Arsenal News

Great Arsenal win – the Emery effect is working

It’s the hard way – but we win again by Konstantin
Another win on the trot ladies and gentlemen! It wasn’t easy again but there’s a repeating pattern here. We’re struggling, but we nick it in the end. I’d like for games to be a little bit more calm as we’re living on the edge.
But when the results keep coming, we can’t complain. I can’t remember the last time we won so many games in a row. True it’s against lesser opposition and I am not convinced that playing like this will get us points against the likes of Liverpool, but progress is evident.
This game was one of spells. We had a familiar Wenger spell where we were all over their box and in typical last season like fashion, we allowed some chances, that a better team might have scored, but we kept being positive.
The substitutions changed the game. I can’t enjoy enough the fact that we finally have a manager who can make the right subs and he can do them before minute 70! Iwobi and Welbeck stretched Watford and once Ozil moved in the middle, it was so much better.
You have to big up Iwobi and the improvement he’s had this season. You also have to give it to Emery for the improvements some players made. Cech is another one of those, but sadly he got injured and I was worried, but Leno made some excellent saves that allowed us to win the game and keep another clean sheet.
It’s worrying that our keepers have to make so many saves each game, but what I really like is how Emery emphasized in his press conference that we need to work on controlling the game and defending better even though we won. This is something we were completely ignoring under Wenger and I’ve also been labeled negative quite a few times for pointing this out.
Going back to the players though, Holding was fantastic. The boy is knocking on the door of Mustafi and it’ll be interesting to see young Rob paired with Sokratis. Although the defense still looks shaky, I think we’ve been decent with defensive headers. Something which was a major problem of the past and here Mustafi actually does well.
To be fair, another defender who I’ve been vastly critical of who did well today was Bellerin. I’m starting to see more confidence from him and actual tackles. Far too often I think Hector was just afraid to get close enough to opposition players, but if recent performances aren’t a fluke, we’re heading in the right direction.
There is one player that leads by example at Arsenal at the moment and that is Lacazette. His fighting spirit and desire should set a benchmark at the club. True, he missed a sitter, but his desire created that chance. True, an own goal opened the score, but Alex was there inviting Iwobi to cross and fortune favoured him. Minutes later he supplied Mesut to a goal. And he wasn’t first choice when Emery took over so he had to fight for his place and it was Aubameyang who got subbed. His hard work on the pitch was rewarded!
Excellent stuff. And our fixture list introduces more games that are winnable on paper. And you can see that the consecutive wins we have, have given us some confidence. We won a lot of those at home though and we now face 2 away trips where we have to show the necessary desire and grit to get the results.
Next up is a trip to Azerbaijan and I know a lot of people disregard the Europa League, but I want to us to win it. Any kind of trophy we could get our hands on is one we must try to win, to install a winning mentality. Right now, for the first time in quite a while a little sense of excitement and optimism is trying to break through inside me. But we must be patient.
Rebuilding the squad is a process that will not happen in a day. Neither is rebuilding the fans trust and support. Winning games though is definitely the way to go about this. That’s all I got for you today and I wish you all an amazing week in front of you!
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38 Comments

  1. I believe when a few more positions are improved upon by getting more talented players and others improve, the grit our squad will have will be massive.
    I like that we fight and find a way to win at all cost during and improvement period.

    Next please!!!

  2. I think we’re doing well…. is there any such thing as ‘lesser opposition’ in the premier league?? Every game is tough.
    Who’d have thought we’d be 4 points off the top after our first 2 games? Our confidence is growing… almost everyone is putting in a good shift… we’re on a roll & I hope we keep it going COYG

    1. You’re right Sue, there are no easy games in the EPL; if you don’t turn up for any match, you will lose!
      Unfortunately Arsenal were wasteful in front of goal against Chelsea, otherwise Arsenal would be 3 points better off.

  3. The author of this piece constantly ‘berates’ our former manager Arsene Wenger, yet is full of praise for the players Arsene Wenger brought to the club.

    What does that tell me about the author?

    1. Do you mean the Manager
      *Paid £35m for a CB in Mustafi.Its been proven he is one of the worst defenders in the history of Arsenal Football Club and certainly no better than Chambers and Holding.
      *Could not get a performance out of Iwobi for love or money last season.Yet now we have a Manager who COACHES his players we are seein some promise from a player many (including myself) never thought was there.
      I could go on all day but Wenger was Sacked and Emery is now in charge.And doesn’t it show.Players fighting for 90 minutes.Others pulled off where reputations count for nothing.Supporters now seeing we can win despite performing to a fractional our true ability.
      This is why Wenger will never be forgotten at this Club.Not for the reasons you suggest but for the fact we now have a Manager who knows what he is doing.

    2. Hatred? No. Arsene in his last days was doing a lot of annoying things.
      One is – A player not playing well and he will still be on the pitch till the 85th minute. Emery is dragging such off as soon as someone else is ready.

  4. That kind of game last season would have been less than 3 points or no point at all.
    We are winning yet some are still complaining seriously. Yes we are not playing well but the points are gathering. Man U fans would have loved this. That reminds me, Can we now see that Lacca is a better player than a certain Sanchez at the moment? If Rambo wants to go let him leave quick and to his place let another take and do better.

    1. I bet Lacazette would also struggle if playing in Mourinho’s team

      The man set a squad full of tall players last night (Pogba, Fellaini, McTominay, Lukaku, Martial, Rashford, etc)

      I think he hoped that the players could score from set-pieces. But his boring pragmatic tactic does not work well lately, because most EPL managers are already familiar with his strategy

      1. I don’t care. All I know is that Sanchez thought it was the name of a club that wins trophies and not the coach and players.
        That means he would have done far far better under our new manager.

        1. Mourinho said that if he had Arsene’s team he would’ve won the prem before now, he eventually takes Arsenal’s best player a match winner and he turned him into s**t. Pep wanted Alexis, Chelsea, Liv, everyone admired him, what Mourinho has done is just too funny!!!

  6. Hopefully the media leaves us alone and let us do our thing quietly… watching Liverpool’s game last night showed me something, they are not unbeatable, Chelsea could’ve won that game if they took their chances well, Hazard and Willian..
    Liverpool has also played lesser teams and won so the world termed em as the team to beat, I still believe the team to beat is Man City and Chelsea.
    I’m not underrating Liverpool or getting carried away by our form.. I just hope we are more deadly in front of goal when we face em

      1. Sue, Chelsea was wasteful the way Arsenal used to be.. we should be able to get 3 more straight winnings before meeting Liverpool… Elsewhere, I guess Cech’s injury means Martinez will be in post on Thursday?? and Leno on Sunday.

        1. It’s usually a high scoring game when we meet them… I really hope we come out on top, been ages since we last did!!
          Yes Martinez will surely get a game on Thursday

    2. I applauded Liverpool for starting many English players last night, as opposed to Chelsea that started with no English nor British players

      Winning with eleven foreign players is nothing special for me, because the expatriates should play better than the locals

      Having said that, I’m glad that the match ended in draw. Because it would be difficult to catch Liverpool, had they won the game

      1. Looks like they’re after a certain Welsh man…. if he does end up there, who on earth will he bench??? He certainly won’t walk straight into their team & play every week

        1. Probably they would sell Pogba?

          Man United used to dominate with British players. They still have good local talents, but another British player like Ramsey would make their squad stronger

  7. …at 2-0 up there were clear moments were arsenal “took control completely” over watford. such was our control the game concluded with watford having little or no time on the ball whatsoever. At that point i thought (to myself) this team is being managed correctly, here we are managing a game in a right and proper fashion – the fans were sounding “holay!!” as the ball was distributed intelligently among the arsenal rearguard.

    Meanwhile watford efforts were being thwarted as their aspirations ebbed away with the plan devised by Emery executed to perfection. i’m beginning to like what i see from arsenal and i’m certain Unai Emery is central to this resilience and vigour that i’m seeing from the current team. Yesterday we had reason to be cheerful.

    1. I would state we had to EARN that win yesterday and we will play a lot worst teams than Watford this season.They are a very physical and committed team that do not roll over for anyone.Just ask those Spuds up the road.We showed a determination to win that game and a Manager who seems to know exactly who to change and when

      1. …Indeed we did earn the WIN – i’m specifically referring to the way we finished the task in an intelligent display that insured the oppositions ambition of getting anything at all was reduced to nothing. So thumbs up to Emery, job well done.

  8. gotanidea, who cares about fielding British players over 3 points? Look at City’s squad that won the league and how times did Pep fielded British players, how many does he even have? At the end of the day, 3 points is all that matters.. British players are brawns over brains..
    Down here at Arsenal, I hope we keep winning, when our British players play and when they’re benched. The whole team comes first, not a sect of players

    1. Your comment “British players are brawns over brains” may be perceived divisive or even cause offence: perhaps you should qualify or elaborate so as your train of thinking is not misunderstood. I think AMN…sterling, sturridge, probably more are “British” and none fit the discription of being “brawns over brains”. Just saying

      1. It’s no offense meant, aside AMN, Sterling, Sturridge, Wilshere and Kane, how many other British players stand out when it comes to playing with brain a.k.a Technicality.. I only said that to point out how almost all EPL winning squad were dependent on foreign players… Invincibles: Henry, Bergkamp, Viera, Pires, Cole, Campbell n Lehman…

        Chelsea… Drogba, Lampard, Gallas, Makelele, Terry and Cech..

        Utd, Giggs, Scholes, Keane, Ferdinand n Van der sar.. (almost all British)

        City, Aguero, Silva, De Bruyne, Fenandinho, Kompany n Ederson…
        The British players weren’t that integral in most of these squads except United…

    2. You might not care, but I just admire the teams that prioritize local players

      I enjoy watching the homegrown footballers’ spirit, more than watching teams like Inter Milan and Chelsea (when they did not use any locals at all)

      1. Of Cus I do care, I used to love when Wenger was building the team around the British core players, but also that time also was bad for us and they all failed, all except Unlucky Wilshere

      2. Local doesn’t necessarily mean British. Technically Iwobi, Bellerin, sterling, all have British citizenship but we’re born in different countries and happen to come through the youth system.

        I don’t care either way as if you’re good enough, you play, if not you sit until you are, I agree it’s about opportunity and Chelsea have the poorest record for it but everyone else has been pretty good.

        1. Iwobi and Sterling were born in England I thought, but parents or grandparents gave them dual citizenship. Not sure about Sterling having an adopted country, actually thought he was just English.

  10. Believe it or not we still have lack of creativity in midfield, we need more speed passing + changing position that will not happen with player like Xaqa

  11. Good game overall, let us remember that Watford are no slouch, they’ve been undefeated until yesterday and they’ve played well against both Tottenham and United who are both our contenders for 4th place.

    We are getting better and Welbeck, Iwobi are important for stretching the defence when legs are tired. Not only this but Iwobi finally dribbling again is a sight to see and creates space for others. I think eventually Ozil will go back to the 10 role and iwobi on one win with Auba on the other, switching the 10 role and auba/laca switching the 9 role.

  12. I am traveling from India to Baku for the Qarabag game. But i am not able to get tickets in the away section. Is it possible to the tickets now or is it too late.
    I have booked a ticket in home section as a backup but I really want to watch the game from away fan sections and not pretend to be qarabag fan.

    This is the closest place to me the arsenal team travelling for a game and i dont want to miss the opportunity

  13. …If Emery is intent on players adapting to his “pressing game” then we can expect that guy Welbz to also have his contract terms renewed. As many of us commented some weeks back welbeck has that pressing element well and truly etched into the way he plays the game. It was an interception from him that took the ball from watford and ultimately resulted in ozil’s goal. For this he deserves credit too (jus saying).

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