Here we go. The big one. Unai Emery has his chance to seek out vengeance against his ex-club. The Emeryista are sharpening their cuck talons, the #ArtetaOut brigade are penning tweets to save into their drafts, the whole world is watching for what happens at the Ceramica stadium this evening.
The importance of the tie cannot be underestimated.
A loss won’t see Arteta out of a job, it’ll just mean he loses vital fan capital in the stadium next season.
A win doesn’t claw back the love, but it goes a long way towards repairing the shame of this season.
The game is two legs, but it won’t be treated like that by the fans. There will be no ‘well, the second leg is more important.’ Tonight needs a massive performance. We’ve sputtered in the league for the last 6 weeks. There have been some bright moments, but not many.
We’re roughly 18 months into this project, there needs to be some joy. A shot at silverware is the Fairy liquid to the tarred wings of this season. Trophies have a way of making you forget, like parents with money after they’ve spanked you in a Tesco car park in front of your friends FOR SOMETHING YOU DIDN’T EVEN DO. They are a managerial elixir.
Arteta knows this, I think the players do as well.
Unai Emery has conducted himself well since he left. He called Arteta and offered his team an offboarding meeting, which is rare in football and very professional. He also tried to sell him a house, which is very Del Boy, but also quite amusing.
Emery is a god in this competition, he’s a master over two legs, he’ll fancy himself this ebening.
Arteta needs to show that he’s the better coach. He needs a smarter plan, better-motivated players, and some decisive moments to go our way.
Barcelona abused the backline of Villareal at the weekend. Good movement with variety will unlock chances… but that openness comes with problems up the other end. They have nimble players that can break at speed and unlock crowded boxes. They’ll also be a danger from setpieces.
Key to tonight, we need to have a calm opening 20 minutes. From there, we have to take the game to them. We’re not good enough to play for a 0-0 and a 1-1 would be VERY worrying
Off topic.
I did hear some rumblings that Arsenal is sniffing around Coutinho again for a potential loan move next season. That’s worrying on a few levels.
- It indicates that Odegaard might not be coming back.
- It shows that the club has NOT learned its lesson with older players
- It would show that we’re not even doing the basics like assessing injury records.
Now, the flipside of this is that Coutinho, however you cut it, is absolutely top drawer as a player. He shoots, he scores, he assists, he can control… and he’ll have a chip on his shoulder.
BUT… since April 24th 2020, he’s missed 233 days due to injury. He’s barely managed 10 games worth of minutes this season. If you want to make an impact in the Premier League, you need to be fit.
Barcelona has been trying to rid themselves of him since they bought him.
We have been here over and over and over again, are the club really going to go down this path again? Have we learned nothing?
We’ll see.
Let’s make it through this evening before we get too worked up about a rumour that is painfully believable.
See you in the comments.
Xhaka has actually been decent.
The non existent midfielder is Ceballos
Saddest part is Roma is doing the business on United so far. can we take advantage? nope .. not even close so far.
ceballos is such a prat, sooner he goes back to real madrid and they sell him to some lower spanish club the better. just screams how bad we are that we needed to take him back on loan. this club is like a retirement/holiday home for the can’t quite make it at a top club. and we pay top dollar for it. stan is a good businessman, total myth, arsenal is terribly run
Sickeningly predictable in terms of hitting X numbers of back and side passes before anything forward. No surprises to Villarreal. Absokutely comfortable for the home team.
Not impressed at all so far
Fuck sake come on Arsenal
And stop calling out Pedro like this is his fault
Bati
16 months into the ‘project’ with the generational one.
I swear, I never thought that I would start to feel serious empathy for Emery. He was better than this as average as he was.
Has Ceballos got treacle on his boots?
Enough is enough take this British core crap off, chambers,holding,saka, Smith-rowe, all championship level at best
He needs to go, now. This was beginning of the end for Arteta.
It doesn’t matter if he overturns this and win Europa, the football we are playing is shit and sad to watch.
Raul Abiol is like 80 years old and we haven’t even troubled him.
We clearly have the better players, may be and just may be Unai Emery isn’t a bum like Pedro claims.
Well spotted Nelson
Arteta has always played his favourites
I mean WTF is Willian warming up for???
The saddest thing is irrespective of the result Arteta will be in the dugout next season while we’re battling for 10th place again.
Having a good ebening Pedro? Tomorrows headline should be Big fat “I am sorry”!!!
The heat is on you, you’re playing the guy who you took over from in the semi final of europa, The seasons been a right off, you need this game……… I know what I’ll do, I’ll play with no centre forward. Strange strange strange decision
Need that away goal so badly now.
Arteta – 5 subs!!
What I wouldn’t give them go back to the ‘crap’ that wenger served up in his latter years
The man is looking more and more like a genius.
Villarreal look like a poor team being managed by a good manager who has them well organized for this game.
Arsenal on the other 🤚 …
Is Jay an Arsenal fan?
This game isn’t over though. We can certainly still win it.
So Roma doing their job against Manure but we fucking can’t match up to a medicore Villa Real. Gabi and Soares need to be subbed in.
@Leftside
We’ll be battling relegation with Arteta in charge next season
The man is so arrogant with the young players, almost all of them want him out.
Not good news for him. Lose this and he’s out at the end of the season.
The on pitch process is just shit and omitting a very exciting player in Marinelli. Also twisting ESR to fit Ode? How many forward passes came from Ode in the 1H??
Let’s not go near Ceballos and Partey.
Very good point Nelson
Both defense and midfield has suffered as a result of Arteta’s selection positioning !!
Going into a meeting right now. Hopefully when I check the scores after the game, it would be Arsenal 3 – Bumery 2
I think this current Arsenal are more talented than Emery’s Arsenal, and I think both are more talented than this current Villarreal side.
Everything so far regarding Emery v Arteta will have been speculative compared to the performances in these semifinal ties. Gonna sound fucking stupid saying Arteta is the better coach out of the two if the second half keeps going as they have in the first half.
Remove ceba and place ordegard ib his place, draw esr back to 10 and bring in martinelli, we need pace upfront
TYAG
I wouldn’t be surprised, he is genuinely that bad and I don’t feel bad for him because he’s an arrogant twat without the credentials or ability to back it up.
Changes at half time are essential
the second goal was absolutely pathetic
He dies need to do changes at least 2 right now
No long balls to let Pepe making runs?? The only long ball from xhaka nearly resulted in.a pen by pepe!
Ceballos surely can’t come out for the second half, can he??
I hate to say it, but this is an Emery Master Class against the Con Artist.
Cedric is a far better right back than chambers, seem arteta want to be popular with the English press by picking chambers, weak weak manager. We have not attacked their full backs at all. Arteta has his most important 45 minutes coming up, can he make the necessary changes?
Matt,
With 5 subs The Con Nan will make his first sub at 75 mins.
Sack the clown
People flaming Ceballos don’t understand that Arteta had ZERO pressure to play him. We have enough midfielders that could have started, we have players who can play left back times better than Xhaka.
It’s on our cunt manager.
He thinks he is the smartest man in the room when he is actually a clueless guy with a gigantic ego.
Chambers needs to be replaced.
Nothing new just another poor game, slow build up, players not up for it. I think really they don’t have a lot of faith in Arteta.
None of us do. He is what he is a very inexperienced coach out of his depth.
There’s no way you can get embarrassed by Emery and not get the sack
If not for Gerrard Moreno slipping, this might have been three and game over. No idea where Arteta gets his bright ideas from. Once in a while good football isn’t enough for Arsenal. Heck 60 percent of the time great wengaball wasn’t enough. Now we are supposed to accept this shit, even if he goes out of this like this on a whimper. I say he needs to be sacked if he can’t turn this around. Go get Erik ten hag for next season.
Raptora
Don’t disagree. He is a liability; but it is Arteta that gives him the opportunity to be a liability.
I didn’t expect to see Smith Rowe up top, his game is all about one and 2 touch and give and goes, playing as a striker negates the strongest part of his game..
Strange decision.
Sack the fraud at once!
I would seriously love to hear the justification for Arteta if we go out..anyone who backs him even then surelyhad an agenda..the guy literally shoots himself in the foot every fucking game
Let him compete with Lampard for a new job if he doesn’t deliver on this.
Xhaka has to be moved to the middle…Saka has to be switched to left back…Cebellos removed from the game…and Martinelli put into a proper CF role.
No HT changes?
Let’s sign up Allegri ASAP so he has time to build a team for next season ! Don’t waste time with this crap any more .
His lack of playing martinelli will be his undoing
just do it
Pee Fauty Fyffe for Mr I’m out of my depth
No change. Fucking unbelievable
Awful. Again. This has to be it.
I wonder what sauce is saying in the locker room….
No changes? Wow, arteta is lost
No changes? Wow, arteta is lost
The midfield can’t supply the ball to Ode and ESR. And we have no overlap on the wing. This attack is very weak.
This how we should line up second half if we want to stand a chance
Cedric Holding Mari Saka
Xhaka Partey
Pepe Od ESR
Martinelli
But the Con man has no clue while Emery already made his sub
Arteta may be dross, but Emery’s teams self-destruct too. Race to the bottom here boys
so who’s the better coach
villareal is inferior in the sum of their parts imo
Ceballos booked and could have gone off there.
Coquelin on
No subs, what a prick.
This is a 2nd yellow offense.
Arteta still touching his balls. What a complete moron.
I told you, the man is an arrogant imbecile. No changes?!?
Coquellin to score the 3rd
HES ON A YELLOW GET HIM OFF!
Why Chambers heads the ball to the opponent? He is bad!!!
Mourinho and Lampard got sacked when they were doing better jobs in the league. The only thing keeping arteta from the same fate was the Europa league. There is no reason to keep him if he doesn’t qualify against this Villareal side. No justification at all.
…the pitch
No need to make subs we aren’t 4-0 down. Arteta will wait until the 80h minute and then bring Willian on if need be.
Emery so unimaginative…. speedy Chukwueze vs. Xhaka and the set-piece routine Villareal has been good at all season…. you could see it coming from a mile away. we were warned and prepared lol
We have little appetite to take shots
Can Ceballos just stay in Spain tonight, please?!
No changes. Arteta can’t help himself. Ceballos to get sent off. Not even a difficult prediction.
Ceballos lucky to still be on the pitch…Surely Arteta should remove him as quickly as possible now!
Instead he’ll either wait until he picks up his second yellow or to the last 15 minutes to do anything
Shocked no subs I really am
the corner cross for the 2nd goal was right on the 6 yard line – would a confident goalie like Martinez have come out and hoovered that up?
Ceballos aint it
Take players on fish. Don’t recycle the ball from left to right and so on
Ceballos shouldn’t even be on the pitch based on his performance in the first half. What a joke trusting a loan player that is playing as crappy as possible.
Our whole starting 11 stinks tonight.
Xhaka as left back vs Chukwueze. (a 2nd grader playing FIFA wouldn’t have played a slow player vs a fast player)
Bad midfield pairing.
Ceballos been shit for a while.
No striker.
Abomination of a CB pairing.
Captain Rob fkin Holding.
Chambers ahead of Soares is a joke.
Arteta calls y’all fools
Pepe can’t get past defenders ffs . He needs space to run into
Far better managers have been dismissed for far less. Arteta must have something on the Kroenke’s.
Ceballos needs to come off asap or risk getting a RED anytime
We need a striker on its clear as day we can all see it
Manure level
Arteta has 5 subs to use…but why would he need to use them when the team is playing so well?
Generational manager!! We’re lucky to have him!
Next things to happen:
Ceballos gets sent off
Elneny comes on for smith-rowe
Quicker feet needed. Drop Smith Rowe deeper. Get a striker in the box.
Why do we cross the ball like we have targets in the box?
Eagle
It’s incredibly pathetic man, absolutely horrible that Unai Emery maybe had a bit more about him when he was here and even he was a bit shit with us
Partey is not a smart footballer.
Get rid of Chambers please!
At least keep it low.
4th since December
This dumb fucker needs to put on Martin now.
Start making subs from 55″ or too late. 5 subs, righr?!