You would think that there is absolutely nothing positive that we can take from last night’s battering at the hands of Chelsea but that is not true because even in adversity we can take negatives and learn from them and that in itself is a positive.
Identifying what is wrong is positive, it means you have accepted your limitations and can put in place a plan to repair the damage, to not do so will just lead to more heartbreak.
For me, a positive is something that you can step back from and say, ok, this is where it has gone wrong, this needs to be sorted and this is how we are going to do it.
So, yes, even when looking into the abyss, with the right mentality you can turn things around.
The fans are united at long last
The fans have been bitterly divided for a long time, they were divided over Arsene Wenger, they were divided over certain players, some were even divided over how good the team really is, not no more, for the most part we are united in the belief that Arsenal is no longer a top team, united in the belief that Stan Kroenke is not fit for purpose and united in the belief the team needs a massive overhaul.
The manager now knows what must be done
If Unai Emery was in any doubt about the task in front him he is not now, he must surely know what must be done to sort the mess out, a win would have masked so many fault lines in the squad, even he cannot pretend that we are not in a terrible state and if any one thing is to come out of last night as a positive it is that Emery knows what he must do to repair the broken team that we now are.
The board cannot hide anymore
No more bullshit about self-sufficiency and only spending what we earn, they must realise that is a huge failure. If they do not then what we saw last night is just the tip of the iceberg. These are intelligent men, there is no way they could have sat through that spectacle last night and not thought to themselves that we need to spend some huge money to stop the decline.
No more excuses for falling stars
Time is up I am afraid for the likes of Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Granit Xhaka, Sokratis, Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and others, there can be no more excuses, they simply are not good enough for Arsenal anymore and have not been for a while now. Last night was confirmation of that and that includes those that did not play.
The realisation of our true level
It is Europa League level at best, can you imagine this team in next seasons Champions League? We are no longer an elite team, our rivals will soon be the likes of Wolves, Leicester City and Everton. We are deluding ourselves that we are better than that, the last two months have shown what we lack, character, passion, strength and basic talent at the highest level. Now that we know our true level we can at least put in place a structure to drag ourselves back up and become competitive again instead of living in fantasy land.
Are you sure spending money solves the problem? For that I point to Fulham and their relegation having spent over £100m on the squad. Spurs spend zero and soon will have the power to kick us out of North London.
So yeah things need to be done but in a smart way.
Spot on! Not just about the money, it’s about the coaching as well. Only time will tell if Emery can do that, but he deserves time.
Last summer was a good indication we’re moving in the right direction, because for once, we actually focused on our weakest areas. Under the previous regime, they would ignore the weak areas, and often strengthen our strongest areas. E.g. Signing Ozil, when we only signed Santi the year before, and we also had Ramsey, and Rosicky. Signing Cech when we already had Ospina. and Szczesny. I expect us to look at the weak areas again this summer, before anything else.
Sarri told His midfielders to increase the pace in midfield and it worked like magic……snail speed Ozil and Xhaka could not run that fast and even Torriera was gasping for breath. The FIRST QUALITY of any player we sign now must be PACE before anything else. Thats what we need in the incoming signings in order to match the likes of Liverpool and Man City. The modern game for top teams is build on speed, dribbling skill, and technique, thats when we stand a chance.
We’ve been going backwards since 2006 when that scum yank bought us.
Let’s face it that in this day and age you need to invest in order to reap any benefits.
Unless the club ownership changes the downward spiral will continue.
I honestly dont know how we got to the final with this squad. You look at the other top teams bench and think yes they have players that can make an impact. Look at ours and you think God help us.
That second half lazy, pathetic, disgusting performance was the epitomy of everything wrong at our club.
Great comment and you are spot on with everything. We are in a state of decay from the top down at our club. When the top is in rot, how can anything else grow and flourish? We stagnated for the last 10 years under so called “leadership,” and now it’s evident to everyone we are in full fledged decline as a club.
Absentee owner who seems allergic to investment, management with no plan to soothe the fans, and a board full of ass-kissing yes men lining up for their wages; same as the players. The fans seem to be the only ones suffering so far as I can tell.
Owner making tons of money, players on fat salaries, with no clear change in sight.
??
RIP – ROTTING IN PROGRESS.
No money, no honey.
No money, no rebuild.
Owner don’t come out money, RIP. Can fans fire the owner?
The fans are certainly not united regarding Emery.
I think it’s 50/50 at present.
I would say 75%-25%
Most fans understand that Emery has improved us slightly from last season with mostly the same squad and are willing to give him more time
They know that it will take years to fix this team and just want improvements
Most fans are not going to want him gone unless we had a worse season
They are rational and understanding
From what I read on here ForeverGooner, I don’t believe that Arsenal supporters are “rational and understanding.”
Those wanting Unai Emery out will get their wish. Given the supposed length of Unai Emery’s contract, I believe he will not renew, if not supported by the board in the next two transfer windows, rather than denting his reputation by staying at a club lacking investment and ambition.
at the moment the deadwood are a bigger problem than Emery. We should be united against Kroenke without a doubt. And united against players that don’t feel they have to put in the effort at our club.
Losing could end up being the best thing – it proved the team is not good enough. Winning or a close defeat would mean we did not realise how bad the team has become. New players needed without a doubt, either bought in or promoted from within, plus a top quality defensive coach who can drill the defence to the standards of the George Graham days. Rebuilding takes time, let’s see what Emery can do when the players he works with are of his choosing, not remnants of a previous regime.
Yes i agree many players have got to go, they are just not good enough. It is quite simply a total rebuild at the Arsenal, simples. I think Declan is right it’s 50/50 over Emery, personally i’m not convinced but yes he needs time, probably at least 2 seasons. Call me old fashioned and many do but don’t quality top teams start a rebuild at the back ! ? Built on a solid defence ! ? Boring but beautiful ! ? Ringing any bells ! ? Bring back the boring boring Arsenal i say, start again at the back. i don’t want us to be exciting with loads of posession if we are not going to win jack all. Keeping the faith forever, Gunflash.
Well, those five things are not exactly new news..
We’ve known this for around nine years!
Problem is, This is not the Arsenal we had ten years ago. This is Arsenal now. A cash strapped club with a new manager and a lot of dead wood!
Add to that the insane level of incompetence within the clubs board and hierarchy to run the club and stadium in a way that it can challenge in a stadium we were all told would be the catalyst to take Arsenal to new heights!?
Well, its been feeling quite low to me for years now and, do we really believe the club will ba able to shift out that much deadwood (70% of the team) and attract good quality youth and experience after last nights spectacle?
Nope, me neither..
Gents, lets not lay down and die just yet.
What i wouldn’t give to go back to boring boring Arsenal, where a team was built at the back with a solid foundation to go forward with confidence. It has been done before it now just needs to be done again ! admit it, we are not that good a team really but we must keep the faith and be prepared for a little, sorry, longish wait ! We don’t have much choice ! Got to be honest i wouldn’t mind sanchez back to be fair.
Anyway raise a huge glass of cheer with me this Saturday and shout loud at the telly for a Liverpool win and just believe. Our day will come back Gents.
“for the most part we are united in the belief that Arsenal is no longer a top team,”
I’m not part of that stupid crowd.
Arsenal haver top players and we just need to get a manager who is capable of adjusting his own tactics to not undermine the players he has… at least for a period of time until he can get the players he wants.
Emery at fault, not the players, Emery should be sacked for being such a pathetic tvvat.
Now I am reading Arsenal site claiming we are not a top team because of the manager… Saying we are united behind the manager… Fcuk off! I know so many Arsenal supporters who would rip Emerys head off for being a joke. I guess the article speaks for people without justification to do so.
“The board cannot hide anymore
No more bullshit about self-sufficiency and only spending what we earn, they must realise that is a huge failure.”
How stupid can you get?
The board do not answer to you or me, they answer to Silent Stan and if he wants to stick to the self sustaining model then guess what… We are sticking to it. Not what you or I choose, what Silent Stan chooses.
“The realisation of our true level
It is Europa League level at best,”
Fcuk off again.
We was third and we have the third best squad in the EPL, we have a joke of a manager who doesn’t look at the individuals in his team and forces players to fit his concept even if the players can’t… Emery will not adjust his tactics for the team and that is what cost us.
Not our squad who had third in the bag until Emery decided to tinker with what worked and fcuked it up.
You all can go round stroking each other if you want “awwww poor you and you, poor me” bah!
Non of that attitude when Wenger was here, no… you all jumped on his back. Where is the jumping on Emery back… Oh yeah, stupid does what stupid does.
Wenger had a little longer than Emery to be fair.
Give him a bit longer..until the next manager comes a long and has to deal with the shackles at our once great club.
Midkemma, I look forward to you applying for the job to replace the “twat”.
Please forward your resume ASAP.
We have the third best squad in the EPL???
Oh come on. 6th by any expert’s opinion. Starting eleven is hardly better than 6th and our subs are by far the worst of the top6. Unless you consider Ozil, Xhaka, Sokratis, Mustafi or Kolasinac as top class, which only Ozil is – about 10 percent of the time, that is.
Need 2 years of smart spending to rival Spurs, Chelsea, or United in terms of squad quality.
Diogenes – half of your statement makes somewhat sense but your final sentence shows you are out of touch. On a budget of £45 million per window, not even 10 years of smart spending is going to make us competitive.
From my observation we had a little improvement this season by going one little step better than last season with almost the same players.
We finished 6th last season and reached the semi final of the Europa League last season, this season we have finished 5th and reach the final of Europa League so if we follow in that direction we might finish 4th in the league and win the Europa League next season, I believe that would be a very good season for us if we could achieve that.
Well this is just me being positive.
We all need to unite and put a lot of pressure on Mr Stan Kroenke to make him uncomfortable just like Newcastle did and are now getting a new owner that will pump money into their club. This won’t be easy but will leave a mark.
A clear out of at least 6 players should be done and replaced with at least 3 quality players with character then we are good to go for the next season.
The difference between us and the teams ahead of us are just wingers, we are so much in need of good wingers.
Sane, Sterling, Mane, Salah, Hazard, Pedro, Alli, Son. These players possess speed and technique.
While we have Iwobi and Mkhitaryan, so laughable.
The board will always hide. Even if the club is 10th, the stadium will remain packed. It will take a decade of deterioration before it starts hitting their pockets. Until then, they’ll milk the cash cow.
Our true level is Europa League and we should be thankful for it. Next season is the major make it or brake it for the club. A lot of new players are expected to arrive and if they don’t make enough of an impact to bring the club back to top four and/or win the EL, we can start being thankful for the EL games. What I’d like someone to tell me is who should the club bring in to replace Aubameyang since I don’t see how in the world will a 30-year-old top goal scorer remain at a club that has a 20-80% chance of winning anything other than the FA/Carabao cup.
God help us all.
John – the difference between us and the teams ahead of us is not just wingers. In fact, the difference is much more defenders and defending. And on our budget, we can’t buy a new defense and clearly, our manager can’t teach defending (we conceded as many goals as we did under Wenger) and showed no improvement in our ability to defend during the season.