I am so sorry that I broke the website. I needed to freshen up things and I made the Unai Emery of IT choices. Will be fixed today.
Don Raul has been at Arsenal for about two years now.
He has overseen the rebuild of Arsenal in the post-Wenger era.
I think it’s time to ask questions about the direction he’s taking Arsenal.
Unai Emery was his decision. The Basqueman was brought in through the back door after Ivan Gazidis lost his nerve during the recruitment process. We interviewed Unai on the 10th of May and hired him on the 18th. The interview process started on April 25th, the club knew they were firing Wenger in January. Raul, without doubt, had to act as the translator in the interview. Ivan doesn’t speak Spanish, nor does Ivan Gazidis. Together, they all agreed that they were inspired by Unai Emery.
Ivan specifically noted that no one during the process pulled out. Allegri and Rangnick were on that list. We ignored Conte, Rodger and Jardim.
Absorb how hilarious the criteria list now looks:
“We had some clear criteria that we were looking for in our selection, the first was progressive, entertaining football, a personality that fits with Arsenal’s values and also a record of developing players, in particular, young players through detailed, tactical instruction and also through cultural demands, pushing players and demanding more from them.
“Obviously all football clubs have an ongoing review process, but we looked through and analysed on the basis that every coach in the world would be interested in this position. We don’t believe there is a position in world football that is more attractive than Arsenal Football Club and having gone through that process and series of references, and a good deal of analysis, we created a long-list, an eight-person list.
The list of Emery traits is even more perplexing.
“He came in extraordinarily well-prepared, with a detailed knowledge of Arsenal Football Club. He had an analysis to share with us, not just of his ways of working and of his ways of coaching, and the team of people he works with, but he had an analysis of all of our individual players, their qualities and how he feels he can help them develop individually and collectively – in detail. Also an in-depth knowledge of our off-the-field team, and how they can contribute and how Unai’s team would mesh with them productively.
I’ve not seen much of the above come through during his tenure and we’re over 15 months in. I am going to be honest here, I’m not sure the PowerPoint Emery came in with was the visionary document our leadership team would have you believe.
Did it involve binning off Ramsey? Alienating Mesut Ozil? Playing a brand of football that has the stadium as empty as it was for the dark days of Wenger FOR A SATURDAY 3PM GAME? Did it involve Xhaka as the central figure in our midfield… etc etc.
Ivan spun us a yarn about a detailed search and select process when in reality, we made a desperate panic purchase. Even basic due diligence would have uncovered the consistent passing up of leads, a bad record with big egos, difficulty learning new languages, an inability to build defences, and a reputation for desperately negative football.
Raul must be suffering buyers remorse. He bought a Robin Reliant on Ebay after 10 beers and he’s trying to convince car experts it’s a Porsche 911.
Emery put the kids out against a very average Vitoria side yesterday and flunked the tie. Europa League football was his comfort blanket, a weekly moment we could all rely on to forget the demise of our great club, but not yesterday. We managed 1 shot on target. We conceded 15 attempts, Vitoria had 4 on target. We took our 4th lead in 4 games and gave it up.
This is not a player issue, this is a coaching standards problem. Emery actually thought the defending was good.
Watching our manager in the rain hiding under his hood reminded me of Steve McClaren with the brolly when he was the England manager. He’s beaten. I’m not sure he knows how to fix a squad that doesn’t want to respond to ideas.
It’s clear this isn’t a long term solution, but the big fear is what comes next.
Raul thought Unai Emery was a protagonist that painted beautiful football. How can we trust him with the next step, which is basically another rebuild?
He’s been with the club for 2 years now and he’s dining out with Jose Mourinho during a crisis. The rumour was denied, but that story came from The Times and was penned by a proper journalist. How can our Football CEO be so irresponsible? How can you look at Jose’s deeply noxious relationship with the club and be captivated? How can you look at the way he has crashed every club he goes to and want some of that for The Arsenal? Beggars belief… but look, this is a man that was inspired by Unai Emery.
Worse still, how can you think our owners are going to want him in our dugout? Not because Stan K cares, more because of what Jose represents to their day to day. Ivan and Arsene were given the keys to Arsenal for so many years because they understood the Kroenke’s wanted the easy life. They owners have real estate DNA. They want tenants with fat kids and boring lives. They don’t want teenagers that are causing havoc at all hours. Jose Mourinho is a noisy tenant. He’s a bad egg to start with, so the press whirlwind is going to cause them anxiety. He isn’t at the cutting edge of coaching, so the only way he can win these days is by writing cheques. He’s a wrecking ball to a carefully built club infrastructure, so he’ll be expensive to move on. His football will have the fans miserable once the ‘Special One’ sauce rubs off after 3 months.
Do you think that is the sort of manager the Kroeke’s are going to indulge?
In LA, KSE are giving chances to young coaches that are innovative and entertaining. Are they really going to sign off on the most prolific arsonist in football management?
I hope not.
That said, I’m not sure there’s a plan in the works to replace Emery.
If it’s not Jose Mourinho, it’ll have to be Freddie Ljungberg. I love the guy, but I think we could be welcoming another problem. He’s a lovable risk, but his coaching credentials are working under Unai Emery and getting relegated with Joncker in Germany. I could be totally wrong, I hope I am, but I don’t think we’re hiring our way out of this mess if we move Emery on this weekend.
Oddly, we’re almost in a position where it’s more dangerous to sack Emery.
We should be making a well thought out decision right now, one for the future, one that is backed by detailed and insightful recommendations, not moving hard on a has-been or a coach very early in his career that has already relegated a team.
Bayern Munich fired Kovac and they were linked heavily with Arsene Wenger yesterday. Rapha H, the defacto go-to on all things Bayern says he’s not on the shortlist. Point is, it’s slim pickings. Worth noting, Ralph Rangnick wouldn’t even entertain a phone call with them. That’s how tough the job market is. I also don’t think we’ll move for Allegri, he has a big financial appetite and I suspect the club passed on him for a very specific reason last time. Maybe dry football and issues with language were the sticking point? Ironic if that were the case.
We are in a disastrous position now. Big trouble awaits. We didn’t move on Emery this summer despite it being absolutely clear he was not going to drive us forward. I can have some sympathy for Edu, he’s new to Arsenal, but Raul? A few shiny transfers that have so far tanked will not gloss over his choice of Unai Emery. That’s on him. Rectifying it with Jose Mourinho will further prove out my fear that he’s not the full package we hoped for.
The mutterings I hear about current situation are not positive. Take that how you will, but I have sailed pretty close to the truth on the big narratives, I consistently hear from people close to the action that the new setup is not right.
Raul can hide behind Ivan G, but he was the football guy. He can push Edu into the mix, but he’s new. He owns the mess. He owns the PR debacle of Xhaka and Mesut Ozil. He was responsible for the Mourinho dinner.
It’s time to clean up and start delivering on fixing the mess. It’s time to craft a plan. It’s time to prove that he truly is a Don, because as it stands, he’s looking more and more like a used car salesman trying his hand at running a space agency.
Let’s see what happens next, but beware the tonic of change, it might have a nasty aftertaste.
FRESH PODCAST MEAT: Matt Kandela back on the mic, all the issues, from Xhaka through to Don Raul. Please listen, you fucking owe it to me for spending so much money fixing the comments
(a bit of white noise as I transition to Skype calls, bear with me this once, I’ll have fixed it for the future)
Oh
Ishola
Chelsea have better attacking midfielders?? Right…..
So Ceballos is shit and we should be playing our goals scoring midfielder joe willock more often???
Backtrack backtrack backtrack
Paulinho
“Ozil isn’t a Bergkamp who could aggressively pick out a number nine runs in short sharp bursts. He was more languid and laid-back, and more suited to picking out third man runners who made late runs.”
Fair point.
““Oddly, we’re almost in a position where it’s more dangerous to sack Emery.””
Well. That might be true. But if we continue with Emery, We definitely will be in a very very bad place at the end of the season.
The Akbs are back in force on Le grove today…
“Give him the reigns to coach the team and nothing more. With the current set of players he can do wonders.” Ashwin i do not agree with this. Why go back to Wenger? What purpose does that serve? Why go through hell just to get him out and then bring him back in to “coach”? Why hasn’t any other top football club brought him in to coach a good group if he can indeed do “wonders” , he isn’t on Bayern’s shortlist as Pedro wrote so why is he being overlooked if he is still a super coach waiting to… Read more »
“Because let’s say that Mount is as good as Ceballos or Willock.”
Why would anyone say that?
Mount is clearly playing at a higher level than both of them.
@Highbury
Not an AKB. I wanted Wenger out. but in current system, he can do a much better job. Not sure of your love for Emery Though.
Ishola, And we have Auba, Lacazette, Pepe, Ozil, Martinelli. Pulisic has 19 goals in 127 games for Dortmund. That’s 3 less than what Pepe scored in 1 season. Mount has 9 goals in 38 games in Derby County. Martinelli has 7 goals in 9 apps for Arsenal. It’s not even a contest to compare Aubameyang and Lacazette to Abraham and Batshuayi. We are a shower of shit going forward, we are shit itself in defence. The biggest difference than any player in the world can make is the manager. It’s manager difference. I’m not even championing Lampard right now. But… Read more »
Chika
“out of curiosity, what midfield trio would you prefer to play? Also, given a blank cheque, which midfielders would you sign for Arsenal?”
There is no real prefence that stands out Chika that is the problem. Any current combination is questionable.
Arsenal need to find a DM worthy of the name and also if not a goalscoring midfielder at least a midfielder who has more creativity in the last third and that being an up and coming player and one that is reliable and can be called on every week.
That is up to Arsenal to find not me.
Raptora – I thought you said “not as as good”.
Anyway, saying he is as good is still is doing him a disservice. He’s been much better than both of them.
Ceballos is just too slow which render his other talents academic.
“We are a shower of shit”
That explains these terrible smells…
Paulinho,
Imagine why is Mount giving a better showing than Ceballos and Willock? Voila.
I am not paid 6m a year to coach
Unai get that and it’s time he starts making some tough decisions. He has been here long enough to know the pros and cons of every single player and how best to combine them for a performance.
Which is why i said earlier if he isn’t getting sacked then someone will need to tell the players that so they can start doing their jobs. At the moment no one at Arsenal is doing their job well, not the coach nor the players.
Receeding I agree, but there is nobody in todays market who has some amount of pedigree. I agree with your Bayern comment, but nobody knows whats the inside truth. He may very well end up in Bayern in a couple of weeks. or any other club for that matter. I wanted Wenger out when we had options like Klopp and Pep available in the market. But today we dont have that kind of talent available. With Wenger atleast we can be assured that he knows the club in and out. he has had good connect with the fans and he… Read more »
Raptora
It doesn’t matter what Mount or Pulisic did previously.
It matters what they look to be doing this season and both of them or at least one every match looks like he is capable of hitting the net for them. An eye for goal and making those runs into the penalty area.
Name me one player in the whole Arsenal squad who is comparable.
I get and know that Emery isn’t good enough. I want him gone. But it has to be said there are areas that are lacking on the playing side as well.
The coaching myth still being perpetuated on Le Grove I see.
Players are just the players, their output never changes, a coach merely selects an XI if you read some people here.
Arsenal with a squad of championship players as per the usual lot.
“Ceballos is just too slow which render his other talents academic.”
In a nutshell
beats two players with a bit of skill and movement but can’t get away from them because he runs like he is in a sack. On no account should we entertain a permanent transfer.
Play him deeper and with the risks he takes on the ball we will concede shots at twice the rate we are doing now, although to his credit he does a lot of work off the ball as well, much more than Guendouzi and Xhaka or even the allegedly defensively minded Torriera
@CG..like the rolling stone reference..yh bob Dylan, superbly covered by jimi Hendrix…john mayer has done a good version as well.
I have the song nicely in my head now…any more mentally damaging wenger references on here can be dealt with today.
“He has been here long enough to know the pros and cons of every single player and how best to combine them for a performance.”
Not sure about that. He plays LT in attacking positions
and like ive said many times before..get yr smart money on Lampard as England manager by dec 31st 2022.
Ishola70 “Any current combination is questionable.” We are all aware of that. When posters drop their preferred midfield, they’re mostly trying to make the most out of our present options. “Arsenal need to find a DM worthy of the name and also if not a goalscoring midfielder at least a midfielder who has more creativity in the last third and that being an up and coming player and one that is reliable and can be called on every week. That is up to Arsenal to find not me.” You persistently shit on the midfielders at the club, you scrutinize the… Read more »
“I wanted Wenger out when we had options like Klopp and Pep available in the market. But today we dont have that kind of talent available. With Wenger atleast we can be assured that he knows the club in and out. he has had good connect with the fans and he still bleeds for the club.” Ashwin they are many competent coaches still doing very good jobs today and as a bonus they aren’t 70 nor do they command a cult like following. It’s not Pep or Klopp then Wenger, never has been, never will be. And this part about… Read more »
“Imagine why is Mount giving a better showing than Ceballos and Willock? Voila.”
Because he is a better player?
Chika
I’ve no interest in being a club scout on here.
I know what Arsenal lack from watching Arsenal and that’s it.
Arsenal need to find these players not us on a football blog.
Paulinho
“Mount is clearly playing at a higher level than both of them.”
He is playing at a higher level atm thats for sure, but I doubt if anyone would have said that mount was a level above Ceballos before the season started, in fact many, including myself , probably thought that mount would not be a regular starter.
This is where the quality of the manager comes in and Lampard is already showing that he can get the very best out of players like mount, abrahams, kovacic and jorginho…sadly Emery is doing the opposite.
1. We will sack Emery. Of that I’m sure…everything looks bad and is bad.
2. We WILL hire Jose. He’s the obvious choice and ergo, the lazy choice. Arsenal are lazy.
3. By 2022 Arsenal will be in administration.
Mount and Ceballos are not comparable and are different players.
Mount looks dynamic and dangerous many times in offensive positions while Ceballos as others said looks slow in what he does.
And one is AM while Ceballos looks strictly CM.
Receeding “And this part about knowing the club some keep stating like it’s a good thing, its not. Pep and Klopp didn’t know their clubs, they have done well haven’t they? ” Cant argue with that. “That Emery has failed does not mean change was not needed, make no mistake about this.” dont get me wrong. change was definitely needed to break the grip Wenger had on the club which was one of the reasons for our decline. I am game for any manager (non controversial) who can bring glory back to Arsenal. As long as we can agree that… Read more »
Ishola70
“I’ve no interest in being a club scout on here.”
Yet you’ve recommended a host of names over time. What a dunce!
I don’t think it was you that was beating the drums for a certain Pulgar recently after the last Copa America. Fucking ITK wannabe.
Churlish “While it’s arguable we have squad holes relative to the top 4 battlers and beyond, we absolutely don’t have player poverty when dealing with the remainder of the league — teams like Wolves, Leicester, Palace, Everton, Brighton.” Wrong and false, in a number of ways. One, our weaknesses in central midfield and in central defense hurt us against every team in the PL, including teams you don’t seem to have much respect for, teams 6-12. Two, our central midfield options and center back options are in many cases weaker than their counterparts in teams 6 – 12 when you… Read more »
In hindsight i must now admit the powers that be made the wrong call.
They opted for a quick fire return to the champions league rather than a measured thought out long game approach. And it nearly worked but nearly never counts.
But i don’t believe we should push the panic button and start a procession of has been managers to salvage things, the next coach should be someone we believe can get us to a certain level long term.
Can’t remember one good game we’ve played with Guendouzi. Last seasonXhaka-Torreira, Xhaka-Ramsey, Ramsey-Torrieira all had good games together.
Kovacic is soft defensively and can’t score or make an off the ball run but he is superb at receiving the ball high up the pitch, drawing players towards him, and driving forward with ball after evading pressure with trickery.
Guendouzi is like a big dopey Labrador playing fetch and carry in completely benign areas of the pitch.
Ishola: “It doesn’t matter what Mount or Pulisic did previously.It matters what they look to be doing this season and both of them or at least one every match looks like he is capable of hitting the net for them. An eye for goal and making those runs into the penalty area.Name me one player in the whole Arsenal squad who is comparable.” Emery has so far managed to make the extremely high rated winger and scorer of 22 goals last season play like as bad as Maitland-Niles. He still has no idea on how to field Auba and Laca… Read more »
Ashwin
Oh don’t worry, we all agree “that Emery needs to be shown the door asap”
All we need to replace him is someone who actually knows what they are doing.
And what was wrong with the suggestion of Pulgar Chika?
He’s a DM who has work rate and actually has something about him off the ball which Arsenal midfielders lack.
If you are suggesting that Arsenal can do no better for the midfield that there are no better options then you are daft. Living in denial.
Suggesting a player like Pulgar is not club scouting or trying to be clever. He was on prime TV for his national team.
raptora
So the gist of it all is that Mr Emery “has no idea” what he’s doing.
I think that’s obvious to us all.
Ashwin that’s the thing, many of this superstar managers come with baggage. Below was Conte’s comments after coaching Inter through one of the worst second half performances i have ever seen against Dortmund “They tell me that I should smile more on television,” he added. “But I always end up saying the same things, about the growth process, about taking it step by step. “The lads are giving everything and going at full pelt and I can’t ask them for more than that,” he said. “We are talking about players who, apart from Diego Godin, have never won anything. Who… Read more »
Yes Raptora.
I have already said that Emery isn’t good enough and must go.
But you can’t name me one comparable AM in the Arsenal squad comparable to Mount and Pulisic not one.
They have two dangerous AMs that look like they could score every week while Arsenal have none zero.
So before the start of the season players like Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount, Pulisic and Abraham were higher rated than Torreira, Ceballos, Pepe, Aubameyang and Lacazette?
Or are they rated higher now than the 2nd bunch because Chelsea has been playing much better than Arsenal?
Totally got nothing to do with the respective teams managers.
“We need an up and comer and we have a few in the game. Many on here scoffed at Rodgers now he is the next big thing”
Yep, I brought him up here at the end of 17/18 and was met a few howls of derision.
It’s too late anyway. He knows he has fallen on his feet at Leicester with defined players that know what they are. Maddison is an obvious number ten, Tielemans an obvious number eight, Ndidi number six etc etc. Streamlined squad with no excess cutaneous crap that he can build on.
the choices appear limited and many not attractive. Mourinho wont work.
To introduce an autocratic egotistical know-all into a club where the players are in uninspired casual beach mode will have a negative effect.
Mourinho comes with warts an all.
It would in the short term be better if Freddie has a stint. His tenure can be as short as wanted…….no costly contract handcuffs. The players like and listen to him. Its not a huge upheval
In fact Freddie apparently acts as translater for Mr “Good ebening ….already
Emery is toast, just a matter of when. Rodgers would probably do a good job but I’m not convinced he’d be welcome or that he’d want it. Too much water under that bridge. What we need is a hungry young manager who knows the PL. I’d give Eddie Howe a shot, has defied the odds at Bournemouth who really shouldn’t be in the PL at all logically. He wouldn’t be expensive and would accept that he has to prove himself capable of taking on a big club. It’s hard to see how we would be worse off if we gave… Read more »
“By 2022 Arsenal will be in administration.”
lol Guns, I thought it was already the case.
Ishola,
I think that Pulisic is a winger/am and Pepe is a winger.
Pepe would be the whos supposed to score more while Pulisic would be more of the playmaker winger.
If Pulisic looks more dangerous than Pepe I think it’s based on the teams they play in.
Imo if Pepe was to move to Chelsea instead of us he’d have scored 10 goals already.
They have a game plan and we don’t. It’s simple as.
Not sure I’d blame Raul totally for Emery not working out it was after all a decision by committee the committee being himself Ivan and Sven and reportedly he wanted Enrique too. Understandable in hindsight given we only interviewed him Arteta and Vieira. I don’t understand the angle of changing tact and going after Raul I really don’t now that it’s looking like Emery will be sacked any day now. Since he’s come in we’ve seen an underperforming French manager gone, we’ve seen an underperforming German head of recruitment leave, we’ve seen an awful CEO go and have slowly gotten… Read more »
Ishola70
“He’s a DM who has work rate and actually has something about him off the ball which Arsenal midfielders lack.”
Pack it in dummy, you’re no club scout.
“If you are suggesting that Arsenal can do no better for the midfield that there are no better options then you are daft. Living in denial.”
Haha Legrove 101 – invent a claim that was never made, ascribe it to a poster then argue against it.
You are the biggest idiot for persistently citing player poverty as the reason for our abysmal displays.
Paulinho
“Guendouzi is like a big dopey Labrador playing fetch and carry”
Great comparison, great image.
Raptora – There has been no revisionism on my part. I said this about them the weekend the season started.
“PaulinhoAugust 10, 2019 20:50:15
I rate Mason Mount quite highly.He’s one of the few mids that makes runs in beyond. Kovacevic and him could link well with Croatian staying deep and looking for his runs.”
PaulinhoAugust 10, 2019 21:14:40
Terraloon – Loftus-Cheek was looking incredible before his injury as well.Chelsea really do have a great bunch of youngsters. Abraham reminds me a bit of Adebayor first breaking through.
Raptora
Pulisic can play winger or AM and actually looks more dangerous playing AM.
It’s true that Lampard is showing much more offensive play in relation to Emery much more but he also has better options for AM than Emery has.
Lampard is proving a better coach than Emery as well as having the better AM options.
Apparently, Pulisic is more suited for the league and has a better record than Pepe. It has nothing to do with how they’re both deployed by their respective coaches.
@ Bamford, I take your points…we can go too far with criticism.
However Emery has no excuse now.
His communication effectiveness is virtually non-existent..useless.
tactics have now been highlighted as absurd.
No player motivation. No leadership.
Hopeless mate.
We are 5th but take away aubas goals and we are near the bottom.
Some of the stats on shots at goal are frightening.
All in all he is hopeless.
Paulinho i don’t even want to go into squad issue right now, many seem to take it as a personal insult when you point out the glaring limitations of players they rate so highly, like Aubameyang carrying us and DM of the century Torriera being asked to press high. I just want to do away with narratives like “someone who knows the club ” and “even wenger at his worst did this and that”. Roma made a very measured thought out appointment in Fonseca Gladbach in Rose I think Chelsea got lucky with Lampard and honestly i still expect things… Read more »
Again, It’s one thing to have a weakness in your side due to not having the perfect players at your disposal. Yes, the midfield general that we’ve been lacking since Vieira. By the way, it wasn’t the case when we played with Cesc and Flamini, or with Cazorla and Coquelin, or who was the midfield general in that Leicester team that won the title? Danny Drinkwater? Anyhow, what I’m saying is that a 15 year old problem is in no way an excuse to not be able to dominate a single game in 11 in the EPL. Not 1 where… Read more »
No Chika
People like yourself can’t admit that Arsenal do not have a great side.
Any idiot like yourself can see that Emery isn’t good enough.
But the idiot also will not own up to certain areas of the team being not particularly good.
Good for scraping into the fourth place? Who cares. Ultimately certain areas of the team are nt good enough to see this club back where it used to be.
“I take your points…we can go too far with criticism.
However Emery has no excuse now.”
Spot on.
Paulinho
Would you start Guendouzi on Saturday? If not, what would your midfield look like?
Leicester is the home team of my partners family..ive watched them a lot recently..and witnessed an absolute thumping defeat at the king stadium last season.
They were not only quicker, more aggressive and stronger, they carved lots of chances…3-0 flattered arsenal.
Anyone thinking its a game we should win is delusional….their mental state is alarming.
If Emery’s arsenal tenure depends on this I hope we get another 3-0.
We can end this misery, hopefully
Guendouzi is like a big dopey Labrador playing fetch and carry in completely benign areas of the pitch. And yet the lad has been our best CM this season and that in itself tells you what’s wrong at Arsenal. Charles keeps going on about player poverty so that perhaps we don’t lose sight of the manager’s failings and believe me no one’s doing that but at the same time it’s worth noting that the squad is still a mess all over imbalanced and in certain areas shite. Still need an RB and proper starting CB’s and the midfield is in… Read more »
Yesterday we only made one successful pass into Vitorias penalty area which resulted in a goal. I mentioned on Sat that Raul and Edu are just as culpable as Emery and that remains. We don’t test keepers enough, most of our shots are off target and we’re pretty much outgunned by every opposition we face. Emery has a clear plan in each game in my opinion which is to prevent the opposition from playing. He’s always so complimentary of them and seems content with these draws. We need to impose our own game on these teams. If we sit back… Read more »
Banford Everybody is bored with the embarrassing line of player poverty end of last season. It’s proven nonsense with yet more time for the manager to show his hand against inferior opposition. We didn’t draw with Brighton because of player poverty, or get turned over by Palace, Leicester, Wolves, Everton because of player poverty. We did so because the guy in charge hasn’t cultivated anything of a TEAM since his inception. So much so Sheffield United are twatting us off, and so are Vitoria. Yawn, yawn. The rest of you waffle about bullying and the like is frankly pathetic from… Read more »
Guest WW
I hear you. And I agree with most of that. I am simply pushing back against certain kinds of claims, certain kinds of arguments. If Emery were replaced tomorrow — and he may need to be — this wouldn’t bother me in the slightest (provided his replacement was a sensible one).
Vieria
Arteta
Allegri
Nagglesmann
This shouldn’t be hard to do.
I have not actually watched a full Leicester game this season only extended highlights but a quick look shows me Rodgers favors a 4-1-4-1 formation and has stuck with it all season ( part of getting the basics right is picking a formation and sticking with it) he has also stuck with the same starting eleven.
If they play that this weekend i don’t really think we have the legs and awareness off the ball to keep up, it could get ugly.
We do know Torriera and Ozil will start now that Xhaka is in the dog house.
“We can end this misery, hopefully”
Why “hopefully” ??
Every failure is 1 more nail in Emery’s coffin.
Emery is the spanish Wenger.
In Vardy I trust!!
“Charles keeps going on about player poverty so that perhaps we don’t lose sight of the manager’s failings and believe me no one’s doing that but at the same time it’s worth noting that the squad is still a mess all over imbalanced and in certain areas shite“ No I keep dismissing the ridiculous assertion we don’t have the personnel to derive a win from our last 6 fixtures last season, or Sheffield United, Watford, Vitoria this season etc. The squad can be discussed relative to those vying for top 4, it’s complete lunacy to attempt to make out we’re… Read more »
Bamford – I would probably go with your idea of Chambers in central midfield, and pair him with Torreira.
Chambers is basic, but he can get forward and make runs into the box, and if he feels confident he can add something different in that respect. The question is whether he is mentally up to it because it’s one thing doing it for Fulham but another doing it for us.
I don’t particularly like any midfield combination though.
Guaranteed after Leicester beat us, the calls for Brendan ‘I like my daughter’s best friend’ Rodgers will be deafening.
No.
Also can I say from last night nothing sums up AMN more than being the only player on the pitch stupid enough to wear the biggest fuck you gold chain while playing a football match. What an absolute moron.
Also Ozil and Kolasinac had 200,000 pound watches during the incident in August. Each. I just don’t get people
Chambers for midfield?
This is allowed to be posted on here without retribution?
Peter, please take action.
Ishola70
Haha you’re doing it again, attributing false claims in my name.
Listen idiot, we have glaring issues in the squad however unlike you, most fans believe Emery is not getting the best of the squad at his disposal.
Infact, most fans wouldn’t trust Emery with an improved squad, unlike you.
It’s clear you’re always desperate to sound like a sage, but you end up speaking from both sides of your mouth like another poster we know too well.
“Rodgers favors a 4-1-4-1 formation and has stuck with it all season ( part of getting the basics right is picking a formation and sticking with it) he has also stuck with the same starting eleven.” Well he has the pieces already and just a matter of sticking them there. I watched them under Claude Puel and they played better football than us then as well, but they couldn’t get it right in the final third, and Puel and Vardy didn’t get on. They’ve got Praet to maybe come in for Tielemans but aside from that they are vulnerable to… Read more »
Since our midfield is in such a mess, yesterday, when I watched the MC game, I have focused only on their midfield organization. – When they didn’t have the ball, De Bruyne and Gundogen were two defensive CM. They kept their position and moved in unison. They waited for the attack to come. Bernardo Silva had a free role. He chased the ball all over the place – When they had control of the ball. both Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne supported the attack. Their two wingers came back and helped out defending also. Our team is in such a… Read more »
Pedro Sorry but this piece reeks of “I hate Sanllehi because he didn’t hire Arteta”. Do you really think Gazidis was so impotent in the decision process? Your analysis drifts from good points to being plain contradictory “If it’s not Jose Mourinho, it’ll have to be Freddie Ljungberg. I love the guy, but I think we could be welcoming another problem” why is Ljungberg an unacceptable risk when Arteta is not? ” A few shiny transfers that have so far tanked” It’s also strange that you ran a piece a little while ago about how Sven left because the recruitment… Read more »
One point that has been proven in the last ten days is that Steve Bould and Freddie are absolutely useless at coaching. These two would not be kept at a pub team, How they are on the staff off Arsenal is beyond me.
I can’t rely on the arsenal board to react quickly and sensibly…years of wenger-depression has instilled that feeling of spirit-desolation.
I say” hopefull”y now as a consequence of the wenger-torture that was prolonged and may have started an alcohol decline…haha.
Good article Pedro. Yesterday’s match confirmed my impression that this is the poorest Arsenal side I’ve watched since the end of the George Graham era. I think that’s primarily down to the manager. Before passing judgement on the current squad I’d like to see someone come in who can (a) organise the defence and midfield properly, (b) give the players throughout the team a clear idea of what they’re supposed to be doing, and (c) lose the fear factor that seems to come up in every game we play. I hope to god that Emery does go after the Leicester… Read more »
Marc, well said
The squad can be discussed relative to those vying for top 4, it’s complete lunacy to attempt to make out we’re struggling against the sides mentioned above through personnel. And yet we are and have been for years now. Sure it’s being compounded by a poor manager doing a poor job but let’s be honest here we’ve had serious issues with our midfield and poor Defenders and squad issues for years now. I mean my fucking god how hard is it to finally bring in a proper DM for the midfield. Literally been experimenting with CM and RM and CAM… Read more »
Paulinho: “Raptora – There has been no revisionism on my part. I said this about them the weekend the season started.” You also said that: “PaulinhoAugust 17, 2019 14:09:00 Ceballos showing he doesn’t have to be a great dribbler, something certain people seemed obsessed.Simply evading a press and holding onto the ball can be more important in deeper areas.” and that: “PaulinhoJuly 31, 2019 21:48:32 Can see them enjoying playing with each other; Pepe moving in-field from the left and Ceballos feigning to play a sideways before quickly turning and sliding the ball into his path so he can run… Read more »
I’m prepared to give Don Raul another managerial change before condemning his work. Some people just interview really well and I think that’s the case with Emery.
Emery’s powerpoint presentation and memory stick of garbage analysis bamboozled them all.
If we go for Brendan, that would be so bad for our image……its cheeky beyond belief….leave him at Leicester and recruit a youngish hungry manager with the beginnings of a decent track record.
The one who can take us forward is Graham Potter.
Graham Potter is a fantastic coach.
Chika Can you not read or comprehend. I have said numerous times that Emery is not good enough which would include not getting the best out of this Arsenal team. And yes if he isn’t getting the best out of this current Arsenal team there would be a great chance that he doesn’t get the best out of any improved Arsenal team either with new improved signings. Now get over this notion that people are making excuses for Emery. There are no excuses. He isn’t good enough. Simple as. But also certain areas of this team aren’t good enough. Top… Read more »
Marko
I do think our squad is a lot better than the results they are achieving. Certainly there’s a level of poor selection going on but even there we should be doing better.
I know it’s a cliché but it’s looking like Emery has lost the dressing room and doesn’t have a clue how to get it back.
Interesting. One of our better players clearly rates and quite likes Emery. ___ “Kieran Tierney outlines how Unai Emery has improved Arsenal in staunch defence of boss” Neil McLeman Kieran Tierney has insisted the Arsenal players should take the blame for a recent slump in form as he claimed Unai Emery had already made him a “better player”. The £25m summer signing admitted giving up a lead in a fourth consecutive game against Vitoria Guimaraes was “not good enough and something we need to work on”. The Emirates club has been rocked by Granit Xhaka getting stripped of the captaincy… Read more »
Can’t understand why it is SO difficult to puts Freddie in charge until we find a new manager…
Edu, Raul, hello ?? Anybody there ??
Funny thing is certain people are aware of the issues in midfield but it still for whatever reason hasn’t been addressed properly. Apparent interest in Nzonzi and Fabinho suggests that they know it’s a problem area that yet still hasn’t gone addressed. In this sense blame is shared I feel like Raul and co should have done more to sell certain players like Xhaka who weren’t working out and replaced. Sven gets another major black mark on his rep for me. Given his diamond eye during his time he sold none of the midfielders and brought in Torreira and Guendouzi… Read more »
Bamford, please stop with your pro-Unai bullshit.
No Marko
People don’t want to hear a balanced view.
All they want to hear is that Emery is shit and that’s it.
But of course this is the way of many football fans.
They do it because it is easier to deal with thinking you just have one big problem and that is all.
To think that there is a big problem plus other problems as well is just too much to take on board for some.
Bamford
I would take the interview of a new player as a sound bite, where he is of course going to make the right noises.
“I know it’s a cliché but it’s looking like Emery has lost the dressing room and doesn’t have a clue how to get it back.” Exactly Marc Which is why i have said twice today that even if he is not getting sacked someone needs to tell the players so they can start doing their jobs, this going through the motion waiting for the bad man to be sacked is annoying. I read on twitter that two of the players agents approached the management complaining that Emery was quick to criticize and slow to praise , this ins’t a creche… Read more »
Bamford
” and working on my technique with him. I am working on passing and crossing – everything in general”
I would have thought that 25 mil would get you a player with decent technique and can pass and cross the ball.
I think you are looking for crumbs of comfort throughout the internet Bamford.
For every one positive article there is probably a 100 negative ones ..
“The difference between me and many on here – whom ever is hired I will get behind the club and hope they do well. How many will be hoping that a new manager fails because he’s not their pick?“
Who’s the many? Name some names, who was hoping for Emery to fail?
Sounds like a lot more of your own entitled fandom getting dished out. Load of “not relevant to Arsenal” types I bet right Marc, but not you.
Also where exactly is the improvement you promised that will happen once our full backs come back (They haven’t really came back cause Emery prefers to play them in Europa League 40-50 days after they were healthy enough to start games again which they did, 40-50 days ago) PaulinhoSeptember 18, 2019 12:31:23 Charlie – When our full backs come back we will see an improvement. PaulinhoSeptember 18, 2019 13:20:00 I think things will improve back to some sort of normality once we get players back. PaulinhoSeptember 18, 2019 10:53:55 Let’s just wait until we have a left back playing for… Read more »
‘this going through the motion waiting for the bad man to be sacked is annoying.’
Of course, its costing us points and theres no evidence to suggest that Unai will get the sack. They really need to start performing.
Ishola70
“Now get over this notion that people are making excuses for Emery”
It’s you who needs to get over the notion that people are making excuses for the squad, dummy!
“How many will be hoping that a new manager fails because he’s not their pick?“
Haha Legrove 101. Fictitious claims everywhere.
I know it’s a cliché but it’s looking like Emery has lost the dressing room and doesn’t have a clue how to get it back. Oh it’s totally gone. Let’s be clear I’m not making a case for the manager he’s been so bad it’s beyond redemption now but I personally don’t quite go along with this idea that it’s just a case of replacing the manager and we’ll be fine afterwards. Major issues still in defence (obviously) and perhaps most importantly midfield. Shocking midfield truth be told. And with that in mind one of the remits for the next… Read more »
Haha
New player gives positive interview about teammates and manager.
Check the tap, see if that gear coming out is still wet. Odds on it is.
CC
If you can’t spot poster’s on here who are more involved with pushing their own agenda over what’s just a good thing for the club then that’s your problem.
I know I hit a sore point with you over my so called self entitled fandom but your insecurity is your problem not mine.