Managerial options from around the globe

by .

Take a read of Mike’s latest guest post, he covers managerial options from around the world. Enjoy, and give him a follow.

How are Arsenal making you feel right now?

I’m cautiously very excited.
I’m relieved that Emery’s gone even though it was at least a month too late.
I’m very excited to see what Freddie can do.
Excited but cautious as my trust in Raul and co has waned somewhat.
I’ve compiled a list of the many possibilities. Once you start digging there are many.
Some better and more realistic than others, but the list is intentionally long as Arsenal surprised us last time so its hard to know and certainly not obvious.

Below is a list of candidates, but first let’s look at the need….

What do Arsenal need?

You often learn what you want by seeing what you don’t want.

  • We need a fluent English speaking clear communicator.
  • We need someone who can balance our style with the need to deny the opponents, not one or the other, as we had with Wenger and Emery.
  • Arsenal fans want attacking football but are ok with a more pragmatic approach against better opposition.
  • We need a coach who can instill belief in the players to rejuvenate their away form.
  • We need someone that agrees with the coaching set up and won’t complain when those above him do their job (sign players) and it doesn’t completely jive with their best thought.
  • We want a coach who, after 17 years of being defensively leaky, will promote the need for a dominant DM and back four as a priority.
  • A coach who believes in our current set of youngsters.
  • A coach that can keep and attract players.
  • A coach who can progress the club into the CL, competing for the PL and eventually give us a chance to win one or both.

What’s the attraction of Arsenal?

I’ve said for years that Arsenal is a very attractive job. You could go down in history as the first coach to bring us back to PL glory AND in time, win the CL.*

*We are a mile away right now but with a little time and significantly better coaching it’s not beyond a club of our size.

Lesser clubs have achieved this goal. That’s how I would pitch it.

Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in the world to have never won it.

They could also live in London, have a top salary, a good team with a few holes in the squad that needs balancing and become a hero for returning Arsenal to glory and a legend for doing what nobody has ever done.

Here we go…

Most likely

Mikel Arteta

Club: City assistant coach

Preferred formation: Unknown

Style: He wrote a piece for the .com whilst still at AFC and he stated that if he became a coach he would want a) full commitment b) attacking style c) expressive and entertaining d) not based on the opposition.

Sounds like everything we wished Emery was!

Pep has given Arteta credit for the improvement in Rodri, Mahrez and Sterling in particular.

Thoughts: Much like Freddie, he is an unknown quantity as a head coach but he has had one HUGE advantage…. he has worked with one of the best coaches of all time for 3 years and apparently had a big impact himself.

Carlo Ancelotti

Club: Napoli

Preferred formation: varied but mostly used 4-3-3
Style: A fantastic man manager beloved by former players. Won many titles, knows the PL and London so no need to adapt.

Thoughts: Napoli are currently imploding thanks to their goofy owner and his bizarre ideas. If Ancelotti gets fed up I could actually see him taking the AFC job.

I have one huge concern though….

When he was at Bayern, Rafael Honigstein, one of the most reliable journalists in Europe, wrote an article about how the Munich players ridiculed his ‘basic training sessions.’
A warm up followed by 11 vs 11 almost every day. Sounds like every young kids dream!

Sounds too much like Wenger to me and our players desperately need coaching.

Freddie Ljungberg

Club: Arsenal Interim

Preferred formation: somewhat unknown as he has been under direction from 1st team.

Style: high energy, attacking coach who believes in a balance between structure and offensive freedom.

Thoughts: Hard to find anything negative written about him as a coach. Players seem to love him, fans already do. Was part of Jonker’s relegation with Wolfsburg but never been the man in charge. Big difference.

Got a feeling that he could be far better than many belief.

Mauricio Pochettino 

Club: Available

Preferred formation: 4-2-3-1
Style: Organized, aggressive and powerful
Thoughts: Only way I see this is if he’s bitter. Will be offered far more prestigious jobs with far less hassle involved. I think he’s waiting on Tuchel or Solskjaer’s job.
Strong candidates

Max Allegri…

Turned Milan around then turned Juve into a dominant machine. Little concerned at his pragmatic approach rubbing fans the wrong way but clearly significantly better than Unai Emery was. Those that are adamant that Allegri is wrong for Arsenal are forgetting where we are currently and who he is and what he’s achieved.

Erik Ten Haag…

Assisted Pep at Munich and has done a fabulous job at Ajax, returning them to the top table in Europe. Will be snapped up by a bigger club or national team soon, possibly back to Munich.

Julian Nagelsmann …..

Not so young in coaching circles anymore but still only 32!!

Innovative coach who took somewhat of a sideways step in going to Leipzig when Real Madrid were interested. Hipsters choice but also a very smart choice, I believe.

Luis Enrique

A Sanhelli favourite who has just gone back to his National team job. As we all know, many coaches lose their jobs after major tournaments so I think if we choose to wait then Enrique may come back into the mix.

Created a high pressing, energetic team at Barca. Love the hunger he instills but concerned about his stubbornness and short term thinking which were two factors that saw the Roma and Barca fans turn on him.

An improvement on Emery but his lack of tolerance for the media, his imperfect English and lack of warmth with his squads are three factors that will hinder him.

The last two may be a bad memory for the players, one that they don’t wish to revisit.

Not sure how his daughters tragic death will have impacted him to be fair, as it will have had a profound effect, I’m sure.

Thomas Tuchel…
An antagonist but a highly talented coach.
Speaks fluent English and fluent football too! PSG are likely to move him on if they don’t get closer to winning the CL.
Possibly the perfect fit but like many on this list, we’d need Freddie to do well and carry us to the summer.
Some new and talented names

Jesse Marsch…

Firstly, if you like a motivator, watch the video.

The Red Bull Salzburg coach whose reputation is growing as he gives Liverpool and Napoli fits. Will Stan and Josh be interested in an American? An American who is one of the most impressive and well rounded coaches in Europe. A motivator, a tactical innovator and a great communicator. One to look out for.

Marcelo Gallardo…

The best unknown coach in the world.

The guy who Messi voted in his Top 3 as World Coach of the Year.

River Plate’s highly-rated coach has won everything and is considered the ‘new Pep.’

So much so that the rumor is that he is off to Barcelona.

Everything is there apart from (I believe) being an English speaker.

Marco Rose…

In some ways he could be perfect. The current Bundesliga leader has been credited with having success in every area that Emery is failing at, particularly his ability to be tactically flexible whilst establishing a base style. Just doubtful that Moenchengladbach would let him leave after less than a year or that he would do that to them.

Diego Simeone.... I think if AM sack him he will go to Italy. Would certainly improve Arsenal defensively but much like Allegri, I’m not sure how the fans would go for his style.

Pep Guardiola …. ‘What’s he thinking?’ I hear you say!

Why would one of the two world’s best coaches come to Arsenal?

He thought about it before he went to Munich until Wenger put a stop to it.

I don’t see a guy who looks totally happy at City. I think he may look for another challenge if he feels let down by his City team on or off the field.

I’m sure he’d have bigger clubs interested but I wonder if he would want a different challenge?

I am concerned that his irritation at the British press for being embarrassingly limited in their understanding of the tactical side of the game, will see him leave and not come back though.

THE DECISION

Unless the coach I want is available today, I’d happily keep Freddie Ljungberg in charge. I’d love to think that he could revitalize us and keep the job.

As we’ve seen with many former legends with little experience, the shiny factor can wear off but it could stick too.

This would give Arsenal time to breathe. I’d be actively looking for a permanent coach yet fully committed to Freddie if it works out.

I also think that we could get two ‘bounces.’ One from Freddie and the second from the new appointment, if he’s put in place this season.

I’d approach Pep Guadiola first. Why not? I wouldn’t expect him to say yes but I’d live in regret if I didn’t try, as I’ve got a sneaky feeling he’d be interested. Fully understand that this would mean keeping on Freddie until June.

If Pep wouldn’t take it I’d offer it to Arteta.

I’m not in the camp of being overly concerned about his lack of experience.

For as much as that is a true concern, so is the fact that many of the others are too worn, not as motivated, tactically stubborn, haven’t worked in England and haven’t had the experience of working with Pep like he has.

You’ve got to put it all on the scales and weigh it all up, not simply dismiss him because he’s new.

I’m also not afraid of getting it wrong. If it doesn’t work you move on. Be brave.

I’m also concerned that he may go elsewhere and we’d regret not taking the chance.

My third choice would be Tuchel. Ticks every box apart from PL experience.

If Gallardo can speak significantly better English than Emery, he’d be my fourth choice. If he can’t, I’d approach Jesse Marsch.

There are at least another 10 on this list that I’d be thrilled with so if you get anything from this article, don’t be part of the ‘but who is out there’ crew

Who do I think Arsenal will choose?

Luis Enrique or Thomas Tuchel.

I think Freddie will do well and that Raul will pick one of these two after both are fired in the summer.

Who would you choose and who do you think we will choose?

@mike_mmcdonald

491 Comments
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DaleDaGooner

Enerst, Marko……sarcasm?? Perspective?

Victorious

Freddie has been a total waste of time thus far,guy is so bad he’s making me miss Emery

Club is being run by complete muppets,how do you sack a coach when you have absolutely no idea of who can come in and do the job?

We’re simply watching a one time great club die painfully

Marko

What I can also claim in hindsight is that we’d have been no worse off under Wenger than we were under Emery

And again I ask where are you getting that from?

Spanishdave

Stan probably wants to use Freddie for a while to save money.
He doesn’t give a toss until the revenue starts to drop, hopefully that’s soon.
We have to get a new owner.

MGooner

@ Marc @ CC That Manager’s comparison does not sound right. As far as Wenger is concerned, I would have sacked him as soon as we moved stadium. He is the guy who kept selling players so we could not compete. If we had fired him 10 years ago, there is simply no way Stan Kronke would have avoided Usmanov taking over this club. In such a scenario, the top players in world football would have been wearing an Arsenal shirt. Ten years ago, on this blog I said there is no way we will win more league titles with… Read more »

Dream10

Wenger Eagle

Atlético Madrid also about to sign Bruno Guimarães from Brazil. Same club as their LB Lodi. He’s supposed to be a quality CM.
Only 22 for 30m euros.

Marc

MGooner

That’s a different argument. My initial point was sacking Wenger two summers ago and appointing Emery was separate events. One being wrong doesn’t make the other wrong.

Wenger had to go who we replaced him with was a mistake.

Victorious

It’s telling a finished Wenger could have been in charge up to now and we wouldn’t have been worse off

Never thought it was remotely possible we would hire a coach that could outperform him in mediocrity,really shocking

You knw the club is finished when a coach of fvcking Leicester is using us to get a pay rise

If we lose to West ham we would be in a relegation fight this season

Bye Arsenal

Marko

Atletico making shrewd moves alright. Linked with Xhaka last summer and decided on Marcos Llorente and now Bruno Guimaraes for a combined 60+ million. Very smart

TheBayingMob

What I love about the continuing cult of the AKB is the complete and utter ignorance of his age. I’m not ageist but man he was older than the hills. Age and decline catches us all in the end. These unhinged morons seem completely oblivious to it …

Champagne charlie

Marko

I’m not spelling it out again, I think it’s a pretty clear suggestion after a season of shit football and no CL. Wenger could’ve delivered shit football and no CL and we’d have been no worse. The bar isn’t high.

Micheal

Arsenal accounts:
Anyone interested in the full 2018/19 accounts can find them here.

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00109244/filing-history

MGooner

@ TheBayingMob

How old is the Leceister manager to whom we were being linked?

Redtruth

Panic buys and selling our best players to our rivals would have been the order of the day were Wenger still in charge.

WengerEagle

Dream

Haven’t seen him do you rate him.

Lodi has been great for Atleti, absolute gem they’ve pulled off there. Another like Lemar that’s a bit of a victim of Simeone’s system in terms of fully showcasing his offensive abilities.

Joaquim Moreira

Jorge Jesus (Flamengo) Not speak english well
Martinez (Belgium National Team) – Contract finish after European Champioship). why not try him?

Marcelo Gallardo was a good player from River Plate. A legend. Wrong in the 2 substitutions in the last Libertadores Cup at the last minute with the game won (exchanged the players holding the midfield and holding the ball, by 2 defenders). In 3 minutes, Flamengo (from Jorge Jesus) scored the 2 goals with which he won.

Victorious

Dippers have the title in the bag

MGooner

@ Marc I get your point but there is a disconnect between our ambitions and the financing capability of our only shareholder. Either our ambition as fans and the so called ambition of the football club must be revised down to reality or the financing ability of th owner has to match our ambitions. The fans have been taken for a ride for over 10 years with the FFP thing which was supposed to propel us into one of the best sides in world football. We were lied to and it will continue. Anything is good to get fans coming… Read more »

WengerEagle

Yep, 30 years later appears the charm.

At least we have something to look forward to in 2034 eh.

Marko

I think it’s a pretty clear suggestion after a season of shit football and no CL. Wenger could’ve delivered shit football and no CL and we’d have been no worse. Conveniently leaving out the better part. Do you realize we finished 5th last season? Do you realize that in Wenger’s last 2 seasons he finished 5th and then 6th? So with that in mind how the fuck can you think with a straight face that he would have been doing a better job when there was a clear decline. A decline as in not better. I think you’ll have to… Read more »

Ishola70

Vic
“It’s telling a finished Wenger could have been in charge up to now and we wouldn’t have been worse off”

It’s already been explained that this scenario isn’t set in stone.

The team was regressing under Wenger. It could have regressed further.

Do you read tea leaves?

kenyangunner

Even the performance in the 8-2 humiliation was not as drab as what I see in the current team.

WengerEagle

Nuts how Wenger can still dominate the conversation here, haunting from beyond the grave.

Marc

Cc

You operate under a strange logic. It’s the same with your sacking Wenger and hiring Emery were part of the same process.

You do realise that we didn’t sack Wenger in order to hire Emery. We sacked Wenger then started a recruitment process. The fact it was a flawed recruitment process doesn’t make sacking Wenger wrong. If Gazidis hadn’t of lost his bottle we would’ve hired Arteta – now none of us really know how that would’ve worked out but it still would’ve been a separate event and process.

David Smith

I wonder if anyone at the club has risk assessed the chance of, and the implications of relegation ? Or if it happens, will that be yet another thing that catches them unprepared?
It may take an elite manager to turn things around, that is a cost they say they are not willing to meet. But what is the cost of failing to turn things around?

Ernest Reed

You are right Dale, perspective- guess I’m just pissed off that Arsenal missed out on a chance to sign a managerial genius that is Nigel Pearson.

MGooner

@ Michael

Had a look at the link.

Those financials are a reflection of what is happening on the pitch. I fear the worst is yet to come unfortunately.

Un na naai

Pierre Look mate. I don’t disagree with most of what you say but I was never an ozil fan Must say the stat that (up until emery joined) ozil produced 100 chances in the league per season blew my mind and maybe, just maybe neither emery and to a lesser extent, Wenger, knew how to build a team to extract the most from ozil. Now. Aubameyang is a different kettle of fish. I just don’t like him or his style. Another who needs his team mates to do most of the work for him to tap it at the back… Read more »

Ernest Reed

I see that the lustre of Frank Lampard appears to be wearing off, just as with his up and down tenure with Derby. Not like you couldn’t see it coming if you followed Derby last season.

MGooner

@ David Smith

You can trust Stan and his guys to have done all scenarios and sensitivity analyses.

They are financiers, not football people. As they are the sole shareholders, it is cash flows which matters most to them.

We are very far from the red line and so they will not be worried at all as long as we can plod on.

Marko

The logic is severely flawed. Sacking Wenger doesn’t become smart when we have a successful manager hired. There’s risk and no guarantee in whoever you hire and that’s a simple fact and the idea that you hold off sacking Arsene until you get a guarantee that his replacement will be better is ridiculous. Arsene Wenger 2018 deserved to be sacked simple as that whatever happened next doesn’t change that fact.

Micheal

“Had a look at the link. Those financials are a reflection of what is happening on the pitch. I fear the worst is yet to come unfortunately.”

Definitely. The financial position is a lot worse than aniticpated. The loss is much larger than forecast. It would have been even larger without taking into account a very large increase in interest earned on the cash balances. But football revenue has fallen for the third successive year and underlying picture is poor, especially if we fail to qualify for Europe.

Kroenke OUT

Ernest Reed

Would it be a stretch to say that the players detested everything about Emery, including his coaching staff, which also happens to have included Freddie? By association alone would it be unfair to suggest that the players have dropped tools on him in order to completely clean house? Im thinking its not so far fetched.

MGooner

@Marko

At least we did not need a plane flying over with an Emery Out banner for that one. 😉

Champagne charlie

“Conveniently leaving out the better part. “ Conveniently you leave out the “arguably” part. The part I’ve already stated, the fact he would’ve had 70 mil (more like 90 mil given his payoff wouldn’t have occurred) on transfers, plus Auba for a full season and not half of one. So again, arguable. Yes, I’m talking bollocks to suggest Wenger would’ve done no worse than no CL football last season 😂 “The fact it was a flawed recruitment process doesn’t make sacking Wenger wrong.” Lol, that’s exactly what makes it wrong, sacking Wenger was only sensible with a clear plan in… Read more »

Ernest Reed

Correct Marko, no matter what followed it was beyond obvious that Wenger was no longer up to the task. Revisionist exercises in nostalgia serves no purpose, Wenger was and remains a spent commodity that has no purpose or place in today’s game. Want proof? Where’s he working today and as what?

Ishola70

Ernest Reed
“Would it be a stretch to say that the players detested everything about Emery, including his coaching staff, which also happens to have included Freddie? By association alone would it be unfair to suggest that the players have dropped tools on him in order to completely clean house? Im thinking its not so far fetched.”

Ernest

Dropping tools usually signifies that something grand that was being worked on has been abandoned.

These players haven’t been on any grand project to drop tools.

Spanishdave

It maybe hard but we have to give Stan and Josh a really hard time.
It’s not just the managers the owner is shite.
Stay away from the games is the best and quickest route.
Auba can piss off with his cars drop him now, that’s probably what he wants so he has an excuse to go.

Ernest Reed

Ishola – LOL! I like that!

Un na naai

On the wenger thing
Look, he was clearly going down hill but why get rid of him only to hire inferiors?
Why not put the measures in place to alleviate the burden on his shoulders until we find the right man to take over? That certainly weren’t emery. So why bother? We’ve got worse

Let me stress, we were going down hill and I wasn’t against a replacement, just needed to be someone better, not worse

David Smith

Mgooner, not sure if that is reassuring or worrying

MGooner

@ C C We gained one thing by sacking Wenger. The atmosphere around him had become too toxic and the fans were calling for his head. The owner went with the flow. Whether the crowd were right is a different question. They wanted to win the PL and were bored with top 4. They were prepared to be out of top 4 for a few years but rebuild and then come back to win the PL. We are exactly int this scenario, so there is nothing wrong with the plan. It is just the implementation of the plan which is… Read more »

Ernest Reed

Sadly for all, Stan and Josh truly don’t give a rats behind about any of us, they honestly don’t. They own multiple sports franchises and Arsenal happen to be but one. Equally, they also have their hands in other ventures. Arsenal are but a hobby to them. It will generate bigger money for them down the raod, when it suits them. Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen anytime soon.

Alex James

Becoming more and more apparent that we should have gone after JM! Why the heck can’t our hirer and firer ( whoever he is) be like Levy? Got rid of a failing manager, despite what he did for the club and brought in a proven top man straightaway. I really do despair. Don’t care what Arteta has supposedly done for Stirling and others. It’s what he could do for our defensive goons that matters. At this point in time.

Un na naai

Ernest ReedDecember 7, 2019 16:29:59 Correct Marko, no matter what followed it was beyond obvious that Wenger was no longer up to the task. Revisionist exercises in nostalgia Ernest reed You 100% used your bosses name here… Come on…..you’re an estate agent How many you sold this year? Anyway. We’ve got worse. So how exactly was it the right thing to to do? Wenger would have qualified for CL last season with the squad provided for him. Full season of auba and lava and £70m of defensive recruiting Here you go Arsene We do transfers and accounts now You do… Read more »

MGooner

@ David Smith

Nothing to worry imo, just revise your ambitions lower and everything will be fine 🙂

tenerife gooner

Sitting here ,SKY on,looking at the scores.Got me thinking of David Beckhams Book.He decribes going on loan to Preston.It was such an eye opener he said.Going from the rich and wealthy at Old Trafford to journey Men pros,fighting for their careers,their Families ,their Mortages etc.You can see it the lower teams in the Premiership,the Fight to remain in the Top flight.Dont need me to tell you,our current Arsenal team ,dont know how.

Un na naai

We are exactly int this scenario, so there is nothing wrong with the plan. It is just the implementation of the plan which is sometimes tricky 😉

Mgooner

But the end result is still arsenal are in the bottom half of the table after spending more money than we’ve spent in two years in our entire history

Ernest Reed

But Un, they did not honestly see Emery as an inferior. They saw someone who was tactically with the times (time has shown this to be absurd).

It clearly shows that management have been too far removed from reality to have properly addressed today’s needs. I will say it, a by-product of reliance on one individual for far too long. They forgot that in order to run you have learn to walk first.

Victorious

Ishola

Doubt if we would be near the relegation zone under big Weng though..

especially after adding the likes of Pepe,Tierney, Martinelli..i mean that can ball and have a bit about them

Even when crawling he used to bitch slap relegation plodders at home but now these teams come to the Emirates and either totally outplay us or it’s a slugfest

Does it not bother u?

Un na naai

Ernest ReedDecember 7, 2019 16:40:55
But Un, they did not honestly see Emery as an inferior. They saw someone who was tactically with the times (time has shown this to be absurd).

Then they fucked up more than Wenger ever did
The proof is in the pudding mate

Marc

“What have we gained in sacking Wenger?”

We got him out of the fucking club – it meant we no longer had a manager who lived off past exploits and nostalgia.

Honest to God there are some on here who would have Wenger as manager being wheeled out in a coffin.

Un na naai

MarcDecember 7, 2019 16:43:19
“What have we gained in sacking Wenger?”We got him out of the fucking club – it meant we no longer had a manager who lived off past exploits and nostalgia.

Mark with a C

And so here we are. Was it worth it?

Nelson

Zaha is drawing a lot of fault.

Ernest Reed

Un, it was absolutely the right thing to do. The longer you stayed with him the worse this was going to be. You have to look to tomorrow and by staying in the past you most certainly were never going to get there. No disrespect but it was more than time, for the good of the club even if the immediate results were worse, it simply had to happen for the good of the club.

Ernest Reed

Gonna say it, damn those F’n spuds – fire their manager and bring in someone to light a fire under the players arses, and its working! What does Arsenal do? To be continued…Damn!

Victorious

Sacking Wenger was the right thing but appointing a worse manager looks to have taken us 2 step backwards.. We could have been better sorting out the squad and structure while we seek a more capable coach

In all my years supporting the club never have I fear the possibility of been a permanent mid-table team

We wont even be playing in the shitty Europa next season,it’s so bad

Ernest Reed

Arsenal, dithering since 2004!

Sid

Arsenal to win europa league and qualify for the champions league
You heard it here 1st!

þorkell einarsson

it will be interesting to follow how we will resolve the Auba scenario ??
Get Simione asap.. or Poch.. !!?

Ishola70

Vic

“We could have been better sorting out the squad and structure while we seek a more capable coach”

That wouldn’t have worked with Wenger still at the helm.

Some of the most troublesome signings like Xhaka and Mustafi were his buys.

You can’t function properly as a club by totally going over the managers head continually.

Besides Wenger himself wouldn’t have stood for it. He would have walked. We all know how proud he was.

Ishola70

The club had to be re-set.

Wenger had ran his course. His race was run.

And I don’t ever recall any on here who wanted Wenger out saying that the re-set would be easy.

Which can imply that it may be hard.

The man was in place for decades.

Graham62

Un na naai Do you actually remember how things were towards the end of Wenger’s reign? It was so frigging depressing. The negativity was all-consuming. Yes, we hired a substandard manager who didn’t quiet get us top 4 in his first season and who totally lost the plot this season, BUT, the stench of Wenger would have destroyed the fanbase if he had stayed. We definitely wouldn’t have got top 4 and probably wouldn’t have reached the EL Final. We now have to dig ourself out of a massive hole but this hole was not created just because of Emery.… Read more »

Champagne charlie

Marc

Hahaha is that your big gain? We no longer have Wenger? How fucking petty and embarrassing.

Not an Arsenal fan then? Just an Arsene commenter. The club is no better off. Pretty clear the decision to sack him was daft with no proper contingency in place.

As thought, you’re arguing on grounds of hate toward a man. Give me peace.

Marko

Gladbach 7 points clear of Bayern after today’s victory. Marco Rose please.

Marc

Un

“And so here we are. Was it worth it?”

Yes 100% in fact I going to start hosting a party every April 20th – It will be a “The day we got rid of Wenger – thank fuck” party.

Sid

When is Wenger getting the Knighthood?
Sir Arsene innit?

salparadisenyc

Look at those results, this season is approaching the unwatchable.

Liverpool have dropped 2 of the 48 available, titling out in March if this keeps up breaking points record.

Jose has Spurs back in the fight while Raul and Co formulate a list fondling themselves in the VIP. As for Wenger not really sure why anyone feels the need to discuss him the rear view is the rear view.

Marc

Cc

“Not an Arsenal fan then? ”

Yeah that’s right I only go to matches so I can troll real fans.

Fucking idiot.

Redtruth

A silly mistake to sack Emery considering how poor we have been for ths past 12 years.
It takes time to untangle 22 years of dictatorship.

Marko

Conveniently you leave out the “arguably” part. The part I’ve already stated, the fact he would’ve had 70 mil (more like 90 mil given his payoff wouldn’t have occurred) on transfers, plus Auba for a full season and not half of one. So again, arguable. Yes arguably better is YOU arguing BETTER and the key word there is BETTER. So again how can you argue better when there was such an obvious decline? It’s stupid. You keep bringing up no champions league like it’s an ace card or something but the fucker went 5th then 6th logically speaking he was… Read more »

salparadisenyc

Red

It was a silly mistake hiring Emery, lets get it right.

MGooner

@ishola Not sure Xhaka was his choice. He was bought at the start of the transfer window at a high price. Considering he often leaked stuff in France, the news on that one was that it was Gazidis and he was against buying the chap. You have to remember that he did everything to stick with Rambo and Wilshere. He actually wanted an English core. Mustafi, agree with you is his buy. I was actually excited when he came as he had just won the world cup. The thing is that before the sum of our parts was higher than… Read more »

Marc

Cc

By the way you’ve outed yourself with that previous comment.

“Not an Arsenal fan then? Just an Arsene commenter”

Someone who can’t differentiate between Arsenal football club and Arsene Wenger.

Ishola70

MGooner

Xhaka did though epitomise what had been wrong with Wenger’s prefered choice of holding midfielder for years that being more focus on technique than defensive capabilities.

For this reason people may tend towards him being a Wenger buy.

Redtruth

Nothing silly about replacing Wenger for Emery.
The mistake was keeping donkeys like Ozil, Mustafi, Xhaka, and Kolasinac on the payroll.

Un na naai

Graham62December 7, 2019 17:01:10
Un na naaiDo you actually remember how things were towards the end of Wenger’s reign? It was so frigging depressing. The negativity was all-consuming.

Graham

Yes
Better than they are now

Graham62

by some on here

Marko

What have we gained in sacking Wenger? What we’ve gained is that we’ve stopped the declining path that we were on under him and rid ourselves of someone who was sucking the life out of the club and it’s fanbase. He had to go kicking and screaming by the end. I mean you realize that we finished off better last season than the previous season right? And even this season as bad as things are right now with the right appointment we could still salvage this season. So with all that in mind it’s frankly embarrassing that somebody is sitting… Read more »

Un na naai

RedtruthDecember 7, 2019 17:18:43
Nothing silly about replacing Wenger for Emery.
The mistake was keeping donkeys like Ozil, Mustafi, Xhaka, and Kolasinac on the payroll.

Rat
So you agree that we’d have been better off keeping Wenger and getting rid of certain players

Receding Hairline

Whenever I watch Bournemouth I ask myself why Eddie Howe keeps getting mentioned for top jobs.

Marc

Ishola

Wenger was actually quoted as referring to Xhaka as a box to box midfielder.

And I thought a football match was usually played over 90 odd minutes!

Un na naai

Ah fuck you loooosers anyway
It’s Christmas
I’ve better things to do
Fucking wasters

Marc

Receding

Because he’s English.

Graham62

Un na naai

Sorry can’t quiet fathom your last response.

“Yes. Better than they are now”

Marc

Un

The difference between the negativity towards the end of Wenger’s reign and now is then all we could look forward to is finally getting rid of Wenger, now we can at least hope that we can get in someone to set us on the right course.

Ishola70

Marc
“Wenger was actually quoted as referring to Xhaka as a box to box midfielder.”

Yes and I remember him saying it with a grin on his face.

Wenger trolling again as he was was known to do.

salparadisenyc

Red

Clearing imperative Wenger had to go my thread in that was the replacement process, the same one were undertaking now.

These guys are proving amateurs.

Marko

Xhaka was unmistakenly a Wenger buy. A non DM/holding midfielder playing DM/holding midfielder. He did it with Song, Denilson, Arteta, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey etc etc he was literally afraid or incapable of actually signing up a ball winning DM or at the very least unwilling. Kind of stumbled upon Coquelin I say stumbled because of injuries and how he was played at RM on loan at Friedburg. Arsene didn’t know what player he had

Redtruth

Graham62 December 7, 2019 17:01:10
“Un na naai Do you actually remember how things were towards the end of Wenger’s reign? It was so frigging depressing. The negativity was all-consuming.”

I take it, by end, you mean Man Utd thrashing us 8-2 in 2011.

MGooner

@ishola

How about comparing him to Denilson? He was also a pass master, remember.

Marko

Don throwing the toys out the pram because he can’t argue better for Wenger. Bless. Good to know the streets will be lined when he passes.

Ishola70

MGooner
“How about comparing him to Denilson?”

Yes all of the same pod with varying degrees.

Wenger’s preferred type of holding midfielder and tbf many fans preferred choice of holding midfielder as well.

Wenger and plenty of the fans were singing from the same hymn sheet on that one.

Spanishdave

We have regressed so fast with the same players, why?
Have a few players upset the dressing room?
They are all overpaid .
Are they not motivated now.
Freddie hasn’t inspired them so far.
Why?
Something is seriously wrong inside the club

MGooner

I cannot think of one single manager who could turn this around and get us into top 4 in the next couple of years.

No top Manager will touch Arsenal as there is no money around. That Top Club tag is bollocks. We need at least 500 million spent over 2 seasons to rebuild this midfield and defence plus secure Laca and Auba. We do not have the money unfortunately.

MGooner

@Ishola

When Arsenal fans think of a holding midfielder, they think of the like of Viera.

But I think the game has moved on from that system. A team can no longer afford to have a player sitting in front of the back 4. Midfielders are supposed to be more mobile these days. Just compared the ground covered now to 10 years ago.

Look at how Barca players operate when they lose the ball. It’s as if they have their tails on fire. they do not let their central midfielders exposed/alone, they all help out.

Marko

Wenger’s preferred type of holding midfielder and tbf many fans preferred choice of holding midfielder as well.

Not me man u was crying out for years for us to sign Essien when we were linked, Kante when we were linked, Partey when we were linked. I even called for Christoph Kramer a couple years back to no avail.

Gunnernet

Fromwhat i ve heard Brendan has signed a new long term contract. Next and only optionfor me would be Carlo. Arteta is way too inexperienced for the position and we are in a very messy situation. We cannot afford another failed recruitment

Marko

Filipe Melo was another.

Bob N16

At least £500m! Legrove is getting hysterical!