Well good morning my dearest, dearest of chums.
What do I want to talk about today?
Last season’s table since Christmas. I wrote about it a lot because the first 38% of the season was dreadful, but the second 62% of the season was really, really decent. I wrote this after we beat Brighton.
The final 24 games of the season also post a cheery outlook. 2nd most points. 2nd best defensive record. 3rd most goals.
If you are looking for signs of life and you can’t feel a heartbeat in ‘6 points off 4th place, with the 2nd best form over the final 24 games after we made pointed changes at Christmas’, I honestly can’t help you.
If you thought the first 14 games were relevant enough to merit sacking Arteta, I can’t listen to you tell me the 24 games after count as a mathematical sleight of hand. Again, just to remind you, I understand that the league is 38 games, but we’re searching for light, I’m not trying to convince you we actually won a trophy.
This landed quite the reaction from certain quarters:
ANON 1:
I was thinking more about sacking Arteta pre Christmas after we went through a horrific barren run to get in a clearly better manager. Again I don’t really buy into the whole upward trend post Christmas nonsense cause there was still inconsistent performances embarrassing defeats and struggles along the way.
I will say what actually might save the god awful manager might be the fact that while we fail to make an actual smart decision on him we’ve missed out on Nagelsmann, Rose, Marsch and possibly Galtier. Might be left with a scenario where Fonseca, Allegri or I dunno Rangnick might be the only ones left.
Should have sacked him pre Christmas during that period and made a move for Marco Rose before he committed to Dortmund.
Ouch.
There were people who thought Arteta hadn’t changed anything in 24 games and he’d be gone by the following Christmas.
ANON 2:
Arteta needed to go, but instead of taking the hard decisions now, so that the new manager could have the summer to peopare the squad, we’ve decided to drag our feet and keep him until December next year so not only content with sabotaging this season, we want to sabotage next season by keeping Arteta on.
Why does Arteta deserved to be kept on?
The silence is deafening.
There were the out and out doomers:
ANON 3:
However next season when the situation will stabilise (no COVID, people in stadium, …), I do expect us to be back in mid table mediocrity between 6th and 10th. That’s exactly where the underlying stats and performance point.
ManCity, ManUtd, Chelsea, Liverpool will be back to proper level of performance.
Leicester also played in Europe this season, so I see no reason why next season should provoke a dip in performance and result. If they recruit smartly like it look they are doing in getting B Soumaré.
WestHam may be impaired by having mid European competition.
Spurs are going to treat that 3rd tier European Cup as an hindrance and plays kids and fringe players.So of the club above us, I can see us overtaking WestHam or Spurs. However from the clubs that finished below is, I do expect Everton to have a better season.
If Leeds recruits well, they could become a force.
AstonVilla have in their academy a player ready to explode and lessen the impact of Grealish injury. Basically with Grealish Aston Villa is a top half club without they are hovering above relegation.
Where are we 11 months later after those great non-data-driven predictions?
Sitting in 4th with the run in our hands.
So why do I bring this up? Because football requires a bit of vision in 2022.
10 years ago, you could hire Antonio Conte, spend £50m, and put on a title charge. 2022, you just can’t do that. Why? Because you need more than money, you need to be smart.
The two best teams in the world, City (richest) and Liverpool, both have a long-term vision, both have a strategy, and both are ruthless about delivering on their philosophy.
The biggest mess heads in world football?
PSG: No footballing vision, no recruitment plan outside STAR PLAYER NOW, and no control over club culture. The teenagers loved their summer signings, but most saw what was coming, a disaster of a season again.
Manchester United: Again, the strategy is BIG NAMES. They nearly had a bit of a vision under OGS who wanted to sign young exciting players that cared about the club… but then they signed Ronaldo, a 37-year-old past his prime, and it crashed everything. None of their players make sense, they’re just expensive. The idea that Ten Hag is going to come and fix that squad in one window, again, is extremely fanciful. Ralf Rangnick is one of the best squad builders in the game, he says they need 10 players and 6 years to get to the Liverpool standard. Why would he be wrong? Some fans don’t believe him, but really, why should you believe the truth of someone that has never worked in football, let alone United? It took Liverpool 5 years to get to their standard, if Rangnick is 50% wrong, United are still 3 years away.
Barcelona: This is a club that didn’t look after the basics when it had the greatest player of all time. Now he’s gone, the curtain has been drawn, and no one knows what they are doing. They brought back an exlegend with the hope he could revive club fortunes like Pep did. His player strategy looks like some of the business Arteta did at the start of his career. Auba is not reviving Barcelona, nor is Lewandowski. Throwing money at short-term ideas rarely works for the short term, but even if it does, you pay in the end, because you have to replace aging players.
So back to my point, Arsenal had to accept that getting back to the top was a process, and it was going to take time. That’s brave, because fans online don’t care for patience, and clubs have traditionally behaved like fans. This video doing the rounds perfectly captures the modern fan and the delusion of who we are.
Daniel Levy at Spurs had implemented an elite plan of his own. He had a young dynamic coach, a group of really talented players, and a style of football that was progressing. It took Poch about 5 years to get Spurs into the Champions League final. They lost, but it was an incredible achievement. Then what happened? Levy shit the bed. He decided that the failings were on the manager, not part of the process in building a sustainable football club. He jumped on Jose because he believed in the idea of short-term winnertivity. That failed, he went for Nuno because Mendes said so. That failed, so he doubled down on Antonio Conte, despite the biggest chequebook manager in football being a HUGE mismatch for a club that is incredibly frugal / now skint.
Strategy takes discipline. There are always quick hit temptations. The best resist them.
Back to that half-season table and why it is still important.
The second part of the season we:
- Shipped out the toxic players that were trying to down Arteta
- Arteta finally discovered the benefits of young players over seasoned pros that had done it all
- Arteta showed that he could progress players through good coaching
A large chunk of the fanbase thought he should be fired because of the first 14 games, but refused to acknowledge the 24 after were absolutely immense from a points collection total. We had the 3rd best defence, scored the second-most goals, and had the 2nd most points.
Mad that anyone thought that sort of run should have still ended in the sack.
There was a notion that this sort of sample was dishonest and NOT predictive. If I could be bothered, I’d pull some of the tweets under the posts. But so many smart people weren’t having it.
Well, a year on, we are in 4th place with 5 games to go. That table WAS predictive of better times.
We might not break the top 4 this season, but we are very close considering the issues we’ve had.
This summer might require a bit of vision again if we don’t get top 4, because no doubt, there will be people calling for the sacking of Arteta if we miss out.
Things to remember:
We have two players in the top 5 for open-play chance creation this season: Saka (20) & Odegaard (23)
We have not had a proper striker all season (7 goals, Auba)
We are joint bottom in the top 7 for goals scored.
The vision some need is that if you put the right striker in our system, we are likely 10 points better off NOW, which makes us a top 4 team, possibly challenging Chelsea for 3rd.
Some more vision:
Thomas Partey is a big weakness in our squad. He’s too good. When he gets injured, it takes us time to figure out how to absorb him. If we had a competitor for his position next season, we’d be able to rotate him more often, and we’d be able to absorb the inevitable injuries.
The path forward for Arsenal is extremely clear:
- 1 elite young striker
- 1 elite young midfielder
Just two additional players, in this system, and we are so much better.
Now, there will be other bits of business we’ll do that might look a little cuter and be more with a view to the future. I suspect our secondary striker will be less expensive, so we might take a risk on someone with high potential. We might add a free transfer like Sanches, who had injury potential but could be good for 25 games a season.
Then think of who is coming back to the team: William Saliba will fight it out with White & Gabriel.
We’re being linked with all the right names. I don’t have the same belief others do in Gabriel Jesus. I don’t think his primary objective is Arsenal, he’s not a ‘main man’ profile, and I don’t think he’d leave City to be back-up. Regardless, he’ll cost ‘main man’ money… but I totally accept he is a level above anything we have right now. Victor Oshimen is being linked, he’s raw, but he has all the ingredients you look for in a striker in the Premier League, and he scores goals. Arsenal will be linked with a lot of strikers, that’s what the recruitment team want, so don’t fall in love with any rumours yet… just know that the club waited 6 months to make a consequential signing. Arteta wants to compete for titles, he’s going to derisk that signing as much as he can.
David Ornstein is linking us with Neves and Tielemans, I told you here we’d be interested in them, they are top, top players that make us much better.
So overall, the story of this post? Last summer, the data pointed to better times. This summer, it’s even clearer, the leap of faith is more straightforward: Do you believe an actual striker with a chance creation team behind him will score more than 7 goals? Do you believe elite competition for Thomas Partey will lesson the impact of injuries? If you ticked yes to both, then you agree that this club is going places and you should, as Josh Kroenke said, ‘be excited.’
Right, that’s me done, check out our podcast, maybe drop it a 5* rating?
Bankz is here for the tr4phy again
DM come outside!!!!
Let’s do this.
Tr4phy
((((BOOOOOM)))))
Lol.
You sneaky villain.
I knew you were lurking around
Jesus trying his best to impress arteta…
Seems like every year we’ve 5 years plan. Arteta has been manager for 3 years and we’re only asking him for 70 points.
How long is Arteta going to be defended!. This is like the last 10 years of Arsene’s apologist excuses.
I mentioned early season the conversation by 2 ex
spurs players at a North London Golf course talking up a POCH return
to Spurs next season.
Seems this could be the case with a straight swap with Conte.?
top 10
I remain skeptical that Poch is such a capable coach. He finally won a championship that you or I could coach to win Ligue 1. And this Spuds team is worse then when Poch left and a small transfer budget.
What a game this is
Great goal by Vinc Jnr
A long term plan and high standards are fine, but Arteta needs to take advantage of opportunities when they are presented. 2 wins vs rivals plus good fortune from Spurs result to get us back in pole position is great, but 3 losses to below average opponents put us in a desperate spot. Let’s be winners in the last 5 matches and prove our mettle, reverse the recent culture of coming up short when the chips are down.
Class finish from B Silva.
Pen! Benz missed x2 pens at the weekend…
This fucking guy lmao, only gone and Zidane’d it of course!
That was never a pen. The Romanian ref needing to be star.
Pedro I never subscribed to the “Arteta out” view of the world. I try and be dispassionate about something I am deeply passionate about – Arsenal’s fate! And I also agree with most of what you say. But there are two things with which I concisely disagree. 1. Trust the process is fine. But if you don’t give an end date to the process, then it becomes an unfalsifiable proposition. Things have definitely improved. I give MA due credit. But if we don’t get CL this season then are we required to wait another 12 months before drawing any conclusions?… Read more »
Benz is 3 goals away from equaling Raul’s RM record of 323 in all comps and he is going to do it in like 140 less apps.
And with respect to Raul, he couldn’t lace Benz’ boots as a footballer goes and was a poacher type.
That was another classic.
My, we have had some good games of soccer to watch the last few weeks.
Liverpool 3 Man City 2 ( Fa Cup)
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 4
Arsenal 3 Man Utd 1
Man City 4 Real Madrid 3
No one can complain, when you are watching this type of entertainment.
Pedro There is a much longer and complex story of how we got here. I know by a fact, a lot of the things you have said over the las 2 years are TRUE but there are some points that should be add to it: 1- Josh is the big leader in the room, this is his project, he was the one that sacked Wenger and brought Arteta. What happened in the Emery era? INEXPERIENCE, Raul ate him alive, then Josh got his revenge (I know a very good story about what happened there that I will tell later) 2-Josh… Read more »
Sagg,
Josh wasn’t going to sack Arteta.
There was always going to be big money this summer.
I don’t really get what you are saying that goes critically against what I’m writing or where there’s a massive difference?
CG, I’m old enough to remember you telling us all that Sean Dyche was a better manager than Arteta and that we’d finish mid table.
You, of all people, should sit this post out.
Pedro
Importance of CL, it is bigger than you have pointed out that is the massive difference. (Thats the way a see it or read it)
Stan was going to sack Arteta in december 2019 not Josh.
P
Two things
1. I said we would finish 5th. And , I think if Spurs do not get a result at Anfield, he will finish 4th.
(Never said, we would finish mid table.)
2. I stand by my point, that Dyche is better ( clearly) than Arteta.Thats why Arteta can’ t beat him
But Arteta is my good books at the moment- because is playing the same expansive and exciting style, that A. Wenger gave us for x 2 decades.
*December 2020
Wouldn’t surprise me if signings were off the top and medium shelf as a nice blend.
Jesus
Lauro Martinez
Diallo
Neves or Tielemanns
Bissouma
Harvey Barnes wouldn’t be a bad squad player at all should we get Champs League. He has a high ceiling.
What a player, Benz.
NJ Gooner that’s a funny little post. first the process is unfalsifiable then you move on to the one thing that could falsify it, the table! but all you say is its not good enough. here’s what i think, it is good enough. where we are in the table considering CONTEXT. I agree to some degree we could have made moves in january but more and more it’s looking like there wasnt much to be done, especially when a load of top clubs, not in england, smell us coming around the corner to rival them for talent. Jovic…do we know… Read more »
It’s been an upward trend – uneven but upward – and now that we have come close, Josh will greenlight the final push. For that reason -and others – my belief is a minimum of six incoming players. I suspect many of the deals have been done. Arteta will want a full complement early, by the time the players return.
Too bad Pepe couldn’t play like Vinícius Júnior. He has the same speed but he has no football IQ.
in one summer wenger paid 100m for xhaka, mustafi and lucas perez and kept his job for another few years after that.
for anyone still thinking the biz we did last summer wasn’t good enough
NJG, why does there need to be an end date to the ‘process’ you evolve or you die, it’s a continuous thing, Liverpool are continually adding players to what is already a fantastic squad and that’s what Arsenal will do and next season we’ll be stronger and closer to Liverpool and Man City.
Zacharse, were you expecting Arsene to get sacked after the “poor” £100M transfer. Do you actually need a lecture on who Wenger is and his place in Arsenals history, how then can you compare him with Arteta; ‘for anyone still thinking the biz we did last summer wasn’t good enough’?
Let’s be honest. The only thing at this point that will unite the fanbase will be if we make Top 4. Anyone who is opposed to giving Arteta a new contract after a Top 4 finish is an out and out troublemaker. However, 5th or 6th finish will mean there are plenty of fans who won’t buy the stretch goal argument after outspending everyone in the league this past summer and having no European distractions. I desperately want a Top 4 finish and there’ll be the added bonus that everyone will be on the same side of the management argument… Read more »
“Of course, we did a proper analysis of them,” Klopp said. “I had a lot of respect for Unai Emery and Villarreal before, because I saw the games against Bayern Munich and Juventus but only with one eye. “But then I watched them properly: Wow! Impressive. Unai is obviously a detailed-obsessed manager who prepares for all different situations in a game. It’s really, really good. “Different ways to build up, different ways to press, different ways to react on different results. Really, really impressive. He’s obviously a world-class coach and doing an incredible job there.” Since the start of the… Read more »
For me, all this process stuff wouldn’t mean a thing if we don’t have tangible results to show for it, Kloops Liverpool has always been the standard for club building in the PL according to most and each season there was an upward trend in finishing position on the table even without having to look at the underlying metrics and stats. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in December table predictions and what not but it would have meant f3ck all if we still had a 6-8th place finish this season. The reason a lot can believe in this process… Read more »
Pedro, I’ve been (and continue to be) and Arteta skeptic. That said, I’ve never had any issues with your data splicing. Trends matter and they tell a story. My biggest gripe with “the process” is the sandbagging. I believe you when you say that the club will be satisfied with a Europa League qualification for next season. IMO, considering the investments in the squad over the past 3-4 years, that’s a problem. It reeks of mediocrity. And for what it’s worth, I do believe Arteta has higher targets for himself. Vinai, Josh, and Stan are the main culprits. Josh might… Read more »
Raptora We all know Pedro was ridiculously off the mark in calling Emery a bum, the guy wasn’t just the right fit at Arsenal for a long-term vision mainly because he is a cup manager and he didn’t come in at the right moment as well (Raul and the backroom chaos), even Arteta alluded to that in his last interview about Emery. One thing Pedro was spot on about was the language/communication barrier and Coquelin sort of confirmed it in an interview yesterday. Pedro obviously went too far with disparaging remarks about him and at the end of the day,… Read more »
Under Arteta we have had a number of false dawns. 1)When he first arrived..followed byba dip in form. 2)Winning the FA cup…followed by a dreadful start to the new season 3)The arrival of Smith rowe on the scene….followed by defeat to villarael in europe. 4) a good finish to last season …followed by a poor startvtovthis season. 5),a very good run of form before christmas..followed by a slump in form at the start of the new year 6);another good run of form…followed by another slump in form 7) the arrival of Eddie on the scene bringing 7 goals in 2… Read more »
Unai and all his details may work in Spain with smaller clubs or mid range clubs.
But his details were eaten alive by big personalities that he had no control over at psg and Arsenal.
He’s found his role and is successful. Good for him.
Achievements shape characters and help players take the next step. Without them, some will stagnate, others will lose faith and want to leave, etc. Spuds squad is a case in point. Absolutely correct LS, case in point Harry Kane and Kyle Walker. Both started off under Poch, Walker left and he is better off for it while Kane has wasted his prime years at Spurs yet they still don’t want him to go. Also Saka getting to the Euros final albeit he missed a crucial penalty also shaped his character and made him better, more like the talisman of the… Read more »
Unai Emery is a very good Manager, but he was destined to fail here. Pedro alludes poor results and bad man management problems. Arteta had a same or worse bad period and problems with the same players. What is the big difference? Emery was Don Raul people. Josh was excited about Arsenal after EL final and to be near CL, so he got funds to be stronger. What happened? Don Raul overruled Emery decisions and make his scam deals,. Josh found out about the deals earlier than anyone else, but he couldnt sack Raul in that moment, (when you have… Read more »
Le Sauce, And those are just the Spud players who actually developed in line with their potential. Consider Dele. He looked like one of the biggest talents in that squad. It’s easy to write him off now and say he didn’t have the character. But how much of that is down to being marinated in a culture of under achievement? Trippier also never lived up to his potential, even though he was much more successful than Dele. You’re right about Saka. That penalty miss could have broken him but I think the fan reaction and support afterwards turned it into… Read more »
Sagg, I’d believe your insider contacts a little more if your assessment of the difference between Unai and Arteta was deeper than ‘same guy’
Raptora, Don Unai, without doubt, was a bum manager for us. I’m not surprised you are hedging for him, your Conte and Rangnick bets look in deep trouble.
Unai is an Elite Cup manager though, but Villareal, 4th best team in Spain, sit 7th in the league. If they fail to turnover Liverpool, they might not make it into Europe next season (same place they finished last season).
Cali, bang on mate
SAGG, Stan wasn’t going to sack Arteta in 2019. You are wrong.
CG, I have receipts. All penned by you, through a season where you’ve been absolute poison with every comment. Where will we finish? ‘Arteta has us grinding them out after game 4 to finish 6th -8th. The Arteta Years. So dull and such a waste of everybodys time and money.’ Talent ID: Artetaball is turgid, obsolete. minimum goal threat and pretty players like Odegaard simply slow it all down even further. Rival manager ID: (On Rafe B at Everton) He simply wears his Everton blazer , keeps his gob shut and does his job- which is to win games and… Read more »
Pedro Im not saying Unai and Arteta are the same guy. Im just saying they have had 2 very bad runs. But only one was meant to go through that bad run. Im pointing out that even if Emery would have had an exciting vision (he didnt has it, Im with you on that) he would have been sacked anyway, because he was Raul people. Every single bridge was burned by Raul, the bad moment were the perfect storm for Josh to start his project, I can go even further, in that season Emery could have been sacked sooner if… Read more »
Sagg, Unai was sacked by Don Raul, who was absolutely desperate not to sack him… and Raul was still firmly in control because he paid Unai out in a lump, versus gardening leave staggered payments like every other major club would. Wonder why?
Unai failed because he was so bad, even Raul couldn’t shirk the reality.
He didn’t get a deal because Arsenal data pointed to the incoming decline.
He was a mess of an Arsenal manager.
Pedro Raul was dead by the time Unai was sacked. Josh decided everything from that point and onward. If Raul had full control then he appointed Arteta? Of course not. Raul didnt lose control in 3 weeks, he was buried by that point. Raul the weasel managed to paid Emery in a single lump, when was forced to sack him, because Josh allowed it. Josh was desperate to rid of all the mess and start his project sooner the better, after that he relegated Raul to a mere passenger. Raul was against the wall legally by the summer when Josh… Read more »
Pedro
It is pontless to be discussing about this. Each his own mate.
We are in a similar boat about the future, that is the most important part. It doest matter who is right about the past.
By the way just in case, Im dont want a misu nderdtanding, Im not fighting with yoiu, Im discussing and elling the info I have. If my words feels aggressive or something it is not my intention mate.
Vincius Jr. needs to respect his elders more
What he did too Fernandihno was unpardonable
Pedro is back to his typical Trump like behaviors about Unai Emery You wonder why the blog gets so toxic “He was a mess of an Arsenal manager.” 😁😁😁 That’s worthy of a laugh because the man goat sacked for bad results, simple as that. The rest of that post is just fake news ginned up by a blogger who had not one teeny good thing to say about another human being just because the man had the audacity to apply for the Arsenal manager’s job. The rest if us have moved on, why are you so fixated on this… Read more »
Manager’s get paid lump sums all the time. Emery had less than a year’s pay so what’s the big deal?
There’s no way Raul can authorize a payment that size without the direct approval of the owners but let Pedro persist in the fantasy talk.
Time up.
We are still in Artetas 2nd full season. Last season was lockdown and hard to move players out. Try and make it seem as long as you like, but nobody with a brain is buying it. They know a hater when they see one.
Wow…. Did CG really write all that . I hope he’s not a betting man. 🤣
Whatever manager we would have brought in after Wenger would have failed. This club did not have the backroom and work culture to help any “head coach” succeed at the time. It was a case of musical chairs being done on quick sand. Gazidis left the club and pout in place an idiotic co-sharing arrangement between Vinai and Raul –> then Sven left—> we brought in a novice as techincal director ….. all the while then a consummate “head coach” who spoke little English as begging for help. Truth is that we set Unai up to fail, same way Arteta… Read more »
Emery has villareal smashing la liga 3 points off europa conference spots in 7th. Cup manager? sí. Why anyone sticks up for him after the hole he left us in is beyond me. He was bad fit from the beginning. His style of play was such a bizarre choice after wenger. That he couldn’t really speak the language after wenger, fluent in how many? Speaks volumes. klopp being gracious in a prematch press conference might mean something to somebody but not to me. I’ll eat my words here if they lose by less than 3 goals tmrw but really.. who… Read more »
Diss No one wonders why this blog is so toxic and no one attributes it to emery except you. You usually stick up for people who fuck you over? My god he got 5th and got us smashed in the fa cup. He didnt win anything and where we were when he left says it all. And i couldnt stand the way we played under him Happy he’s doing well in spain, he shouldnt have come to england. I dont have anything against him personally EXCEPT for how terrible his spell was with us. Hes the equivalent of LVG for… Read more »
Pedro Can’t agree that what we need in CM is an elite backup to Partey so we can rotate him more, we need an elite partner for him so that when we rotate him that pairing doesn’t suck. A Tielemans – Sambi pairing is a lot less scary to contemplate than a Xhaka -Sambi one for example. (Yes I can acknowledge that Xhaka has actually been good this season, but I still don’t trust him to continue that, and he’s still not good enough) If Danilo is really available for as low as it’s reported I’d like to see him… Read more »
Pedro, Klopp won CL and amassed 97 points in the Prem in his third full season.
That’s elite levels performance no matter how you look at it, so it didn’t take him 5 years to get to where they are now.
If the club is in Europe they will need more than 2 new players unless youth players fill out the squad. This year with no Europe was for the club to focus on the league and get out weaker players to develop a core team. Next season fill out the squad with right profile players.
Another Emery vs Arteta debate. Emery was brought in as a quick fix. He was the gamble on the Europa League guy and to be fair he almost nicked it and got us the short cut to CL. The setup certainly didn’t help him and it was widely known that he didn’t get the players he want. (Yah he didn’t want PePe either but for some reason Raul wanted to blow the market away on that purchase. Make that of what you will) But he had to go. It wasn’t just the points total, it was the whole collapse of… Read more »
Tom, i know you are a little scared that Arteta is making moves after you spent the season talking up every other manager and every other club. You also scoffed at half season data, which was a crime against statistical relevance.
Here’s my advice.
Embrace the good times. Always remember, you are an arsenal fan, this doesn’t have to hurt you. You don’t have to jump to the defence of Klopp, Rodger’s or Spurs.
Diss, stop embarrassing yourself over Emery, you are like a Russian bot defending the Kremlin.
Chrispy, CG said all that, he is a very average troll, I only let him free because he needs to be held accountable for his shame.
Diss, final point or the ‘give it up on Emery’
1. No, lump sums for sacked managers are highly unusual
2. Check the accounting.
Your Emery love in is the weirdest things on Le Grove.
Pedro, if trolling is all you are happy to do, that’s fine , I’m game.
“Your Emery love in is the weirdest things on Le Grove.“
Pedro’s Emery hate is much, much weirder.
Klopp was found out last season, because the league is tougher than ever and others have caught up to him.
That hasn’t aged very well, has it Pedro.
I’m happy Arteta’s moves are beginning to bear fruit. Hopefully by the time we peak, which is by Pedro latest analysis circa 2025/26 season, some of our fruit bearing assets won’t spoil.
Partey will be on the wrong side of 30 by then , and he’s missed almost 30% of games he could’ve played in, if not for injuries.
This assuming he misses the rest of the season.
I remember when CG was celebrated by Pedro and referenced in posts, doing the exact same things he’s doing now but against Emery, fun times:)
Zach,
Yes Emery wasn’t great for us, but do pipe down with the aggression.
He was head coach, not manager. It’s been written time and again he never got his targets. It may have panned out differently if he got the same treatment as Arteta. (Probs not, he wasn’t suited for us).
In saying that he had to take over from Wenger. It was never ever going to be easy, and Arteta can thank Emery for taking the hit so that he could be given his time.
Freddie 😂😂😂😂
Like so many people saying man U need a proper set up behind the scenes and 6 years to get back on track.
It was exact same after Wenger left. It actually went down hill behind the scenes for 2 seasons before we actually had a decent structure.
Emery never had a chance, and he didn’t leave us in a massive hole.
Raul/ gazidis did.
Very disingenuous to say otherwise
No club with United’s financial muscle should need 6 years to get back to the top again. Not if you have the right manager in charge.
I don’t believe the 6 years, just repeating what’s spouted on here.
Rangnick as dof, and ten hag is a very decent footballing structure to have
I don’t know how we got Raul into the club. But between that and Emery it was 2 massive mistakes (yeah hindsight as well).
I was excited by Emery.
I was just excited for Arsenal to take a new direction after finally letting Wenger go.
I didn’t have blind faith he’d take us to the top, but his full season here did bring some brilliant moments along with appallingly bad.
It’s quite insane really that stating basic Emery tenure facts makes you automatically an official card caring member of the Emery fan club, according to Pedro.
😂😂😂
Freddie, absolutely spot on. It is the same CG.
here we go again. Another post from pedro trying to convince us we need another 5 years to get to the top.
Same story next season when we will be around 4th and 5th. ”Another 5 years lads and we are there”
the season after that, ”the players are coming good, another 5 years and we can be competing for the PL lads”, and so on…
It’s definitely bizarre Tom.
Soooo much hypocrisy. Yet when they change their minds it’s because they are taking in new information and are open minded.
But for an Arteta doubter, it’s you’re not an arsenal fan or a shit online fan.
Arteta is the one who should be proving to us he is the right man for the job.
This season he has swayed people that were Arteta out to sit on the fence.
That is a massive start.
im not emerys biggest fan and he was rightfully fired but there was no mention of toxic players like auba, ozil and mustafi when he was around. Add to the fact, he had no say in who comes in and goes out.
Emery wasnt the answer but he inherited a mess from wenger. Something that is swept under the rug when discussing his time at arsenal.
Tom
If we make Top4 we will peak in 2 more years. Im sure of that, but If not I have a lot of “if” (Pedro is convinced things will go our way, I have my doubts)
Lets see what happens, if we make Top 4 this project will bang.
Emery had also overseen a disastrous player atmosphere at PSG. He’d effectively admitted he wasn’t in charge. Frankly it is down to the manager to maintain control. Whether they chose to have an affable air , one of the lads types or tyrannical. Any style can work as long as you make big calls. The 4 captains stuff at Arsenal was a classic fudge where nobody needs to get hurt but you end up pissing off everyone. He appeared to have a language barrier issue at PSG and Arsenal. I could never understand why he didn’t personally throw 30k at… Read more »
“Arteta is the one who should be proving to us he is the right man for the job.”
as we sit in 4th with a few games to go, an even thinner squad than emery had and much younger while arteta has been accused endlessly of being a dick to young players…when its wrong its wrong buddy.
do pipe down? oh i’m sorry for offending more sensibilities on a football blog by supporting the manager and team and giving pretty basic reasons why
“official card caring member of the Emery fan club”
so why is it suddenly a problem to argue here? are you the only one allowed to make a point or disagree? when his name comes up and arsenal supporters defend him it’s mk ultra level mindfuckery. he had a good run, he got found out, he lost control, he sank us , end of story
SAGG some good psots. The question to my mind, is the ‘long term’ project just more PR or does it have legs ? Pedro thinks yes and I’m on the fence. I dont believe long term project are relevant because there are too many variables. The short term goal was to get a striker in the Jan window. We would have secured 4th by now and then the serious planning for next season would be underway.. As an example I read Tammy is valued at £60+m add on wages and its a £100m investment
Pedro
Every time you say you don’t believe in Gabi J he scores. You go ahead keep being stubborn. 😂😂😂.
Wenger won the double in his first full season with a back 4 that were considered as good as finished , and a team that had finished 10th and 5th in the 2 seasons before he arrived ..
Just saying.
Good recruitment is the answer…
Wenger bought Vieira, Petit, Overmars and Anelka
In his first year in charge and re energised the ageing back four……
Genius.
No I’m all seriousness let’s look at Gabi J’s professionalism and minder. He has been a squad player all season. A player with more a chip on his shoulder but have been tempted to become offended and down tools. What has Gabi J done? He has remained focused. He has remained professional. Most importantly, at the business end of the season he has started scoring. Imagine if we had a striker like that this season what a difference he would have make? I’m fully booked on in the Gabi J train and you’ll see next season what a difference he… Read more »
*in all seriousness…
** would have been
Nearly 4 years on from wenger leaving , 400 million spent and our midfield and offensive 4 v United consisted of 90% players who were at the club with wenger.
Elneny, Xhaka, Smith Rowe , Saka ,Eddie …the question is , if wenger left the club in such a mess then why do we have to rely on wenger players to see us over the line 4 years after his departure.
Pierre
That almost makes sense…
Until younthink about the passage of time and all that entails but hey keep trying 👍
Gonsterous
“Emery wasnt the answer but he inherited a mess from wenger. Something that is swept under the rug when discussing his time at arsenal.”
Maybe it wasn’t such a mess that many believe..
Let’s not forget that Emery had a 21 match unbeaten run with that so called “mess” in his first 3 months in charge.
Let’s not forget that the “mess” were beaten in a european final and should really have finished 4th in Emery’s first season.