There is no doubt that Unai Emery’s honeymoon period as Arsenal manager has come to an abrupt end with Thursday’s depressing defeat in Belarus. The Spaniard has been tinkering with the players and formations ever since he arrived and he still hasn’t got a cohesive unit that looks like they know what they are doing. The ending of Ramsey’s contract negotiations and the even more public spat with Mesut Ozil has not helped matters, with the German making it clear that he was going to stick to his contract at the Emirates.
Somehow we are still only one point behind the top four after crashing out of the League Cup and the FA Cup and we have now made it harder for ourselves to progress in the Europa League. The ex-midfielder Steve Sidwell, who started his career at Arsenal, thinks that there are real problems at the club, despite that incredible 22-game unbeaten run at the beginning of the season. “I’ve watched Arsenal a lot this year and I think that run papered over a lot of cracks in their performances.” Sidwell said in Goal. “It hasn’t been great, there were plenty of games where they could have lost. They rode their luck on a few games, they weren’t blowing things away at all.
“It was only going to be a matter of time before that came to a halt, and they’re on a bad run of form at the moment.
“It was always going to be a tough transition, but they’re doing better than I thought they would, I thought they were going to be around the mid-table mark, I really did.
“And then you’ve got the politics going on upstairs with transfers, the ownership, directors and sporting director and all that now – there is not an alignment from top to bottom and it really needs to be restructured or they could be in real trouble.”
It certainly doesn’t look it going to get much better soon unless something drastic happens like Emery getting the sack. The club seems to be imploding and the players simply don’t look very interested any more.
Do you think Emery can pull us out of this slump?
Darren N
You can’t really argue with that, for me anyway the biggest problem we have and had has always been the staff up at the top, guys behind the scenes. I also think we have some very poor fans who act like they have bipolar disorder and some others who sound more akin to what you’d expect from deep rooted trolls. I say that because expectations are where they are, but some fans think to use that as an excuse to belittle other fans and the team when in fact it is really themselves not being in touch with the reality of our situation.
We did ride our luck allot, but many teams who come out on top in competitions also have moments of luck, playing not too well but getting points or lucky decisions, that is part and parcel. It’s probably because we had to come back from behind in a lot of those games, but you’d have to say we done well coming back and it was deserving more than it was lucky.
The problem with the board, it’s the owner mostly, I cant see what we can do to change it, we look like we’re stuck with him for the long term, possibly even longer than first imagined if he leaves it to his son. Arsenal has a great history, a club which has always had massive character, it’s not the same club anymore. I don’t know if that is because football has changed into a brand, or if it is squarely on the owner and his lack of input and ambition.
This mess could have been fixed by having a better youth development system. To produce players that play together for years, instead of buying new players and expatriates that have to adjust first
Unfortunately, the youth development seems to be taken for granted in the last two decades by the long serving staffs and executives
Actually for the first time in a long time we have a very good youth team. AMN, WIllock, Nketiah, Nelson, ESR and even Saka and Medley are all players that can rise up to the first team if given playing time in their right positions. I would rather see these kids blooded instead of playing the likes of Xhaka,Elneny,Mhki,Mustafi, etc…
I also think with the right set up, Ozil has a role to play this season. either as number 10 in a diamond or number 10 in a 4231, he is the man who can help open defenses with this creativity. Should he play every game? No absolutely not. I wouldnt play him away from home against a top team, But at home or away against a weaker team who are mostly planning to defend, I would absolutely use his ability for the perfect pass.
Did you hear Charlie nicolas talking about trying to get sanchez back at arsenal what a joke!!
Been saying it for the last six months Jim. Ozil in front of the diamond, Torreira protecting a back four, Guendouzi on the right, Kolasinac on the left, Monreal returned to left back, Laca and Auba up front and stick with it.
you have no arguments,look at Chelsea,msn city,msn utd all their young players want to leave and play abroad,apart leicester we are the team that gives more minutes to the under 23,s,lool at puel his young players& team are playing good football but is in trouble because their fans think they should be a top 6 team with the GK and vardy running the team he will get the sack but given few more transfer Windows he.ll get there the saints gave him just one summer and no money but still got them to a cup final and good finish ,he got sacked because thre board listened to the fans,that,s the probem in this league managers don,t have time to play the young ones!look at chelsea they buy the best young players in the world and sell them for a fortune with them never having played for the first team or loan them,the law should change when big clubs have 20 plus players on loan is not fair what do you think??
No doubt Kroenke deserves everything that had been said about him here. But the record says he leaves absolute control to those who are professionals without interference. These are the people I question first before him. I can’t imagine we missed out twice on Martin Gelson especially this January when wasted time on Carrasco and Perisic and we ended up with Suarez who wasn’t a natural winger when Emery himself admitted we need wingers. How many goals has he scored already for Monaco 3,4…
There is one caveat emptor with your argument though isn’t there Mobella?
If gazidis hadn’t resigned, kronkie seemed more than happy for him to continue his self destruction of the club.
Who appointed the people you hold responsible, I can only assume it was kronkie. as the owner of the club?
Every road has to lead back, eventually, to the man who wanted to own the club singlehandedly and so it should be.
Could not agree more!!!! There is always someONE in ultimate charge of direction decisions and when that person cares nothing, save for his OWN pocket, any business will be in trouble. The body will never work properly when the brain is switched off and uninterested. Kroenke has a brain; just NOT a heart!
I think the players are still interested in winning the EL and achieving the top four, otherwise they would also lose in the previous home games. Unless those two chances are completely gone, which could happen if Arsenal do not win in the next three matches
I believe the media just made up all those conflicts and many fans got incited by the fake stories, especially when their favorite players seem to be excluded from the team
The fans should support the team as long as there is still an opportunity to go back to Champions League next season. Remember how we supported Wenger and his team till they failed in EL last season
With zidane without a gob, arsenal shou!d be all over him. Emery isn’t the answer to are problems. Give Aid and the job, that name ma y well convince stan k to invest some of his riches into the club. Ozil not being in the team on Thursday was stupid. Get Aid and before man u have there hiccup and want a new manager. Emery out, Zidane in and stan giving him 500, mi. There you are son, go get us the pre m and champion league and if that’s not enough come and see me. Dreams ay.
even zidane would be useless without a gob
How can a ream with Xhaka, AMN, Iwobi, Mustafi, Kokasinac, Jenkinson, Mkhitaryan, Lichtsteiner, and Elneny not be a MESS? They are not up to winning the championship. Why is Ozil being treated as a scapegoat? We had past creative geniuses such as Cesc, Rosicky, Santi, Jack, and even the unmentionable Nasri. Even Francis Coquelin, Walcott and The Ox were not world beaters but an upgrade on this worst Arsenal team for years. Satan Kroenke out, Sanllehi out, maybe even Emery out. We are poor and definitely would not win the championship. Depose Kroenke and bring Dein back.
Sean man you’ve seen that part too!!
How we won the FA thrice with the likes of Giroud(Who i like a lot BtW) Coq, and Flamini Ramsey,Ozil, Santi and Sanchez but suddenly we’ve gotten upgraded midfielders in Torreira, Guendouzi(Who is so much ahead of his age) and now Ozil and Ramsey are players who can’t do any good with them…
you know it’s crazy how people say stuffs like Ozil has nothing to offer to this club, he’s lazy and all sorts of stuffs and yet the hardworking players they back and support can’t seem to do simple jobs against the smallest of things.
Ozil is 30 and he’s on 350k a week, he’s robbing the club blah blah blah and all sorts of unnecessary Bullshít..
Always pointing his salary and stuffs, they know know all of these, the funny thing is this is the only thing they know and see on the daily basis.
They say stuffs like he’s finished okay, well let’s say that’s hundred percent true, which Is not.
This is a player who was very important to the Real Madrid team that won the LA Liga and creating lots of goals for that team.
This is a player who was very important to the German National team, was useful and contributed to winning the world cup.
This is a player that, has a trophy no other player in the team has, won multiple FA cup with us. Has been with us for six years now, a player who for over three years we all know his weaknesses, we’ve discussed it, pundits have discussed it and whom we all know.
Emery claimed to have had a dossier on each player knowing their strength and weaknesses, surely Ozil was among isn’t it?
Emery’s master plan to take this club to the top include shutting out Ozil after claiming he knew them all?
Emery has had issues with big boys and big players right from his PSG days so I’m not surprised that shít came along with him to this club.
Take into consideration the kind of relationship Tuchel developed with his players, visiting Neymar before the world cup, building his relationship with him, Taking Mbappe and Veratti close under his wings, bonding with his players, this is a man who know his players are human, with blood coursing through their veins, who have emotions too and this is a man who has developed a bond with that team that they happily play for him and would do anything to win for for him, we’ve all read those players come out to point how life for them is better and how they’re much happier at the club and training ground under Tuchel.
Come to Arsenal, it’s the opposite, a man that sees his players as Robots, who expects them to run every minute of the day, a man who failed to see his players are human.. Damn if Mourinho who we all know is bad when it comes to man-management could point out that some players need to be hugged, some need to be given pats on their backs, some need just a text, just to stay motivated then isn’t it Amazing that our coach who claims to know his players and stuff can’t even figure this out??
Oh PS: I’ve said it before on here, If Ozil is earning 350k, he shouldn’t have any regret, he’s a big boy. A PLAYER WHO IS VEEY INFLUENTIAL AND HAS MILLIONS OF FANS NOT BY BEING A MODEL OR SUPERSTAR, BUT BECAUSE OF HIS FOOTBALLING ABILITIES AND HIS PERSONALITY, AND THE LIKES OF ADIDAS AIN’T PAYING US 600MILLION JUST TO HAVE THE LIKES OF TORRERIA, GUENDOUZI, XHAKA MODEL THEIR KITS. IT’S FOR PLAYERS LIKE OZIL, PEA, AUBAMEYANG AND RAMSEY WHO THEY KNOW WILL HELP IN SHIRT SALES.
So all this whole he’s on a 350k a week BS ain’t troubling me, the club has robbed us fans for so many years.
If anybody say Ozil is robbing the club weekly. Then so be it, let the club get a good taste of their own medicines. Let em get robbed!!
Eddie
I think we are all suffering from broken hearts. The Arsenal broken hearts club. We have an owner who is a Trumpist and a chancer, a Director of Football in Sanllehi who never utters a word. Emery who has no interest in creativity and magic and we have many players who are factually not good enough. How the **** did we get them? Cry me a river should be our team song.
Great post Eddie
Emery cannot solve the root cause problem – Arsenal is to be run as a profitable, cash-producing business for as long as possible. Players are to be purchased young & cheap, developed into a “valuable asset” and sold for a profit. It reminds me of the neighborhood gas station whose main business is buying and selling used cars, not selling gasoline or performing repairs. The goal of winning games is minimal – only enough to keep interest & controversy high enough to keep the revenue coming in: fans at the games and TV and kit sponsors’ checks in the mail. It will take several seasons, but the vultures will most assuredly come to roost on the rotting remains of this once proud club.
Oh Sidwell not just you alone, trust me all of us saw it but most people decided to delude themselves, decided to live in a world of lies, a mirage and they can face it all now that it’s so clear. I’ve been prepared for this so I’m not really surprise, and for those thinking even the Europa league is the easiest route to the UCL then they’re so much crazier than I thought. Like Mourinho admitted that it’ll take a miracle to get United into the top four (When us and Chelsea had 11 points difference between us) and now that miracle happened, they’re sitting among the top four clubs on the table, so will it take a miracle for us to win the Europa league.
That is to say we keep praying other clubs in the Europa league blow their chances so we overtake em.
I won’t forget to mention this whole arrogance going on among people already saying stuffs like it’s certain and sure we’ll qualify and win the returning fixture on Thursday just because its our home.
I’ve seen this movie before, seen a storyline same as this, the arrogance most people are displaying was once displayed against Monaco in the UCL, with the belief that we would qualify.
A bunch of farmers who failed to kick the ball in 2 months and defended properly won the first leg, and people are already on their high horse and saying stuffs like it’s certain we’ll go through.
I believe we have a chance to qualify but not this whole writing off Bate for the returning leg, nah I won’t
Biggest problem is at the top.
1. Owner sets the tone and ambition.
For over a decade Kronke set our sights too low with top 4. Even became a running joke, calling it “Wenger trophy.” And bit disappointed in Arsene he didn’t demand more from owner years ago when he had fans behind him, momentum, and less competitive league.
2. Self sustaining model is BS; with literally BILLIONS in tv revenue, new Adidas deal worth how much? Some of highest ticket prices in league, worldwide branding and millions upon millions of fans spanning the globe.
Self sustaining model will not even get top 4, didn’t under Wenger’s last bit and won’t under Emery.
Not saying we have to empty the vault, but have to invest in top quality. Buy 2 players of top quality, not 6 and hope for gems. Raul and company paid a fortune to get it right. Don’t expect perfection, but they have to do better.
We had Sven who was arguably the best; now he’s gone. Read where Raul and company less than pleased with last result. We’re aware Rome wasn’t built in a day, but everyday there was noticeable change, even small things.
Our defense still awful, players aren’t improving, same bush league mistakes still being repeated, massive holes in squad, (wingers now, CB’s couple years back) no discernible style or flow, and no sense of direction only treading water.
100% Kronke ownership was 100% mistake. We always look backwards for glory now rather than forward, that sums it all up.
Does anyone think glory days are ahead with Kronke? Anyone?
My biggest praise for Emery was publicly admitting we could only loan not buy. That honesty I appreciated and hope embarrassed ownership.
Kronke is shameless in his mediocrity, peddles in lies and deceit to get money from fans, and sees the club as collateral rather than the institution it is.
To see us go from the trendsetters that changed English football, the Invincibles and envy of Premier league clubs to the laughing stock where owner considers 4th place a trophy and isn’t involved to win titles.
Kronke has to go. For the fans, for our history, and most importantly for our future. Stan must go. Ozil, Emery, dross players, rehasing Wenger, all are distractions from #1 priority; Kronke must go if we ever TRULY want our Arsenal back.
Durand
On point
We must have a campaign of STAN (SATAN) KROENKE OUT.
Everyone. We must sign off KROENKE OUT on every post, till he ***** off.
Durand
You talk sense. How do we as supporters make Kroenke’s life so miserable he wants to get out? He’s hated in America and it seems we hate him nearly as much.
We need to understand that Stan Kroenke will only go if he wants to, and he will only want to if he gets an incredible offer, and even then he might refuse.
So complaining about him, protesting him is completely and utterly useless.
Although I dislike him very much, I also dont blame him for the situation that Arsenal is in.
Ivan and Arsene have misspent his money with the likes of Mustafi, Xhaka, Perez, Chambers, Elneny, Mesut(contract), Sanchez(free), Ramsey(Free).
Just the above constitutes about 300M+ in wasted money.
This is the main reason we are where we are, it’s not Stan. Spurs built a team with a lot less but they didnt mess up in their transfer dealings.
Liverpool, sold well and bough well. Now both teams are ahead of us.
We bought extremely badly and sold even worse. This is not Stan’s fault.
Ivan Gazidis and Arsene Wenger should be sued by Arsenal for their gross mismanagement of funds.
Didn’t seem to bother owner all that much, did it? For over a decade he wasn’t bothered as we became less competitive. Everybody knows how bad Mustafi is, yet owner hasn’t been bothered to sell him, has he?
Ozil £350k per week on bench, over £1 million pounds a month thrown away, doesn’t seem to bother Kronke it seems.
Utd fired Jose, Chelsea changes managers like we change underware, our owner can’t be bothered to show up. When was the last game he attended?
He calls Arsenal “crown jewel” yet does nothing until fan fury and unrest forces his hand. He’s brought nothing but mediocrity and despair since he arrived. Club is shadow of former glory, Spuds BUILDING BILLION DOLLAR STADIUM still outperform us.
Need I mention how he said new stadium will have us competing with top clubs; I ask anyone, has it? Anyone expect us fighting for PL title next year?
Top four is our new “title” with Kronke, his rot and lack of ambition is completely to blame.
Kronke 2.0 offers nothing new from his stingy and deceitful old man.
Excellent post , REFUTING the rather silly line in the usually wise Jim Beams post saying that “This is not Stans fault”. If you own a business 100% as now, or even with overall say as previously, and that business fails to succeed, then the OWNER is ultimately responsible. That is just how life is and to gainsay that is, to put it mildly, not the brightest comment ever made. The rest of his post was, as usual, accurate. Sorry Jim but there were three villains. Kroenke, Wenger and Gazidis, not just two. One of them WENGER, WAS AND IS A DECENT HUMAN AND TRULY LOVED OUR CLUB . BUT HE STILL WAS COMPLICIT.
Arsenal fans r easily brainwashed to believe any rubbish just to demonize Wenger, our greatest manager, Wenger will always stand out in history as best manager of both human and financial resources, just to remind u guys that Chelsea has spent over 200m pounds on just few players that arnt even playing for that, morata( 65m pounds),bakayoko(40m pounds) drink water (38m pounds) batsuayi(35m pound) oliver giroud(18m pounds) zapacosta and Emerson , which all represents terrible signings. Man u have lukaku (75m pounds on the bench, Fred (52m pounds) not even playing,sanchez over 400m pounds a week, not playing, lenflof and bally over 65m pounds combined ,yet they r still leaking goals, yes Liverpool were able to make a fortune from coutinho sales and which has helped them to get some needed players Buh they v alsoade some terrible signings in recent times, clyne (27m pounds ) now on loan, moreno 23m pounds not even in the team, keita 65m pounds, no goals no assists looking like a bad signing already, guiricic the Serbian guy who is still going from one loan to another, markovic a 25m pounds investment has bn a total waste of resources, I can’t remember any club who has never make mistakes in signings, hkaka has bn ever presents in our team when fit, in just 2 and half seasons he has given us over 100 appearance, and have bn made one of our leaders y do we still call him? If mustafi is terrible y do we still play him? Mentioning elneny is even laughable,a 5 million pounds investment? Like seriously ? Its even madness to blame Wenger for Ramsey’s departure,that is pure madness,we were all happy here when the offer was withdrawn even after Ramsey has agreed to sign, we called it ruthlessness, how them u guys turn around to blame Wenger? This is pure hypocrisy, its even terrible when we keep using Wenger’s last season to judge emry,that is bullshit, pep gardoola had a terrible last season as barca coach including losing 8:2 aggregate to Bayern, lost the league to Madrid and lost home and away to them, etc buh one hits on that,mourinho had a terrible last season @ Chelsea Buh every one will always remember the honours, emery has singed about 6 players already and he has bn here for over 8 months, @ least we rsuppose to c obvious improvements,
If I can understand a single word you have written might I remind YOU that it was YOUR man Wenger who bought Mustafi and Elneny.And he had plenty of time while he was Manager BEFORE HE WAS SACKED to tie Ramsey down to a new contract.
Might I suggest that if you continue to bring up all of Wengers plus points j(of which there were many in his first 8 years at the Club),there are more than enough negative points that will always be fired back at you.And also remember that while Wenger led the Club through the seasons of financial austerity,he made sure he was one of the highest paid Managers in World Football.
Ken 1845?-We need that book.
Phil, I agree with the book!!
Uchman, while I agree 100% with your sentiments, how does bringing old sores back to the surface help the situation we are currently in?
I’m always quick to ask those bashing AW on a regular basis to “move on” and surely that applies to those of us who think otherwise?
What are your views on Ozil, kronkie, the transfer budget etc etc?
U know I have big respect for @ Ken bscause u r one of very few guys here who don’t fabricate lies to make up stories, yeah wenger is human and not a robot, we understand he also made some mistakes but his positives far far outweighs his negatives.mustafj is surely a bad buy but y is he always on the team sheet? Zcseney became our number one @ the age of 17, song, Ebue ,ballerin, etc all came on board as a result of casualties, I believe the coach should know what to do if the guy can’t cut it, for you to bench a player like ozil u must make sure u have a better replacement, now do we have a better player in his position ? Definitely no, so it’s pure crazy to kip keeping him out of the team, decreasing his value will never be of any benefit to the club, what ozil offers in two matches ghendouzi can’t offer it in 10 matches, that is d class of ozil, kroenke didn’t just become the the majority share holder yestday, it’s over 10 years now, I think nothing should be strange to us, we all knew we don’t have a sugar daddy owner, but we chose to call wenger all manner of names and labelled him unambitious, I like the fact that we v lowered our expectations now, no one will abuse any coach for making top 4, winning any cup competitions now will represent success, finishing 2nd in the league won’t be regarded as failure again, winger leaving was a blessing in disguise, we all now know our strength and ability, many clubs today has adopted the self sustaining approach and I think it’s simply the best, I won’t like arsenal FC to win the league today and start struggling @ the lower division tomorrow, the management have to be smart and proactive. Pay attention to opportunities and learn to take advantage of them, since we now know we have to sell in other to buy, no one will call us a selling club again, I think we can still do well if we can embrace reality and face the challenges, we should learn to move on and let wienger be,
Uchman, my respects to you as well and I always enjoy reading your posts, the passion comes through every time.
However, it is time to move on, the club is in a difficult time right now and those of us who recognised the man should just remember the times as we both do.
As a gooner, I support the club above anything else and I am sure you do too
Great to converse with you again, looking forward to your next post on UE, kronkie and our qualifying for the CL once again!!
I think the board,club in general didn,t expect anything this season on the pitch sadly this run of 22 games unbeaten and battling for top 4 has messed everything for them,they weren,t planning on spending money on players,it was meant to be a reconstruction job off the pitch,waiting for the summer to sell as many players as possible,new sponsorship deals…and then let unai build a team as his image capable to reach the top 4 that’s alli wanted to share my 2 cents.
JimBean, your statement regarding kronkie going only when he wants to is perfectly reasonable and cannor be denied.
Can I ask you to now substitute Ozil’s name for kronkie and for the next two seasons that is the second scenario we have to accept.
As this is the case, why isn’t UE playing him, putting him the shop window and seeing if his stats really don’t lie?
I’ve asked BREAKONTHROUGH if he could supply the link where he says Ozil seems to be at fault for his omission on Thursday.
This could change the current situation/views completely and clear up one of the big mess ups at least.
If these are seen to be true, then the fanbase will have a reason to back the manager (in turn the hierarchy above UE), regarding Ozil, hopefully B.O.T. will supply the source soon.
There seems to be this enormous gulf between the fans and the club and none of us really knows who’s misleading who?
Hence it’s a guessing game, based on what each individual believes, rather than facts.
Sensible post as always Ken. I would only add that it’s a news report about Ozil and should be taken with a grain (or shovel) of salt. What are the author’s source(s)? Did he list the doctor’s name? Or perhaps the name of individual(s) at Arsenal who examined Ozil?
I’m only looking for provable facts regarding the accusation. That is a serious accusation to make towards any player, and can haunt their career whether true or not.
If untrue he should take action by suing the individual responsible.
If it is true, then Emery’s decision to exclude Ozil is mostly justified, and Ozil should be severly fined, sold, or have his contract bought by club. That attitude is inexcusable by any professional athlete in any professional sport.
Durand, try as I may (probably cause it’s late!) can’t seem to find this report and it’s probably right under my nose.
Can you guide me to it please?
Thanks a lot.
Ken, I remember telling you as far back as November information I got from a very reliable source, in fact an ex player, about Ozil refusing to travel to Vorskla. According to the source Emery said if you don’t want to travel to Vorskla you won’t play against Tottenham. This to me seems the time that Ozil’s problems with Emery started and still haven’t been reconciled.
Thanks Kenny, I remember that post.
However, from BreakonThrough’s post, I thought this was something new.
durand’s reply also seems to indicate that this incident, whatever it is, would change the current situation.
I just cannot find anything currently doing the rounds that fits this scenario!!!!
Maybe it is your post, but that was a long time ago and has never been confirmed by the club has it?
Don’t think the club would want to confirm a situation like that Ken, however it does seem to fit the timescale. Personally I’d bring back Ozil in a diamond midfield, if we’re going to get out of this mess we have to play our best players, ie Torreira, Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang.
I haven’t seen the article myself Ken, I was merely posting asking if it was verified. Very damning accusation and was curious to the sourcing.
In terms of the manager and line up: NO
The Top is fine at the moment ie Unai Emery
The bottom is fine: Aubemeyang and Lacazette are two of the best strikers
We have good defensive midfielders in Torreira and Guendouzi
But EVERYTHING in between needs to change
We need:
1. Top Goalkeeper
2. Whole new Defense (bellerin isn’t a true defender but should be squad player or back up RB) 4 New defenders!
3. Two Top creative central midfielders
4. Two wingers who are better than Iwobi, Bellerin, Mkhi etc.
That’s A LOT of players in and players out needs to happen first.
This will take a minimum of two years as long as Kroenke allows it to happen with enough funds which is unlikely
Who is to blame for Arsenal’s current situation? Is it the owner, the board, the coach, the players, the fans or all of them? I think each has a share of the blame. The owner is a hard core American capitalist who will not spend any money where he doesn’t expect returns. Being a capitalist he also expects his businesses to generate their own finances and run on a normal business model. He is not a Mansoor or Abramovich who would dip money into a club without considering the financial implications. Besides Kroenke is not a hands on owner. He prefers those with the technical knowhow to do their job. This has obviously meant that Arsenal can’t keep in step with big spenders like Man city, Chelsea, Man U and now Liverpool.
The board consists of conservative old men who might not want to change the status quo. They are happy to keep the club competitive but will not spend big money to buy success. The only young man on the board is Kroenke’s own son, Josh! What then can we expect from the board?
The coach Unai Emery is a new man to the EPL. He is still trying to adapt to the rigours of English football. The one thing which he must have found strange is the absence of a December holiday. Secondly, he inherited a squad which was not so great. Thus he has been doing his best with the men he has. I am not with anyone who calls for sacking Emery. I believe those doing that are just very few unrealistic individuals. It is better to give him time to mould the team according to his vision. However he should be criticised for some of the irrational decisions like continually dropping Mesut Ozil, playing three at the back even when we are meeting weak teams, playing more defensive than offensive football which exposes our backline etc. Despite these weaknesses Emery is still the best manager we could have got and is still very good. He has a record of success behind him and he is still capable of achieving success for us.
As far as our players are concerned, there are those with the potential to perform well and achieve success for the club. However there are those who lack quality and need to be got rid of and replaced by better players. There is also apathy among some players who were living in the comfort zone. These need to be whipped to work hard or ejected from the club. The Mesut Ozil scenatio is a very tricky one which the coach needs to resolve urgently. There’s also lack of ambition among some of our players. This calls for concerted action by all the concerned people to uplift the team so as to start a new era of success.
Our fans are as diverse as all the other categories above. The problem started in the golden era of Arsenal under Arsene Wenger when winning trophies became a culture. Most of the fans are from this era; thus anything short of winning became an anathema. This category failed to appreciate changing situations and got stuck in their expectations. Some of them are the ones who formed what came to be loosely known as the “Wenger out brigade”. These people became so obsessed with fighting Wenger that they at times became very irrational and intolerant. Thus when a new coach came they were expecting instant success even when history has shown that apart from Jose Mourinho no other manager has ever won EPL in his first year. In fact it took Sir Alex Ferguson six years to win a trophy! Perhaps their unrealistic expectations were greatly aroused by the 22 game unbeaten run which was in itself a great feat but the realists always called for caution. Now frustration is almost turning into despondency!
The last category of those to blame is the media and their pundits. These people have been bent on portraying Arsenal negatively and magnifying Arsenal’s problems so much that one might think the club is about to implode. Recently when Chelsea lost 6-0 to Man City Jamie Carragher unashamedly made a comparison to Arsenal which had lost to Man city after giving them a good game. This is the kind of anti Arsenal bias that one finds in the media. When Arsenal wins 3 FA trophies in 4 years the FA is dubbed a small trophy but when Spurs wins Carabao cup the media is quick to sing praises to Pochetino for building a winning team! Such is the anti Arsenal bias in the media that it borders on the insane!
What then needs to be done? I believe it is time for all true Gunners to rally around their team, give the manager and players the necessary support they need as they also demand for more material support to boost the team from the owner and the board. This is the only way Arsenal will regain its lost glory.
Don,t forget the wenger trophy,everybody was laughing about it now you have some of the biggest clubs fighting to get in the top 4,it shows what these people know,by the way for people who think wenger was losing the plot when he said soon fans will decide the team sheet,subs well in france we have a team in the 6th tiers that has been doing it for the last 2 years,fans buy credits,training sessions are streamed live,by voting they decide who should play or get subbed,last year they got promoted and this year they are top of the league check it out boys!!
Another sensible comment @ Rusa,nyz one bro,
AW last year was his worst but still we went to the semifinals of EL where we lost in a very even tie to Athletico M ,what I’m trying to say is that the same team ,minus JWilshere ,plus 7 new players including Auba looses to Bate,it doesn’t make sense ,maybe AW our greatest manager wasn’t that bad after all and every true Arsenal fan knows it although he should have left when we beat Chelsea at Wembley and he didn’t have to endure the abuse of last year
Camden gooner, Tissiam and David Rusa, three very good posts that all bring different points to the table, nearly all of which I agree with.
The problem at the moment, however, is that we don’t need the media bias to tell us what a turmoil we are in at presemt, we can see it ourselves!!
The level of injuries most certainly play a real part in this, but UE seemed to manage this during the twenty plus undefeated run.
I don’t agree that the supporters are not wanting UE to succeed, why would anyone gooner want that?
It means that you want your club to fail and that doesn’t make sense.
What is being asked is why, with the new players, the performances have deteriorated to the level of the defeat last Thursday.
The general concensus is that the level of play, tactics and flair are worse than last year, so the question/answer of “inherited dross players” really doesn’t hold true.
The selection of players does not seem to be based on ability (this is disputed of course) but rather how to not select a certain player (that’s undisputed).
That’s where the four current areas of unrest lies in my opinion anyway, address those and the fanbase will support this manager without a doubt.
Why do people made arsenal lost to bate a big issue.. We still have more 90mins to make it right, we have lost matches to teams lesser than bate and it do happen in football….Birmingham came to mind,girona beat Madrid and even Wigan upset man city out of FA cup..why the fuss everywhere,am sure Arsenal will qualify