It will be on Emery and not Kroenke if Arsenal fail again

Stan Kroenke can be held responsible for a lot of things that go wrong at Arsenal but if next season is a busted flush it will all be on Unai Emery.

That may well sound harsh but at the end of the day, he is the man that picks the team, does the tactics, implements strategy and demands who the clubs buy.

Now, that last part may not be so clear cut but put it this way, if he asks for a central defender and the club do not provide one then he should resign in protest because it is as clear as day that a new centre half is a necessity.

If he decides to stay in the event a new centre half is not bought then that is on him.

You do not need a degree in rocket science to know the weakness in the team and if Emery does not get that sorted and remains at the club then the buck stops with him and cannot be passed along.

Last seasons collapse was down to Emery, he had the team to get Arsenal into thrid and the Europa League final he cannot then put it on anyone else if that very same team folds like a pack of cards.

But it was his first season and so allowances are made but not for a second season and not when you have had ample time to sort out the deficiencies.

Some will, of course, argue that Kroenke employed Emery and so the buck should stop with him and that is a valid point but Kroenke can only do so much and when you employ a serial winner of the Europa League and trophies in France you cannot be blamed for expecting more than an end of season collapse.

42 Comments

  1. Admin. Please can we have an article covering the seasons expectations to include playing style, epl finish, cup challenges and the dread of the odd thrashing along with how the management of the club is expected to evolve. I’m not keen on the who we can blame as an individual culture, especially as arsenal employ hundreds of person which affect the direct results and ambitions

    1. Well said Dan ??

      We were doing very well last season up until the end. I’m sure our league form suffered because Emery had one eye on the Europa final. I think he got his tactics horribly wrong in that game and by the time he addressed it, by bringing on Iwobi and Guendouzi, it was too late.

      A rubbish manager doesn’t win the Europa league three times in a row so I’m going to hold off being overly critical of him.

      In his first season, he finished one point behind fourth.

      Not bad eh?!?

      1. Dont fool yourself dear friend, finishing one point behind forth isn’t a success.We have to be more ambitious….Otherwise why sack Wenger to remain satisfied with fourth?!!!

        1. Hahaha Bobby I loved it when you lobbed the keeper in that game against Southampton!! ?

          https://youtu.be/pWZ6z3jr-tA

          You’re right in saying we need to show more ambition but, given the players we have, I would say that we aren’t very far off the top 3.

          I think we’re are moving in the right direction though, don’t you??

          PS… PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE COME BACK AND SHOW THE WINGERS HOW TO PLAY!!

          Loadsa love and stuff,

          Your dear friend Welbeck

          1. One of my all time favourite players along with Bergkamp and Henry . He scored another like that against villa with peter schmeichel in goal .
            Best winger I’ve seen in the premiership ,shame we only get 6 years out of him ,scored a goal every 3 games (iwobi are you watching).

    2. Dear Dan the Cannon.
      Can you please send the article you want and I will post it.
      Nuff said…

      1. Challenge accepted, I hope it meets expectation. I’ll have something to you in the next few days

  2. Emery just like anyone of us has to take care of his family, saying he should resign if he doesn’t get a new CB is ridiculous in my opinion. He should voice his displeasure but definitely shouldn’t resign.God knows i won’t resign if I’m in his shoes.

    1. Alee, I agree; why would Emery leave when he has a contract only until the end of this coming season, with Arsenal holding the option to extend for a further year.
      If the Arsenal owner and Board are not happy with Emery’s performance as Head Coach, a contract extension will not be offered. If Emery is not happy with the support he has been given, he will not stay.

  3. Kroenke has to back Unai Emery….You can have the best manager in the world if you dont give him money you won’t succeceed in a month of sundays

    1. Seems like he’s backing the manager with £100+ million so far. How much more do you want?

      1. Declan, if you do the maths, the net expenditure on transfers thus far budgeted for season, is considerably less than the rumoured £45 million, let alone £100 million.

    2. This is what happened to Wenger in the lean years, yet he still managed to get fourth. That is the sign of a good manager. Emery is in the same mould.

      Apparently Arsenal are one of very few club teams who aren’t in debt.

      1. Welbeck, your posts always make sense to me and UE so nearly succeeded CL qualification in his first season.

        This makes all these ridiculous claims about “inheriting dross players”…”taking at least three years to sort out the mess”…”mentally feeble”…”the club is doomed” look so childish in the context of UE’s first season.

        The crop of younger players, that look extremely talented, were “inherited” and our future looks bright as far as that is concerned.

        As ozziegooner pointed ot above though, our outlay is not what it seems. I believe we know have four players on the “never never”, including Torreria from last season.

        kronkie is playing a very crafty game I think.
        Will he turn round next season and say that there is no money for transfers as we have to pay for the players we already have?

        I have this feeling he will, but if I’m wrong then this new strategy for the club will be worth it.
        If UE can bind the new signings and the current players together, then, of course, we won’t need a massive transfer kitty.

        Sign Tierney and I can start to see a really strong mix of new and existing players performing well under UE…so for me the buck DOES stop with him and I see no reason why he won’t succeed.

  4. I agree with the heading but not the analysis.
    -the club is trying to strenghten our weak areas with imminent arrivals of Pepe and Tierny
    -we have 7/8 CD and it shouldnt be had for UE to find just 2 that can get the job done
    -summer business if far from over,we might get loan deal as Rugani is been linked
    -we have to be smart in this inflated market not to recruit another mustaphi,good CD this days is becoming difficult to recruit esp with the ‘playing’ from the back system that every team seems to adopt, e.g John stone at city, good CD but finding it difficult to adapt.
    Overal i really hope
    -injury favour us this year
    -we sell some CD to create space for new arrival because it will be difficult to just keep players on bench
    -last season underperfomers get their form this season

  5. OT: with way we conducted Pepe deal in less than a week, it seems celtic is joking with us for Tierny deal. I doubt we are the one been amarteur but Celtic

    1. Celtic named their price, and want large sum (not all) up front, as is their right. Tierney is class defender and IMHO well worth the £25 million.

      Put it this way, very very good chance he can set the position for 8 years, or we can continue with papering over problems with average players and temporary fixes.

      Not like he’s costing £72 million; offer the money and let player decide if he wants the move.

      1. And don’t forget, the CL clause that was inserted…according to Celtic anyway!!!

        Perhaps the famous two have suddenly woken up to the fact that trying to insert such insane clauses, doesn’t work.

        IF we sign pepe, I will congratulate them on a very good piece of business…totally different to the Tierney debacle.

        I wonder what salary he will be on though? Hope he isn’t going to “bleed the club dry” by accepting the contract offered!!!

  6. Hey let’s face it.. it we win as many times away from home as we win at home we will be in the top 4… our away form is what needs to change! Is that the player’s fault or tactics? I’m really not sure.

    1. Mainly the same players have been poor away under both Wenger and Emery, as well as poor under pressure. Mentality has to change, but injuries last season didn’t help having a consistent team, particularly in defense.

  7. With Pepe, Auba, and Laca we will have one of the most devestating attacks in all of Europe, period. Ceballos is the midfielder we needed, and with Tierney and another CB our defense is better.

    If Emery can’t get CL qualifying with top 4 or win Europa, then he has to go. The ingredients are there now, it falls to him to get results with all the talent.

    His philosophy and style of play can be implemented, no excuses about players now.

      1. You guys have Arsenal and Emery failing before the season starts. Emery’s contract expires at the end of the coming season. Kroenke and the Board won’t be consulting any of us when they consider whether to give Emery a contract extension.

  8. If its true that we sign Rugani, Tierney, and and Pepe then there’s no reason we cannot finish 3rd or better. We have to give Emery a chance with our mk2 Arsenal. Half my joy is to see our team without Xhaka or Mustafi. That would be fantastic. With the points those two lost us we would be in the Champions League. Hope there are no obstacles to signing those three guys.

  9. Emery should get 5 seasons minimum.
    For the first ten years of Wengers reign it was a top 2 Utd and Arsenal.
    Then Abramovich at Chelsea 2003 then Abu Dhabi 2009 bought City.
    So top 2 became top 4 A Utd Chelsea rsenal and City.
    Now Klopp at Liverpool and Pochettino at Spurs
    have brought two more teams to the top table.
    So now we have a super 6.
    The fans accepted Wenger’s top 4 is a trophy for ten years
    so to be fair to Emery Arsenal fans should accept top 6 is a trophy too.
    Being in Champions league is way over rated.
    It costs 150 m to be in the Champions league because you have to buy
    high priced players and pay huge salaries.
    If you don’t win it you might as well not be in it.
    Top 6 and win the FA cup would be just fine.

    1. Wenger champions league record is overrated since most of it was done when only 3 or 4 big team existed so its like saying finishing last in a 4 team league is great. Wenger top 2 finishes is what’s good for cv.

      5 years is way too long, max 3 years depending on what 2nd year emery has is acceptable.

      1. Wenger’s top 4 has been over rated, you are so delusional my friend. Without the funds, move to the bug stadium and every year loosing your best player ….still finishing in champions league is an achievement. It was top 6 at that time as well only difference is bec we got use to coming in top four so easily under wenger we took it for granted. What wenger did with limited funds no one can and will do it again. Arsenal fans are so ungrateful and now all you can see here are ppl dieing for Arsenal to finish in top 4 apparently which they moaned about when wenger was in charge….where is ambition gone now lol!

        1. Lmao, this is a ridiculous argument. Wenger had enough funds to create good sides, but he consistenly chose the wrong players, focused on the wrong positions, and was tactically limited in his quest to emulate Barcelona. His Champions League record is a fallback for an era that was nothing but mediocre. We’ve seen Spurs & Leicester do much more with less money, yet we still parade Wenger around like some God. And you ask why we are despearte to finish top 4 now? Because we are in such a bad place that AW left us in that we need to build back up. Difference is that 4th is not the end goal, unlike AW and Gazidis believed. Arsenal fans have ALWAYS wanted more than top 4. This is why parading around AW’s useless UCL record is nothing but a joke. Espescially when Spurs went 2 transfer windows with no signings and made it to UCL final. Wake up. Wenger’s time was long over.

          1. Can we all move forward please, regarding comparisons between a manager at Arsenal for 22 years and a head coach just completing his first season.
            In response to Agu, Emery will only be at the Emirates for 5 years if his performance as Head Coach satisfies the owner and the Board and he wants to stay. His contract is for 3 years only, with Arsenal holding the option to extend at the end of the second year, ie at the end of this coming season.

          2. RSH, one day you might want to sit down and evaluate exactly what AW left the club…here are some facts for you:

            1. A crop of young players that UE is already bringing into his first team squad – at the last count five of them feautured in our squad for the friendlies and fans on here are already asking for them to be pushed further.
            MAKE NO MISTAKE – THEY ARE WENGER BOYS!!!

            2. A club that had amassed over £1 and a half billion due to qualification and progression in the CL and fa cup wins during his tenancy.

            3. The style of play bought record investments from companies who wanted to be seen as sponsors to a brand of football never witnesssed at the club in it’s entire history i.e. The Invincibles.

            4. 7 fa cup wins, beating the club record of 6 during it’s PREVIOUS ENTIRE HISTORY – making our club the most successful in the tournaments record books.

            5. Three double winning squads, again, only won being achieved before this in the history of the club.

            6. He brought The Arsenal out of the scandal of GG’s era and the debacle of Rioch’s tenure into one of the most admired football clubs in the world.

            Just a few of the successes that you so glibly gloss over, by citing his CL record…so let’s look at that:
            20 years of consecutive qualification – PLD 201 GAMES – WON 101 – DRWN 43 – LOST 57 – GF 332 – AGST 218…this against teams such as barca, madrid, city etc who had enough funds to create FANTASTIC sides, not just GOOD sides.
            One final, the first London club to do that, two semi-finals and only twice failed to make it out of the group stages.

            A mediocre era? What a load of absolute rubbish you spout just to try and belittle his achievements.
            Try telling that to the magnificient barcelona team that you quote AW as trying to emulate – or the manure team that won the competition with the boys of 92 – where were Leicester and spuds during this time?…you have no idea how to evaluate someone’s time at a club.

            I have asked you many times, if AW left us in such a bad place, how was this achieved year after year x 20?!?!?!
            YOU NEVER CAN ANSWER THIS SIMPLE QUESTION – TRY IT NOW!
            Furthermore, how did UE, with the dross players he inherited, qualify for a european final and finish 1 point behind the “best” spuds squad for decades that you seem to admire so much.

            Leicester? We finished second to them…where did the spuds, pool, city, manure, chelsea end up then?
            Your so busy trying to belittle the club you say you support, you don’t even think about the ridiculous arguments you are putting forward.

            Nobody wanted to “just finish fourth” but thank god there are some fans who realise that having money to build a “GOOD” Team, has no chance to compete with a team that has unlimited money to build a FANTASTIC team of w/c players…unless of course your name is Arsene Wenger and his wonderful Invincibles, built before the reign of kronkie and gazidis of course.

            How many of AW’s players did city sign once the oil money was flowing in and why?
            SIMPLE answer…because they were the best around.

            I actually feel sorry for you, because your blind refusal to see what the greatest manager this club has ever had, doesn’t allow you to accept his legacy…I know he made many many mistakes and should have gone two seasons before he did, but I bask in the recognition that this man made our club a world-wide name as a team that played the game as it should be played.

            Just a footnote, exactly WHAT have the spuds won during the AW tenure and HOW many times have Leicester finished above before and since they won the premiership?
            Your admiration of these clubs perfectly sums up how you evaluate AW’s legacy – wake up and examine the FACTS:

      2. Ackshay, can you name the teams that compete today, that didn’t compete when AW was in charge?
        City and PSG I guess, but who else?

        1. Ken, you are a bit harsh on Bruce Rioch in my opinion. I’ll always be thankful for the great Dennis Bergkamp being signed during his tenure.

          1. And Ken, I almost forgot Rioch also signed David Platt, another midfielder, who would walk into the current Arsenal team.

          2. ozziegunner, those signings were down to David Dein, we nearly lost Ian Wright because of Bruce Rioch.

            Dennis was the player who really changed the face of Arsenal, the best I have ever witnessed.
            When you think of other names we had before him, such as David Rocastle, Liam Brady, George Eastham, all brilliant in their own right, Dennis was simply the best.

            Going back to David Dein, that’s one of the reasons I have always included him in my thoughts during the early AW years. He was a master at what he did for the club and the rot really started when the board and kronkie kicked him out.

            His partnership with AW beats anything I’ve ever witnessed, including cloughie and his side kick (who’s name escapes me at the moment).

            If I could change one thing from our history, it would be the introduction of kronkie to the club by David Dein…everything went downhill from then onwards,slowly gathering pace and culminating in the club being owned outright by kronkie.

            I truly believe that if Dein and Wenger had stayed together, our club would have become the biggest in the world.

  10. lets focus on evaluating progress then expecting to have a list of who do we blame when we have set backs. That’s all it is, set backs, not the end. AFC keep going.

  11. Want we want as funs is results and good ones. As a team we have been in the cold for so long. It is our hope that the recent changes will enable us smile again

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