There is a lot of negativity surrounding Arsenal and to some extent, it is justified but I get the feeling that memories are short and too narrowly focussed.
By that, I mean that everything is judged by the end of season form, the last seven games in particular.
Up to that point, the season had been far better than any Arsenal fan could have expected, if they are being honest with themselves that is.
If before the season had started we were told that after the 31st game we would be third in the Premier League and on route to the Europa League final we would have laughed such was the pessimism pre-season.
Lack of consistency cannot really be levelled at the team either, there were a couple of very decent unbeaten runs and as for our away record, well, we were consistently bad there.
You do not beat Tottenham, Chelsea and Man Utd if you are a poor team, you do not reach the Europa League final beating both Valencia and Napoli on the way if you are useless, you do not stand toe to toe with Liverpool, albeit in just one game and a thrashing in the other, if you are not fit for purpose.
And all this on the back of a new culture, new signings, new manager and let’s be fair, a hostile fan base.
Remember Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge of Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp’s at Liverpool and yes they spent heavily after that but Unai Emery has not even been given a chance yet at a second season and so how he can be judged I do not know.
Did he make tactical errors? Yes, did he make team selection errors? Yes
But were they worse than what Guardiola did in the first leg against Tottenham in the Champions League quarter-finals?
Or for that matter, Mauricio Pochettino in the Champions League final picking a clearly unfit Harry Kane?
All managers make errors and in their first season in a league that they have zero experience in they are guaranteed to make mistakes.
No one knows what sort of team Emery will utilise next season, will it have youth promoted, will there be new signings, will he reinvigorate Ozil and Mkhitaryan, will he find the best position for Iwobi, will he turn the form of Mustafi around and so on.
You simply cannot judge Emery on his first season, it is unfair and unrealistic.
This Arsenal team is nowhere near as bad as some are making it out to be. If they were then how the hell did they get to third in the first place before the collapse and how the hell did they get to a European final.
Two bad results, the home draw against Brighton and the Europa League final are all that separates this team from being a bloody useless lot and a team that punched above their weight, just two games.
Well, that is ridiculous, the season is 60 games long including Cup competitions and you do not jump from being a successful team to a useless one because of just two results.
We more or less have the same players and with some strengthening in key areas and with players like Torreira, Guendouzi and even Maitland-Niles almost certain to be better off for their Premier League debut seasons, as well as the experience that Emery will have gained there is every reason to believe Arsenal will progress next season.
Some serious perspective is required, patience is definitely required and memories that do not just focus on the last few games of the season.
Spot-on and nice write-up. However, he should be judged in the upcoming season
If Arsenal can get rid of Xhaka and Ozil, Emery can use the space for his own players
And iwobi
Iwobi should stay because he will be useful on the bench.His time hasn’t come to leave Arsenal though I believe he will leave.
I f***ing hope so
Selling Iwobi won’t change anything because his wages can’t buy a better player. Unlike the other two with high wages with same input
Nifty, so by your reckoning then, £70,000 a week won’t buy a better player….I think you mean £70,000 a week won’t be enough to satisfy the wage demands of a better player?
It’s been reported that Tierney has accepted £25,000 a week, so the reason that Iwobi’s wages won’t change anything is not an excuse for keeping him is it?
That’s,of course, if you want to get rid of him in the first place, or are looking for any excuse to keep him!!
The bad result was losing at home to palace, and that was the managers fault by underestimating them and putting out a weaker side. The draw against Brighton was bad but the damage had already been done.
The reason we get rid of Emery is not that we won x game and lost y games. It is simply that the team plays unwatchable football under this guy. Even when we win. I can only think of one or two games the whole season that I watched and enjoyed the game.
That was largely due to the use of the three back system.We played our best football using 4-2-3-1 but for some reason he decides Monreal is a top defender and then includes him in a back three system, and plays two up top with Ozil being the creator and without any wingers in the team making our attack very predictable.In that system it was all about Kolasinac,Auba and Laca
yes sounds reasonable to me. give Emery some more time.
He basically had a season with Wenger’s men and improved very slightly
As for Ozil, Xhaka, Mustafi, Elneny they have had plenty of time
Sell them if it’s possible so that we can get better players
I read in an article that We have already freed up salaries with the exit of Welbeck, Ospina, Ramsey, Cech, Lichtsteiner and the loan guy to about £400,000 per week. Let’s free up some more wages for new players
I will judge Emery by 2 things.
1. Summer signings and sales
2. Performance and standings after First 5 months of the season
In January I will judge him whether I think he should go or not. That’s more than enough time I think
Noone is saying perspective and patience isn’t required.Its the fact that he could’ve achieved so much more if only he addressed the mistakes.He was the cause of many of his problems.From generally poor tactics,formation and wrong lineup selection I only wonder why Emery kept making the same mistakes over and over again.The squad we had is at best a 4th place team and that is where I expected us to finish otherwise I wouldn’t even have bothered to follow our matches last season.We were lucky that Chelsea and United weren’t that good last season so the best thing he could do was to take advantage and just like that he sacrificed fourth spot for Europa.In the final his poor tactics and formation were once again exposed as we were subjected to a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea.He cost us big time in the EPL and the Europa.I can only hope he learns from his mistakes because I won’t back him next season if he doesn’t.
I like Emery very much because his teams are typically hard to break down and I appreciate the use of fullbacks and wingers in his attacking approach.
Really Kev or are you trying to be sarcastic!! Hard to break… We shipped in 51 Goals and damnit 4 in 45mins. Oooh or that was Wengers team. In the year’s I have watched arsenal even Wenger could have given more in that final plus we actually had a brand of football we were associated with
I’m talking about a typical Emery team which is clearly absent from the way we play.He hasn’t been able to implement his style over the full 18/19 season which was worrying.I wonder what he was doing last season!
Sorry that wasn’t a reply to you
Innit, is it reasonable to assess Emery on “Summer signings and sales”, when he has been engaged to be the coach, not “manager” at Arsenal?
That is not to say that he would not have some input; however available budget, scouting, contract negotiations and finalization is in the hands of Raul and others.
Innit, it may be unreasonable to judge Emery on “Summer signings and sales” when he has been engaged to be the coach, not “manager” at Arsenal. That is not to say that he won’t have input;
Problems posting, dropping out etc!
Bid of £20m-£22m + £6m in add one to be submitted for Tierney.
Celtic aren’t interested in Carl Jenkinson.
Mustafi loan bid rejected from an unnamed Italian club as Arsenal wanted a loan+ obligation to buy offer
It’s how you finish, not how you start; according to the final PL table results anyway.
The frustration is with Emery in this aspects IMHO
1. Unwatchable football half the time.
2. What happened to “protagonists off the ball” that he stated?
3. For saying he had dossier on the players, then did little to improve even the basics with them.
4. Poor selections and tactics in final few games. Threw away chance at 3rd to prioritize Europa. Failed in 3 winnable matches, to get thumped in Europa final.
Frustrated yes, sack him? No. He has to get it right this year, he got 7 new guys last year, and new ones to come this Summer.
Either get results or show he can develop the youngsters. Otherwise cut bait and send him on. Otherwise we’ll be here 3 years from now talking about the same things; same mental mistakes, unwatchable football, listless philosophy, can’t motivate players to succeed.
I agree with everything you’ve said.I have hope because when he fully implements his style Im sure will be very good because Emery is a good coach but over thinking things can be his downfall.
In summary.. i run very well for the 11 rounds. Could have won the race if i didnt get tired in the final round…
Im happy to be patient as long as i can see that we have some kind of plan that we are working towards. Ive said on a previous post that if we were to only strengthen our defence this year i would be happy, not because i dont want other players but, it would show that we are building a team from the back. obviously it would be great to add a load of new players across the whole team but that isnt likely given our reported budget.
Agreed but you people will be the first to crusify him by the end of bext season if he did not make the top 4 with out spending in the transfer window and with the same weak defend and porous midfield.
Even a world class Iwobi couln`t save Nigeria from a 2-0 defeat to a Madagascar team that had a line up of………..
Alex
Marty
Melman
Gloria
Mort
Maurice
King Julian
Rico
Skipper
Makunga
Moto Moto
I want to move it move it !
Yeah! Blame it on Iwobi, even though he only came on after the side were 2 goals down.
It`s called satire, Eris……………..I actually like the guy ! 😀
My bad, then. It was lost on me; maybe because I am not so familiar with your previous on the guy.
No problem Eris. I`m not saying he`s the best player we have, but he`s also far from the worst. I think he can possibly improve. :)https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/1145583489103945728
Pretty much like everyone blames ozils wages for everything bad at arsenal
OK I give you psg but you can’t take away winning the europea league can you?especially now with a place in the cl,anyway Dan Kit I might have been harsh on you the same way you are on Emery he’s gonna take a bit longer to clean the mess than one or two windows which he inherited,i believe we have a very good coach who could succeed given money and time,like you I want the good times back but you lack patience my friend any give Emery a Chance COYG?
we don’t have the kind of players who fight for Arsenal. if Arsenal could waste 35m pounds on Mustafi and another 35m on Xhaka, what can Emery do with 45m pounds? i blame all this mess on Gazidz & Co. i will not judge Emery until he assembles a team that plays his way.
And what is “ his way” ?
??@ Eris just as confused
Rodger, thats a fair critique…could you tell me what way he wants to play in order that we can all judge him?
Secondly, how long will it take and what players need to go?
Otherwise, how do we know if it’s his mess or not?
Thanks.
Let’s make no mistake Ken ,there will be no excuses this season on who’s team this is ,no more get out of jail free cards for emery .but I’m sure there will still be a few bringing out the old excuses if emery fails .
Well, according to some Dan, every one of AW’s signings have to go before we can judge him and my memory is very clear on those who made that statement.
The real intriquing part though, was the style of play, because I have no idea what that is as yet, does anybody?
Just to let you,the article was written for people like you?if we don’t make the top four he will still valid excuses,like a tiny budget,unable to bring new players in because we can’t move unwanted players because if high wages,lack of quality,this is not his mess he inherited it and if you think this mess can get cleaned up in one or two windows I am sorry to tell you in a nice way you are clueless and have unreasonable expectations,emery can’t be blamed for the mess the club is the same way winger was blamed for transfers well have you a change since he’s gone,emery should be given more time and more money,his cv speaks for itself and when he leaves he will have a lot of suitors trust me,the author is right at the start of last season everybody agreed this was a transition year and no expectations,we missed top 4 by one point behind apparently a great spurs team and lost an European final suddenly the season is a disaster?by the Way I think you need to read the article once more thus time slowly and you might get the message COYG?
Well atleast you called me clueless in a nice way ?
“His cv speaks for itself “ ..winning 3 EL trophies a trophy which is regarded as carling cup kind of competition , a competition where you only meet a semi good side in the semi and final .
Remind me how he did at PSG ? Actually you don’t need to I already know
@dan even pep never won the championship league at bayern…
A second class manager in charge of a second class team and hurts me to say it!
Declan can’t disagree much. We’re in sorry state due to poor management on multiple levels.
1. Players seem content and complacent
2. Wenger seemed to coddle players and make excuses rather than replace underperformers.
3. Gazidis letting Ramsey leave on a free, keeping Alexis rather than selling, and getting paupers fees for player sales. Not to mention Ozil’s criminal wage packet.
4. Horrendous transfer purchases last couple years; Xhaka and Mustafi for combined £70 million
5. An owner who demands Arsenal are self sustaining, yet borrows over £500 million to buy out Russian, borrows billions to build Rams new stadium.
6. Owner treats us like a bank, like collateral
I’m hoping FL can develop our youngsters, b/c I don’t see Kronke investing or Emery improving our current players.
Well said, I will not subtract anything from what you have written, Arsenal fans are very frizzle and they need to realise that changes take time, the present administration is trying to correct the wrongs the previous administration did, have patience worst now when we dont have the money to buy top players, but i hasten to asked the question, ” does buying top players guarantee success”? When we bought Bern Leno and co. were they top players? What Arsenal need is players with a strong mental fortitude which some of the present players dont have
You are all taking rubbish it’s not the manager , it come from the board and the previous manager who messed up by giving the wrong contracts we have a board who doesn’t take any interest in us except when the ££££££ is not there plus he kroanke hasn’t got a clue how to run a football team when he sells to someone who wants Arsenal to be successful on the field and win things that is when we we get our Arsenal back
As I have said before the majority of the squad have now failed to finish in the Champions League places for 3 seasons under two well respected and credentialled managers, in Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery. Wenger was shown (and still would be shown) considerable patience by many, yet Emery is supposed to work miracles in one season.
Emery only has the coming season left on his contract, with Arsenal apparently holding the option to extend. People don’t need to worry about Emery failing to meet their “expectatuon”, because if he is not supported by the Board in the transfer market, he will walk. He will not have any trouble finding suitors for his services.
Does anyone honestly think Arsenal will find it easy to replace Emery with a better qualified coach/manager given the supposed financial constraints, owner, board and management structure?
In my view this season is critical for the future of the Club, given the continued strengthening, not only of Manchester City, United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs, but Everton, Wolves, West Ham United and others.
Ozzie, What bliss to read some rare common sense on here about Emery, among all the unthinking fans who want him out. Most Gooners do not realise what a fine manage wew have and we are never gooing to attract anoth top manager who would ever agree to work under Kroenkes ownership and Scrooginess with funds to spend. Emery is the single very best aspect of Arsenal FC right now. Enlightened fans know this is true.
A top coach makes the same team better, a good enough coach maintains the same performance, a bad coach make the same team worse. Every coach will inherit an “old” team, if a coach can only “perform” with his own people (e,g, D Suarez), then that coach has either a personality or capability deficiency. It is the same in the corporate world as much as the sports world.
Do you think it is just an accident that Emery is not attracting talents? Do you think he can sway a top talent’s decision by a personal phone call?
Attract top talents with a £45 million transfer budget?
Players come to a club for money; the coach is secondary.