I think it’s pretty clear that Unai Emery is finished as Arsenal manager.
The players don’t seem interested in his garbled vision, the fans aren’t attending games, and the press are now hoovering up leaks and turning them into missiles.
Emery hasn’t helped himself. He didn’t learn anything from last season. He genuinely believed all his ideas lacked were better players. Now he’s backed into a corner, he’s sending not so subtle messages to Raul and Edu that he’s unhappy with his lot.
- Lucas Torreira as a 10
- Xhaka as DM
- Mesut Ozil as a deeplying playmaker
- Kolasinac to chase important games over Nicola Pepe
Even worse for me is there’s no repentence in his press conferences. He told the world that he thought his tactical approach was correct yesterday. We shipped 25 shots, and had our total shots on target (4) doubled by a Wolves team that play on the counter. Nothing epitomises the miserable vision of Emery quite like being pleased with the output of such a coarse game.
Lots of fans think he has the Leicester game to keep his job. For me, it seems foolish to give the manager one game to change his fortunes, if we’re at this stage of the season and we’re at that level of consequence… just bite the bullet and let him go.
The top 4 is well within our grasp this season, OGS is an absolute disaster and there’s every chance Chelsea will falter. I’m also unconvinced Leiecester will be able to navigate injuries to key players. Arsenal can’t wait until January to make the move, the only problem is this: Who do they hire to replace Emery?
We are on track to replicate the disaster-cycle of United.
Arsenal hired a middling manager in Emery, when they should have taken a chance on Arteta and football of the future. That now means that Edu, a man who doesn’t seem to be too adept at navigating the media, has to make a strong decision on the next manager. If he’s brave, he’ll bring in someone young who can build a competitive club over 3 years. If he’s weak, he’ll go two feet in to the ‘WE NEED A WINNER’, this my friends, will be mistake number two… and we are not big enough or rich enough to survive mistake number 2.
I don’t mean to sound draconian, but unless Jose Mourinho has had an extreme change of mentality, he is going to be the ultimate arsonist. Emery won’t last past Christmas because he has the charm of a bag of giblets. Jose Mourinho will fail slower, but it’ll take public sentiment longer to shift against him.
He’ll come in, say the right things, he’ll likely reinstate Mesut Ozil and shape us up. He could very well be the right sort of caretaker to take us to top 4. My worry is what comes next. We’d not be buying into a brand of football that could surpass Pep G or Jurgen Klopp. We are literally skint if we don’t make the Champions League… even if we do make it, we don’t have the sort of funds that are going to satisfy one of the most glutnous managers the world has ever seen.
We’d be playing negative football, we’d have a manager bigger than the club, and we’d be trying to rekindle yesteryear… because Jose Mourinho is Arsene Wenger but in 2013.
I can’t believe we’d go down that path, but then again, I couldn’t believe the club published Xhaka’s awful apology in the matchday programme. Where was club leadership there? Who signed that off?
… likely the same person who’d say, ‘I know the history, but fuck it, Jose will get us top4.’
Bit here’s the thing. It won’t take much to get the fans on side. The papers are already working the PR angle for him.
‘Jose has a point to prove’
‘Mourinho wants to add a 3rd Champions League title’
‘Hungrier than ever, Jose refuse jobs in Europe’
On paper, he’s the best available. He’s on TV for a reason. He’s getting caught in the corporate box because he can smell the inexperience in the Arsenal leadership team.
It’s not beyond Raul either. His contacts brought Emery to Arsenal. He interviewed a sacked manager that couldn’t speak English, boasting a poor track record with big players, with zero ability to build a defence, and thought damn, this guy is a sauce monster, let’s hire him anyway. He met 10 managers better than Emery and landed on… Emery. If you make a decision that bad with 3 months to play with (longer, because he’s been in the game 15 years and knew he was coming in with the Wenger replacement remit), can you imagine the disaster of him doing something in the moment?
I really fear this one people, I really do. It’d be the smelliest Arsenal hire of all time. He’s a saucy guy, I’d love to believe he could reinigorate his ideas and his approach… but nothing, and I mean nothing, suggests he’s about to do that.
The only thing that might stop Raul in his tracks is the reality that Mourinho won’t just bring the team down if it goes wrong, he’ll bring down everyone. He’s the ultimate footballing arsonist, and maybe he’s what Josh needs to really start paying attention to fixing the club in a serious way… namely, getting a blue print and working towards a truly ambitous strategy that goes beyond: ‘Get Champions League football’
Building an elite football club is not going to happen if you think season to season. We have to think like Amazon did in the beginning. Have a longterm vision with a specific vision of how to achieve it… then attack it in 3 year blocks. Don’t tell me Emery fit into any sort of longterm visioon of football, he’s an Everton manager at best and can’t even speak the language. Time for a rethink. Time to see if Edu is made of something deeper than incredible good looks and crisp white shirts.
The next managerial appointment will tell you all you need to know about who we now are as a club, and where we’re going.
If it’s Jose, brace for impact… it’s a statement that tells you we are going nowhere in the next 5 years.
Azed
He’s had time to come up with a plan? Funny that, we were told he was hired with a plan. That he knew every single player and how to get the best out of each individual. That Ramsey and Ozil were going to be the focal point of his team.
The old dossier eh? Bit too close to dosser for me.
How long did his Rambo and ozil double act last? Two fucking games
China Exactly He’d have him chasing down their defenders leaving gaps behind. Just like he’s doing now. Xakha Torr ———Guendouzi He lines us up like this But he instructs torr and Guendouzi to press and pull wide to double up (defensively) to protect full backs This leave us like this ——————-Xakha———————-/ Tor—————————————Guendouzi Xakha sat bang in the middle on his Todd and a fucking liability Emery is creating this through his instructions It’s one hair brained scheme to the next Fromthe fucking laughable attempts to play out from the back The crazy high line with light and kos and sok.… Read more »
David, The problem is that Raul despite having spent most of his career at Barcelona FC is not a football man. He is a backroom deal man. And in my opinion a bad backroom deal man. Look at the atrocious deals Barcelona executed under his stewardship. Paid over the odds for players they did not need. More importantly he has a tendency to go for the shinny new toy instead of concentrating on the squad need. We had four big area of improvement and only one was addressed: left back. Assuming that Tierney turn out to be good at defending.… Read more »
I agree with you on everything about Emery, Unaii, also agree Torriera is played out of position, most of the time. Emery seems to want a big hard running, disciplined 6 ft 2 player in there, probably a bit heightist. Torriera does go wandering though, even when apparently playing that role, possibly on instruction rather than through any lack of discipline Just need someone, a specialist to just sit there, why cant this club manage that most simple of tasks? But if Torriera can consistently do that in this league, nobody will be happier than me, we lose so many… Read more »
Azed I agree that we could be a good counterattacking team and that Emery has not seen this. And I agree that his not seeing this is totally on him. He is a little tunnel-visioned in a way, he wants to play in the more trendy fashion, more in the manner that all of the big clubs are playing, etc. This is on him. However, I don’t know that I agree that Lacazette is well-suited for a counterattacking approach, and I don’t know that our midfield personnel are all that well-suited to a counterattacking game. We are generally slow in… Read more »
Watch next time we play in the league
Watch how our two further midfielders pull wide or push up and leave the gaps in the middle
If you’re going to be a boring pragmatist then do it properly.
David Smith
Best dm in prem history were makalele and Keane. Both were short. Height is not a prerequisite for a successful dm
David
The only way to know is to have Torreira play to his strengths. Is the lad properly. If he doesn’t cut it then fine but we were all crowing over him this time a year ago
Use the lad properly I meant
Raul is a concern Valentin, just hoping, maybe against hope, Edu, and the next manager can offset his little whims, we certainly needed or still need the type of players you mention. If Raul continues to exercise his “judgement” in such a way, might not help with recruiting. Also thought we needed a Pepe type, whether Emery uses him correctly, or at all is another matter, which I suspect may be the ultimate undoing of Emery with the effort Raul put into getting him. In defence of Leno though, he is the least protected keeper in the division, many keepers… Read more »
Val
I agree with you on Leno. I was never sold on him. I really like the look of Martinez though whenever I’ve seen him play.
Disagree that we need a tall dm though. Being French you should know. How many short quality dms have you had?
Didier Deschamps, Diarra, makalele.
Height is not necessarily the most important factor. Footballing brain is.
Hi B10, to answer your previous question, I do not think these players are world beaters and they certainly can be unsatisfactory, suspect, error-prone. My point was that these same players were part of our 18 game unbeaten run so to turn around and say it was all their fault for the losses at the end of the season is double standards to me. If they were good enough to to take the plaudits at the start of the season, they cant be solely blamed for the finish
True Unai, Kante not a giant either, just not sure if our esteemed manager sees it that way.
Hope Torriera does fulfil his potential, and what we mostly thought he would be under the new man, but we really need someone sat there
DS
Good point about Leno
Get Jose/Allegri in and you’ll see different gravy across the defence
DS
Kante yeah another one
Cambiasso was short
Davids and Gattusso
Deschamps
David Smith That’s a good point. With the club having invested £70 Million into Pepe and the wrangling Sanllehi had to do for what is undoubtedly at least a very good player the fact he seems to have slowly lost confidence since arriving, has been misused and now not used at all may well dent Emery’s image in Snallehi’s mind. I expect a thumping at the hands of Leicester. We allow so many attempts on our goal, if we let Leicester have 25 attempts this is going to be brutal. If our midfield looks how it usually does than Leicester… Read more »
https://metro.co.uk/2018/12/08/lucas-torreira-ngolo-kante-evolution-defensive-midfielder-8212740/
Torreira should be used properly
You don’t need to be tall to be a good DM, but you need to be able run and be able to resist to charge.
Kante is a freak. His physical ability to run longer than most is what allow him to be one of the best defensive midfielder. Most shorter player do not have that same level of stamina.
Vieira, Gilberto Silva, Matic, Fernandinho, Fabinho, NDombele, Wilfred Ndidi, Doucoure, Capoue are all fairly tall.
Can someone explain to me the argument for player poverty in relation to games against the following sides as of last season:
Wolves……….who finished 13 points behind us
Leicester…….who finished 18 points behind us
Palace………….who finished 21 points behind us
The “athleticism” argument falls flat when we coasted clear of them over the course of a season. Am I really to believe these three sides had superior players than us yet finished that far behind us over the duration?
Do you hear yourselves? Lol
If you are going to play Torriera, you have to play Willock.
There’s a reason why we look decent in cup games.
Torriera and Willock are the only two midfielders we have that make 3rd man runs into the box.
If you want to play Torriera as the DM, then you need Willock as the CM.
Also, it’s worth noting that our best games last season had Xhaka and Torreira and we all know Xhaka can’t get up the field.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/11853372/unai-emerys-arsenal-are-in-decline-with-no-sign-of-progress
Frantic email incoming from a certain poster to Sky Sports news offices.
“No sign of progress”
Ohh dear….
I would still like to hear more from rabid Emery-outers re how they would set up against Leicester and why.
Come on, guys. Why are you afraid of this question?
Azed
I’m game. Big fan of willock
Personally the combinations matter. Of course they do. But they matter less than the framework being implemented. Emery is moving his pawns around so much he’s moving them off the board effectively.
C.C what the fuck do Sky sports know? lol
Bamford
You’ve dodged nearly every question thrown at you for two week. What makes you think you deserve an answer?
You answer my question first (which you’ve dodged) and I’ll play your game
bam
On player poverty excuse answer these questions.
1) why can players who beat the best teams we faced (bar city) not beat palace Brighton and wolves?
2) why did wenger get better out of them? If emery is superior and had £200m additional talent. Why was bottom level wenger getting more out of less?
In life there are those people who love a good discussion/ argument about things but will ultimately hold up their hands when they know they are wrong. There are also those people who annoyingly stick to a game plan, even though they are clearly wrong and then fight off all other opinions because they will never admit a mistake. With Wenger I was 100% right and will never admit otherwise. With Emery I was initially wrong, mainly based on my desperation for change. The thing is, he has exceeded my expectations. He is actually far worse than I thought possible.… Read more »
B10
Gave you my input already.
What about your take on our pace and athletic abilty?
That’s what I thought
💩 💩 💩
Graham
You’re big enough to hold your hands up. Sign of a real man.
The desire for change and the hate for Wenger blinded too many fans. At least now the wool has been pull out of their eyes. It is evident to most that Emery is not the man to take us forward. For most as there are still some deniers/deluded defending the Emery fort.
The problem is that hype and hope has replaced any sense of judgement. Social media and YouTube highlights clip allows people to spew their opinion on players and coaches without any clear, objective assessment.
Emery just isn’t up to the job. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last season–he did OK considering. It’s not our position which is far from diastrous to be fair. It’s the lack of shape and scrappy nature of much of our play. It’s the insistence on playing out from the back when we clearly don’t have players good enough to do this. It’s the appointment of Xhaka–one of our worst signings in recent memory- as captain, voted in by the squad apparently, which seems ridiculous. It’s the fact that he hasn’t learnt English properly – a manager… Read more »
Our club has no English managers in the team. Why are we full of Spanish chancers ? None of them are interested in our culture as a club, they don’t know our history, we are now a soulless entity where it just about taking the money. We have no heart anymore and the owners will never get it with us. The fans will drift off as they already seem to be doing, do they care? We are a big part of this country’s footballing history, but now becoming a dinosaur. We need a manager to shake up the club ,… Read more »
There was no hate for Wenger for the most part, just fans who needed a change and a club that needed a change too just like we did now… The fact that Emery has turned out to be a failure doesn’t negate the fact that Wenger had to go so not sure what “wool” taken of people’s eyes you refer to Valentin
Niko Kovac should have spent at least a season more at Framkfurt, wasn’t any need to go rushing into the Bayern job especially not one of the worst squads they’ve had in a while now, was doomed to fail before it even got started. Milan might also be about to sack the underwhelming Pioli. Such a bland and stupid appointment from Gazidis(he’s haunting me now) and co….. Arsenal need to act and do so now…Lots of clubs about to be looking for new gaffers out and about….. Again, not sure it would be wise in a season where Champions league… Read more »
I would blame Emery’s appointment more on Raul rather than Gazidis. Gazidis wanted Arteta, but Raul was not convinced. Oil snake Gazidis did not want to be the one only making the decision in case things turned bad. Better hiding behind a committee and a collegial mistake rather than front an unilateral decision. Also Gazidis had no football knowledge, so he deferred to the so called football operations manager. Anybody with football knowledge knew that Emery was the wrong appointment. A phone call to PSG would have confirmed any lingering suspicion. Emery failure is Raul’s failure. Hence his reluctance of… Read more »
Spanish Dave
Couldn’t agree more that we are lost as a club with no identity but I don’t necessarily subscribe to the idea that we need a British coach
It would be nice but certainly British players who uphold and pass on our identity to the next generation
Wilshere, Ramsey, Walcott and the Ox should have been handing down to the next generation.
Let’s hope these new lads are the start of something. Willock chambers holding tierney Saka and smith Rowe
Bati
There 100% was and is hatred towards Wenger.
Val
It was Gazidis who overruled wenger on Mustafi and Mkhitaryan. They were his signings. He thought he was enough of a footballing man when he saw fit
Batistuta, I thought that my comment was clear. The wool over the eye was a reference to Emery. I stand by my comment that Wenger hate is still motivating too many people and blind them to the reality of the situation. Wenger has been used by some to justify and excuse the continuing blundering by Emery. RedTruth keep posting that at least Emery is not Wenger like if it was important. No getting results and enjoying good football is what matters for most Arsenal fans. Bamford keep finding new ways to prove to himself and his EKB that Emery is… Read more »
Un na naii,
Mhkitaryan is definitely a Gazidis signing. Wenger wanted Martial and his agents were negotiating with Arsenal. Mourinho wanted him out. Woodward could have been convinced with the financial package that pushed the envelope. The thing is that a year later we then pushed the envelop for Aubameyang.
For Mustafi, the responsibility is shared. We needed to sign a defender and Wenger had been dithering for way too long. Gazidis took the decision to make the deal happen because of Wenger’s indecision. So yes technically he overruled Wenger, but Wenger forced him to.
Valentin
Easy to see when certain folks go overboard or start to mention Wenger in relation to where we are in 2019. That excuse wore out last season. This is fully an Emery squad and a Raul set up now, only trolls keep making references to Wenger and RT is the biggest one on here, weird you haven’t sussed that out since
Reports indicating that Arsenal have given Emery a month to save his job.”
I can’t remember one time where said manager actually saved his arse.
i.e he’s gone in a month. Better than end of season I guess.
I doubt the validity of any report stating he’s got a month. I expect us to lose next week against Leicester and drop 9 points behind them but I doubt that’s enough for Raul and Edu to pull the trigger.
As long as we’re still in the hunt for 4th Emery will unfortunately stay in place. In an ideal world Bayern or Barca will come in for him and do us a favor but I doubt it!
I have never been fully convinced with the concept of X games to save his job.
You either believe that you have the right man and you stick with him especially in trouble time or you doubt that he is the right man and in that case he is a dead man walking. At the next storm he will be sacked.
Exactly what happen to Nico Kovac. Since last season it was clear Bayern had doubts about him. As soon as a bad performance and bad result arrived, those doubts resurfaced and he got sacked.
Un
“””How the hell did we end up with such a buffoon.”””
Because we have the John Bercow equivalent of running the show.
The Spiv will do to Arsenal what Bercow has done to the British Parliament.
Shred it of any class, decency and leave it diminished – maybe forever
Mark CG words- this man is dangerous to the wellbeing of AFC!
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/11853372/unai-emerys-arsenal-are-in-decline-with-no-sign-of-progress
That Sky article is telling Charlie, puts to bed a few myths bouncing around LG. – Playing fewer passes that at any time in past decade. – Bottom half of table in pressing stats – Only Villa and Norwich have allowed more shots on goal this season – Creating fewer big chances that at any point in past decade Yet Unai states he he got his tactics rights for Wolves, a match we didn’t have a shot on goal for final 60 minutes, made a bizarre sub which lead to a pretty immediate equalizer. All this points to our current… Read more »
What’s the point in waiting for one month to take a decision on Unai ? It was pretty much clear he was out of his depth as early as mid way through the last season. The longer we wait , more is the probability we miss out on top 4 yet again.
TR7
Agree mid point last season it looked a really poor hire, that has now been confirmed with zero need to see more. Find a better suited replacement or let Freddy roll for a while. No other option unless Raul would like to step aside and let somebody else run this club if he’s unwilling to make obvious decision in best interest of club.
“Reports indicating that Arsenal have given Emery a month to save his job.”
Bunch of pussies…
The only issue for me is when Emery will be leaving? Will it be at Christmas or in the Summer? As matters stand the club is not performing with a defence which leaks like a sieve and a midfield which is unbalanced and is being outplayed in far too many games. We have considerable firepower up front but lacking in service. When discussing potential managers/head coaches the dilemma is do we recruit now when most of the top coaches are currently employed or wait until summer when choice is greater? My real concern is that so long as Emery remains… Read more »
“The only issue for me is when Emery will be leaving? Will it be at Christmas or in the Summer?”
See my comment above.
The G
“””””Raul thought that he could control Emery more easily. Started his campaign of power grab and kicked Mislintat out. The next manager may not be so meek and easily placated.””””””
As Always the G nails it!
and thats why we need Jose!
he wont stand for their interference or nonsense.
Vinny will be petrified of Jose!
Edu the Ponce can be made redundant!
Jose is our Saviour!
( Isnt that the most delicious of ironies!)
He aint our enemy!
Edu , Vinnai, Raul are!
####Back on track with the Jose and Cesc Show!##
Emery is so stubborn. I don’t think that he knows he has misused our midfielders. Torr’s strength is to wait for the opponents to come. He reads the game, then intercept and tackle. You don’t ask him to chase the ball carrier. Xhaka is slow and can’t play the DM alone. What he should do is change the way the midfielders and the wingers job. The midfielders should keep the defensive formation, intercept and tackle. They should not chase the opponents all over the place. The attackers should do the pressing. The two wingers should help out the two corner… Read more »
Arsenal giving Emery a month to save his job – great news!
This will hopefully save us from CG constantly bragging he predicted Emery’s sack in November lol.
TR7
I don’t think there is a time limit.
Lots of conflicting reports, some saying Arsenal are already planning a replacement, some saying it’s a month, some saying there’s no intention of replacing him.
No one knows.
I still think if the Leicester result is seriously bad that will be him gone.
People are suddenly waking up what CG and I have been saying for a while now. Kroenke is a problem because he is a semi-absent owner, but Raul and Vinay are the biggest problem. They have been promoted way above their own ability. The fact that they have been hired by Gazidis should have had alarm ringing. When you see how he is floundering at AC Milan, nobody should have any doubt that that man knows nothing about football. Despite their best attempt at media flirting, the twin imposters have been bad in the communication department. How difficult to issue… Read more »
The real question, ahead of the leicester game : does Emery will be able to do what we call a “Wenger”, winning a game which nobody see us winning ??
lol
Chit.com
“””””Arsenal giving Emery a month to save his job – great news!
This will hopefully save us from CG constantly bragging he predicted Emery’s sack in November lol.”””””
I sometimes feel – they are tormenting me, delaying the inevitable sacking until 2020 so they get me permanently of Le grove.
I leave Le Grove forever if he is still in charge next year thats the deal,
I am a man of my word!
so tick tick , tick tock, tick tock
Valentin
If you look at the Kronke’s other sport franchises, they are very slow to make changes so even Raul wants to fire Unai, he still has to get permission from Josh.
Unless you can say with absolute certainty that Raul can make financial decisions (sacking a coach and hiring another is a financial decision) , then putting the blame squarely on Raul and Vinay is jumping the gun.
“I am a man of my word!”
Yeah we already saw that, and it was not so long ago…
Big mouth.
Sal
Agree, the more you read it the uglier it gets and doesn’t matter which way it’s chopped.
Most disturbing part is his trending downwards, things are actually getting measurably worse from our own performance standpoint. That’s a major concern 18 months in.
Can’t see how any of Arsenals data team can offer the suits anything but further evidence of the obvious. Most likely alongside internal data that isn’t pretty reading.
Would be amazed, and concerned, if we aren’t laying the foundations for a change.
This whole wait a bit longer before firing him shit is really irritating because all it means is the next manager is going to have a mountain to climb to get top 4 rather than joining with it still in sight What does the club hope to learn? If he has a good spell and wins 3 games in a row does that mean he’s suddenly a good manager? His record going back years has been unremarkable. Who honestly cares if he gets a bit of form? It will disappear no sooner than it came and we’ll be back to… Read more »
At least we used to play entertaining football under Wenger.
Their current side offers nothing!
The dog is on his last legs. He’s lost his eyesight and half his hearing. He walks with a limp and struggles to eat solids because of his teeth
But we aren’t willing to take him to the vet and put him down just in case he somehow recovers
He won’t
“At least we used to play entertaining football under Wenger.”
Please be specific with the dates, thanks.
(lol)
This month figure floating out there is a figment of a reporters’ imagination. Emery will be gone if we continue to drop points in the league.
At the moment the Europa acts as a safety net but if the net starts breaking he’ll be gone.
woof woof
Is emery still here?
Me Old China
“””The dog is on his last legs. He’s lost his eyesight and half his hearing. He walks with a limp and struggles to eat solids because of his teeth”””
I would rather this dog give the team talk at Filbert Street this weekend than Our Clown.
Azed, You can on one side argue that the Kroenke are absent owner and on the other states that Raul and Vinay have to run everything by Josh. What is the point of a director of Football operations if he can’t make the big decision. BTW, your argument about cost you use to defend Raul should go on his negative point column. Sacking Emery would cost money only because they did not include a clause for failing to meet quantifiable targets such as reaching Champion’s League. Again that is on Raul. As Director of Football operations he is supposed to… Read more »
Sorry I meant. You can’t argue…
If Arsenal had any gumption or someone like Simon Jordan running the show they should/would sack Emery without compensation.
See him in court ( coward would not even turn up)
Nail the Clown down on negligence, incompetence, lying in the interview process, failing to learn the language and indeed crimes against humanity
he is GUILTY in the first degree in ALL of them!
To think we are going to pay this man off multi millions- and we have a global homeless crisis.
mindboggling!
would someone please think of the children!!
Tick Tock!!
Why does Pedro allow such a huge twat to post here ??
Going from the Wenger mess, to now this mess is on the management.
Emery sold his soul to the devil.
He said he could get more from the squad, and got less.
How did they even think he could communicate with a squad of players from different countries.
I dare say the interview was in Spanish and they all felt nice and cost.
The owner should chop their heads off but he is clueless as well.
I doubt they have any idea what to do next. Hence the delay.
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