuck off is unacceptable. Its an insult to all fans in my book. The disdain, even if the booing was not right, is beyond the pale. Xhaka will never be able to gather the trust of the fans again. Couple that with his abilities and he is done… toasted. His days should be numbered. The players have to ask, why is it the fans boo? Xhaka needs to ask, why does he get so much flak??? For him to ignore the obvious, or he must be plain delusional.… Read more »
Arsensl allowing a 4-2 lead against Spurs to slip away.
Arsenal leading 2-0 at halftime against Spurs before losing 3-2.
Who can forget Arsenal scoring in the 8th minute of injury time against Liverpool then conceding a penalty in the 9th minute of injury time lol
“He’s representing Arsenal as a captain and it is unacceptable to think you’re as big as anything at the club. [Xhaka’s] behaviour was atrocious, and I don’t see him having a future at the club” – Charlie Nicholas
Thanks for the quote Bamford.
So this is in reality the end for Emery yes?
The players are running the show here not Emery.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12090/11847864/grant-xhaka-has-no-future-at-arsenal-says-charlie-nicholas
Good article this… with the quote from ^
We will know soon enough.
If Xhaka walks out as Arsenal captain again any time soon we will know that Emery is not carrying out his duties as Arsenal manager/coach. Failing to do so.
B10
This has nothing to do with Wenger any longer.
Emery is culpable for some atrocious decision making.
Yes, I totally blame Wenger for where we were when Emery took over.
What has materialised since then though has shown us all that we took on the wrong man.
It was never going to end well with Xhaka, which then begs the question why did Emery select him.
Ishola
“So this is in reality the end for Emery yes?”
No, it’s not. Sanllehi and Edu will decide when Emery’s time is up, and I seriously doubt their thinking at the moment is anything akin to the hysterical ravings one is seeing from the mob. As I said this morning, Emery will likely be here through May barring a massive turn for the worse in results.
It can be difficult for a manager/coach if there is a more than sizeable clique in the dressing room and a problem player is at the centre of that clique.
But Emery has to man up and break up the clique.
If he doesn’t it’s to the detriment of Arsenal FC.
Graham
Yeah, you’re not really speaking to the points I’m making. That’s OK, though. Cheers.
Ishola
“The players are running the show here, not Emery.”
No, that’s not right either. Asking players for their input ≠ the players running the show.
Ishola
Xhaka seems like the type to kiss ass and Emery is the type to like those who buy into his bullshit, as most wouldn’t. So match made in heaven.
Bamford
You haven’t really answered your thoughts on the Emery/Xhaka situation.
If we continue to see Xhaka as captain or for others even in the first XI then Emery must be failing in his job no?
It would mean he is continually failing to resolve a major problem in his football team.
Xhaka is finished at our club.
If he isn’t, there’s going to be massive repercussions.
What a mess.
Distant legrover
” seems like the type to kiss ass”
Yes he does seem to look to have that creep element to him.
Maybe he appeals and bolsters Emery’s vanity.
Silly man Emery. Very silly.
Although these recent subbings off with Xhaka from Emery may indicate that their relationship is straining.
The bigger problem may be now as others are implying is player power over manager/coach.
Before Wenger’s arrival, based on trophies won, Arsenal were the second biggest club in England behind Liverpool.
Therefore, it’s a statistical fact that the club went backwards following Wenger’s 22-year reign, not forwards.
B10
Do you mean sticking to the points?
B10
Do you see the current situation as just an inconvenience?
Emery will be gone sooner than you think.
Graham
No, I mean “speaking”. And I don’t know what you mean by Emery being “an inconvenience”. He will likely be here through May. Whether he stays beyond that — I am generally of the view that he shouldn’t — will depend a little on how the team does from this point on. I have spoken on Emery many times here at this point. See my many previous comments if you are wondering what my view of him is. Cheers.
Ishola
I think managers sometimes can underestimate how much a fan knows about his team. The fans have known for a long time that Xhaka is a bad fit yet the manager continue to shove him down our throat, until this debacle happened. Eboue too with Wenger.
Ishola
I have said many times that Emery was wrong and is wrong to select Xhaka for anything — the XI, the captaincy, etc. I have even gone so far as to say that continuing to start Xhaka is a fireable offense, an opinion I more or less stand by. I personally am in the hopes that Emery is going to see the light re Xhaka. If he continues to select Xhaka, he very well could be out of a job before May.
Distant
He wasn’t “shoving” Xhaka down the fans’ throats. That’s nonsense. The players themselves voted Xhaka captain, and what would Emery know (or care, for that matter) about fan sentiment re Xhaka prior to the first boos ringing out a few weeks ago? Nothing. He literally would know nothing about the fact that many fans don’t like Xhaka.
So, no offense, but that narrative is bunk.
I bet redtruth leads such a fulfilling life.
If he some how managed to nab a wife she must blank him.
Pretty clear Xhaka was Emery’s chosen captain before the ‘vote’.
Distant legrover “I think managers sometimes can underestimate how much a fan knows about his team. The fans have known for a long time that Xhaka is a bad fit yet the manager continue to shove him down our throat, until this debacle happened. Eboue too with Wenger.” Yes. There is definitely an element of fans being viewed as know nothings by players and managers. They give out to the media all this fans are the salt of the earth stuff and many players do indeed realise and respect the importance of fans but many don’t like it when fans… Read more »
B10
Your perceptions of what is serious and what is not are very confusing.
Do……you…..see….the …..present ……situation ……as……being……nothing……more……than ……a……storm……in……a……..teacup?
You know, the Xhaka/ Emery debacle.
B10
“If he continues to select Xhaka, he could be out of a job before May”
I say he won’t see in 2020.
What an alright clusterfuck. Good summary of the chain of terrible decisions which have led to this. The fact that the hierarchy even thought about giving him a new contract after he blew the simple task of picking up a few points at the tail end of the season to qualify for the CL speaks volumes. And the inept preparation and performance in Baku should have buried Emery forever, figuratively speaking. It only confirms that feeling you get that this is Arsenal no more. Yes, they have the name, the stadium, the kitsch accessories and hoarding, but really they are… Read more »
Cesc AppealOctober 28, 2019 21:04:05
Now Emery is apparently asking the Arsenal to vote on whether they want Xhaka to remain as captain.
——–
If true,that’s leadership right there in yer face!! 🙂
LOL
Comedy hour at Arsenal..Some things never change…Sigh..
Edu & Raul seem like a king of comedies.
Fuck them!
“Now Emery is apparently asking the Arsenal to vote on whether they want Xhaka to remain as captain.”
That would disqualify Emery as the coach. He doesn’t even know what is best for the team. He doesn’t know how to set up the midfield, with or without Xhaka.
Imagine if Xhaka remains the captain, the fans boo him every time he touches the ball. If Xhaka wants to gain some respect, he should apologize to the fans and resign as the captain. Maybe then the team could convince him to be the vice captain.
“It was never going to end well with Xhaka, which then begs the question why did Emery select him.”
Cuz emery is a clueless cunt?
Honor the vote, Emery!
There are no redos in Democracy just because you don’t like the result.
Honor the vote!
As for Mr Guy’s :-),we are better organised and more disciplined,yaddi,yaddi,ya under Unai Emery..
Here’s a tweet from Gambon(see below),showing Unai’s performance over his first 47 days in charge- xGA vs xG..Where offensively we are getting slowly worse,and our defense a total abomination-in his words & rightly so..
https://twitter.com/TheMightyGambon/status/1188830953977856000
I don’t agree that opposition pressing would have any impact on a peak cesc
If you got close to him he’d turn you on your ass and break in behind you. Like all elite ballers, he could not be pressed
Post Barca cesc is another story as it looked like his flame for football was starting to fade
Cesc was a great leader. He was a battler on the pitch and he put the team on his back with incredible consistency and performances on a weekly basis.
Glorious player in his prime
And to ram home the point-Unai having spent £100m on Leno,Tierney,Sokratis,Luis and Torreira-the defence has become far worse under Unai,as Gambon has alluded to in his tweet. A visual inspection of the xGA kind of upholds the fact. https://twitter.com/TheMightyGambon/status/1188831254256504833 So much for being better organised and more defensively disciplined!! lol And the pearler from Mr Guy 🙂 Mid-game during the Arsenal vs C.Palace game… Bamford10October 27, 2019 17:46:27 “Excellent. 2-0. We are playing with intensity, energy and urgency, and this on both sides of the ball.Fuck off to all who have said that Emery has brought nothing to the club… Read more »
Bamford You seem to be struggling with fact most frustrations aren’t the 2-2 draw vs Palace, its a culmination of results that have dropped since early April with no end in sight. Its habitually getting the starting XI wrong. Inability to cut into the final third with his MF tactics and selection leaving a potentially nuclear attack wasted. Miraculously defensively on par with Wenger’s ultimate banter side with a rolling XG that illustrates a man bereft of idea. Spineless decisions that stink of insecurity where man management is concerned, a death nail in football management and definitely Emery’s undoing w/… Read more »
Yea that mid-game comment aged wonderfully didn’t it, obliterated a sock ten minutes into a home game vs Palace and has since went back to selective ignorance.
Bamford emery will last until May only if the results improve a fair bit and if the fans decide to allow that
If the fans turn on emery properly he’ll be gone in a matter of weeks. Raul and edu can’t fight the mob and win. It’s just a question of if and when
Sal
Duly noted there Sal but have you considered our first 45 mins against Bournemouth where we were excellent? Or our improved pressing, organisation, and defending?
Because if not, then maybe football isn’t for you.
https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/28/arsenal-stars-appalled-treatment-granit-xhaka-fans-unai-emery-11001235/
This pretty much rubber stamps everything Pedro has been harping on about leadership and having a manager that can work a room, handle a presser, deal with the spotlight.
Weak leadership isn’t tolerated by a group, human fucking nature. He’s a goner.
Bamford
Making a guy the captain of a team he shouldn’t even be near of, starting him in every PL games despite his limitations and general negative effect on the team etc. I think that’s the coach shoving him down our throats.
Amazing the dot com hasn’t even put out a statement. Head in the sand eh
Champagne charlieOctober 29, 2019 00:05:18 Yea that mid-game comment aged wonderfully didn’t it, obliterated a sock ten minutes into a home game vs Palace and has since went back to selective ignorance. ——————— I don’t know..What was it last season-“Poverty of players….?” This season.”selection,injuries and return to fitness of players”-despite having improved the squad somewhat over the recent summer.. In between his arguments are,to paraphrase him -‘Get rid of Xhaka,we should come good with the return of players and the right team selection.’ But what we are now witnessing according to him,is a better organised and more disciplined team.Despite the… Read more »
Just seen a stat that showed that even during the first half that we were winning, Arsenal had less possession that Crystal Palace.
Seems that the equaliser and the raucous caused by the removal of Xhaka were the jolt that kicked us into higher gear.
Proof if one more was needed that this team like its manager is reactive and not pro-active. So much for being protagonist.
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1376070/Live/England-Premier-League-2019-2020-Arsenal-Crystal-Palace
The club didn’t handle the fall-out of the Xhaka meltdown properly.
They should have made him apologize immediately and drawn a line under the whole issue…then dealt with the rest internally.
Now it’s morphed to an inferno of some sorts.
Maybe,it’s a question of killing several birds with one stone? No,public comment from the club defending him outrightly,or forcing him to make a grovelling apology. That sets the player up,to think f”k it -I’m out of here.Literally gets his agent to find him another club,AFC are like..aarghh.Ok,cool..He forces the move,they save money in not paying him off and also winning the PR war.. Remember,they are also dealing with Ozil..So,trying to see how they can get rid of certain players,that are of no benefit to them in the long run,without having to take a heavy hit(financially) and also lose out on… Read more »
PhD
Champagne charlie would be devastated were is favourite player Xhaka to leave the club
So much for our great attack, they haven’t scored for three Prem games against mid table and lower teams.
Emery is so poor.
Toxic environment and toxic management on all levels to be honest..
Does not bode well for the future..
Arsenal seems to be that type of organisation now(well once Dein left),where it is all about the power play.Key players,trying to assert their authority and protect their vested interests.
The footballing side of things,is a mere distraction.Do enough to keep up with the racing pack…Pure and simple.
“Champagne charlie would be devastated were is favourite player Xhaka to leave the club“
Heartbroken mate
“So much for our great attack, they haven’t scored for three Prem games against mid table and lower teams.
Emery is so poor.”
It’s fuck all to do with Emery, it was fans who were hyping them up…
It’s something to do with Emery , he’s the coach.
RedtruthOctober 29, 2019 00:54:31 PhDChampagne charlie would be devastated were is favourite player Xhaka to leave the club —- Nah,I don’t think so..He’d be more devastated if the owners in charge were to remain ad infinitum.With no clear direction of what the ambitions are of the club. In terms of recruiting a manager of repute,that could elevate us to the next level of trying to compete with the likes of the Man City’s,RM’s,Barca’s of this world.Even,though that might not be a realistic ambition straight away,but surely a plan and a vision must be in place to achieve that goal over… Read more »
Paulinho
“{Xhaka is] not actually much worse than any other midfielder we have right now (which is another story), but it’s only now fans have reached their breaking point with him.”
Good point. While Guendouzi, Torreira and Ceballos are all better options than Xhaka in midfield, the first two are only marginally better. Further, I’m glad you agree that our midfield is incredibly weak. Some people here seem to think we have a top four midfield; we definitely don’t.
Marc
“I’m not shy [Champagne,] you’re just irrelevant. You also have a tendency to lie. Remember when you claimed to have a season ticket and then spent most of the next match posting on here?”
Good point. Do you still claim to have a season ticket, Champagne?
“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 yesterday 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 ways from having the personnel to contend for… Read more »
Ceballos has appealed to the fans to be united. He should also tell Emery not to freeze out a teammate.The fans are following his example.
Which teammate is that ?
WengerEagle “If United finish ahead of us, I’ll never post on here again.” As I said earlier, I’d like to take you up on this wager now. Except we’ll reduce the exile to three months. Just a week ago you were so confident in your opinions and so dismissive of mine, and yet I can’t help but feel that you are running away from this pronouncement of yours now. What do you say, WE? Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is? I’m giving you three points, after all, and you regard the idea that United are… Read more »