Is Emery A Negative Manager? by Dan Smith
It took Unai Emery until this weekend to realise when you have so many defenders injured, it’s not the time to be insisting on playing three centre backs. While he feels a back 5 brings the best out of Kolasinac, the reward is not worth taking away a player from midfield .
While gooners will worry about which defenders will be fit for Brighton, I’m incredibly concerned about decisions being made further up the field. On Saturday, with the opposition in the bottom three, we started three DM. The argument might be that it gives Ozil more creative licence, but he doesn’t need that much protection. The German played behind two strikers, giving us three offensive players at home to Burnley?
In midweek when we needed a goal, our manager’s half time change was a centre back for an attacking midfielder. At that point our attacking threat consisted of Aubameyang, Ramsey and Iwobi. To highlight how this goes against our recent history, In Arsene Wenger’s golden era we had a minimum of 4 individuals alternating positions, with attacking full backs.
When 442 became less used, you would still have an offensive minded player in your centre of midfield. Maybe it’s because of his contract situation that Ramsey is not starting in a 3, an option which would be more ambitious. That though is the boss’s decision, as it was his tactical decision to leave out a man with the most assists since joining us.
Many gooners want Ozil to join Rambo in heading towards the exit door but what creativity will we have left? 3 defensive midfielders at the Emirates? This should never happen.
Dan