Opinion: Arteta and Emery treated very differently by the Arsenal fan-base

Arsenal sacked Unai Emery because the team was on a poor run of form, the Spaniard had led us to the final of the Europa League in the previous campaign and fifth in the Premier League.

We have replaced him with an inexperienced Mikel Arteta that seems to have bought some time for himself by winning the FA Cup and the Community Shield.

The Spaniard also oversaw the recruitment of some fine players currently thriving at the club.

However, some of his signings have struggled too, and those set of players have had the most impact in the team with Arsenal now struggling to win games.

The 4-1 loss to Manchester City means we have to win the FA Cup or the Europa League this season before we can play European football next season because a top-four place looks out of the equation at the moment.

As things stand, Arteta and Emery are at the same low levels as at the time that we fired Emery.

While most fans wanted Emery gone for good, Arteta seems to have charmed some of the club’s fans, and there have been a lot more people calling for him to be given time.

It makes you wonder why Emery was not given the luxury of time that Arteta is being given now despite the fact that Emery, with a worse squad, did far better in both the league and Europe.

It makes very little sense and shows how some of the fanbase put personality above competence.

Tags Mikel Arteta Unai Emery

52 Comments

  1. For me it’s because I see Arteta as a potentially transformative manager who could actually work against the toxic culture of the club. I’ve never been one to call for any manager to be sacked, but I never saw Emery as being able to change that. UE is a good manager, though, I just don’t think it was the right time for someone like him.
    For Arteta, I think we’ve come through the honeymoon period and are now in a battle to see whether he can force through the necessary cultural changes. I acknowledge he could fail (and I have disagreed of plenty of his decisions thus far), but at least he appears to have the right ideas in that regard. Even if he succeeds I don’t think we’ll see positive affects on the pitch for some time until a few players have cleared off and the wage bill has come down.

    1. Agreed on the last part about players needing a clear out. The rest I feel like alot of fans beleive we are gonna play football like man City.

      For 1 thing even if we do play like city, we will never be at that level as less than half our squad would get into city’s team.

      Anyway each to their own. I just see arteta as a cheap option from people that don’t actually watch football. Assuming arteta is class because city did well under pep with him as citys number 2 is crazy. I actually cannot pinpoint why arteta was chose.

      Cheap options would have been Henry or viera who fans would give 1000% and players have to respect. The men have statues outside.

      Should have stuff with Freddie also if we wanted a cheap fix. I just dint understand why arteta and what people actually think he has or will do

  2. I was not a fan of Arteta or Emery appointments but always happy to get behind whatever manager we are given.

    I am just drain at the moment. Been drained since 2010/11 when the Cesc era came to an End. It’s been a slog.

    I wanted Pochettino as our manager but that seemed improbable. I just don’t know what has gone wrong with Arteta.

    It’s crazy.

  3. Festive greetings everyone.Emery has led valencia to 19 games without a loss which a record for the club,they are fourth on the laliga table.I say no more.As for Mikel we are in a relegation battle but because he won two TROPHIES in six months he’s a coaching genius lol..All I can say is support the team not the regime Arteta is a failed project and the club does not want to admit they made a mistake, being pep assistant doesn’t mean you can be a coach actually.How many assistants had pep in his coaching career mark you pep can’t win without money bags.Arteta is confusing players with foolish tactics I wouldn’t allow him to coach my pub team mates leave alone the Arsenal.I dispise the man.

    1. Emery as led VILLERREAL to 19 games unbeaten ,but we are not Villarreal .
      He was given the chance here and he failed ,simple as that it does not matter what he did before or is doing now it didn’t work here and that’s what counts .
      As for taking the mickey and calling Arteta a coaching genius No one as said he is ,he came in and steadied the ship and part cleaned up the mess he was left with.
      I’ve still got faith in him because constantly changing managers is a recipe for disaster.
      ATM it’s not working i will admit I just hope he can reverse our fortunes.
      The dip in form was also when Partey got injured,and we hear so much that this what handicapped Emery .so if we are going to use excuses let’s play on a lvl playing field .

      1. Is it?, because it seems to work well for the bigger clubs. Chelsea always change an underwhelming manager, psg does, Barca,Madrid,juventus, Bayern etc. ours is different, that’s why we will stagnate further because we always wait till it’s too late to rectify things, arteta will eventually get sacked when we are like 19th and like 30 points away from 4th place and then we change things and expect the next manager to work wonders. We need to move with the times, this sentimental culture thing is what has got our team in this mess in the first place.

        1. You have mentioned clubs where every big player goes to we have not been talked in the same breath of those for years ,we do not have that luxury ,if Arteta is sacked we are back to square one again ,new manager comes in and we start again buying players most teams wouldn’t touch ,cycle continues.

  4. Both Managers have failed in my own opinion. Though I don’t blame them, I blame the clueless board and the owners that are more interested in money to the detriment of Club success.

  5. UE was found to be better than Arteta so far as EPL history under their managerial tenure is concerned.The more the earlier Arteta is sacked,the the more the best for the Club.Tuchel is the best candidate .

  6. Either for Arteta or risk being relegated. Arteta is taking Arsenal nowhere with his ego…which has put him on a collusion course with the players!

  7. We will lose to chelsea and draw or lose to brighton we are in relegation form at the moment.This season were are just fighting to avoid relagation top6 unattainable with this coach.With that,we will have a clear direction as a club Edu should be the first to go as for Arteta he won’t survive here whether he likes it or not Arsenal with its fans is too big for him.

    1. We didn’t lose to Chelsea . I see here a lot of “professors” with “clever” opinions. Changing a manager so often gets you nowhere- just see Man U- huge names as managers after A.F. and not a good progress. Liverpool were patient and look where they are after 5 years with Klopp.

  8. I don’t think this is what is going on with the fans that are ready to stick with Arteta. Emery was the first manager after Wenger and many fans accepted that he wasn’t the man and wanted him gone. We than had a caretaker and then Arteta.. What if Arteta is sacked and the next manger is no better…and the next and the next..At what point do we stop firing and try to work with the manager which is there or at least give him time.. This is why some of us are are more patient….

    1. I’m with Mark here…hiring and firing till when…
      There are no proper coaches left…all the good ones are either too old or with jobs already…Let’s not kid ourselves…any coach who comes into Arsenal will know it is a long time job to fix this team…probably a couple of transfer windows…who is going to be prepared to take the heat and crap that us Arsenal fans will just keep on dishing whenever things dont go our way? New Reserve goalkeeper gets his first premiership taste against a desperate man city…and how do we support the new player…oh we abuse the hell out of him till he gets off twitter! We also compare his…4 games against Martinez who was at arsenal for 10 years!
      Every arsenal fan will agree that this team needs some spring cleaning…anyone in doubt of that? I don’t think so…
      So why are they…so many against giving ANY coach the time to actually do the cleaning? Let Arteta stay and remove who he deems unfit for service…there should be no player bigger than the club. As long as he does not get relegated…give him time to fix the team…
      Why on earth would we want pochettino? He is a good coach but has nothing to show for it? If we were so willing to get rid of Wenger who at leaast did win trophies while playing football…what are we expecting with Pochettino? Good football with no trophies? Why you think he was jobless all this time? You think he was busy choosing where he wants to go? oh hell no! nobody wanted him! the moment Emery got sacked, he got picked up…because he is actually a good coach…just ran into the most toxic fans there is…
      Is there even any other team that has something as close as AFTV? feeding on any chaos at Arsenal like vultures! The true problem of Arsenal is twofold…too many players who have become comfortable and a very..impatient fan base! Any manager who can turn around this situation…deserves a statue outside the Emirates right next to Wenger! Here’s to hoping Arteta manages to turn this around! This is going to be a bumpy ride….happy holidays by the way!

      1. People complain about the negative criticism of players by disappointed fans on AFTV. In Europe the “ultras” turn up at training and bash players or demonstrate outside the hopes of players and officials.

  9. My only concern is that it’s not clear to me what exactly the problem is, which makes it difficult to discuss a potential solution.

    (1) Has the manager lost the dressing room? If that were to be the case, then it’s highly Improbable that our fortunes will change anytime soon, regardless how tactically saavy the manager is.

    (2) Are the players not just good enough? Same players, against all odds, won the FA Cup and CS just a few months ago. Then, it was all credit to the manager for being able to get the best out of the squad.

    (3) Are we just experiencing a poor run of form?

    MA is a very likeable fella. Despite the recent results, I get the impression he has the qualities to be a great manager. However, if he has lost the Arsenal dressing room, a very tough and pragmatic decision has to be made (quickly).

    1. Maxis The problem is the board employed the wrong Manager who in turn got rid of the best goalkeeper won’t play Saliba because he never bought him he is a dictator You. do what he says if not your out ask Ozil if he is man enough to tell you the board are rotten to the core

  10. Errrr….no one will ever remember no2. Arteta, with short time at the club, gave us FA CUP and Charity shield. What did emery do in his ‘longer time at Arsenal’ than Arteta? Nothing.

  11. To be fair, Emery’s press conferences were horrible. He struggled to get his points across and more or less said the same thing over and over.

    Arteta doesn’t have that problem and has charisma. That’s enough for anyone who gets easily swayed by emotions to react the way some Arsenal fans react.

    I myself am a victim of being swayed by emotions each time I watch Arteta’s press conferences. Regardless of the results, when I listen to the guy, I believe in the brighter future.

    But then I look at the table, look at the squad selections he made in the past and think to myself – this guy isn’t the right fit.

    However, if his replacements aren’t either Allegri Rogers, or Benitez, I’d rather Arteta stay.

    1. 👍 Unfortunately Arteta is a choice of style over substance. Emery’s poor English communication skills held him back, particularly his decision to not use an interpreter, unlike early Ponchettino.
      In addition Emery was supported less than Arteta in the transfer market; no manager/head coach should have no say in players brought to the Club.
      This current Arsenal squad needs a major overhaul, given many of the players have let down four head coach/managers. The current Board and executives appear incapable of doing this, often recruiting poorly and overpaying below average players. Constantly changing managers is not going to solve the problem of poor performing, overpaid players downing tools when it suits them.
      My fear is that it is easier for the Board to change managers to deflect attention from them and cost less than recruiting well.

  12. Arteta needs to go.. Is as simple as that. He won hardly nothing as a player and ok je worked under Pep wow . This dose not give him an automatic superstar of the future as a manger. We won’t pass Benfica. Replace now with Max and start to build under a proven MANGER at last

  13. Perhaps it’s to do with how much arteta has taken on, maybe he shows more willing than Emery, he deffo communicates better. The problems clearly stem much deeper than the manager, wenger was never the problem, things turned stale way before he was sacked, he was simply holding things together.

  14. If he’s had a slightly different response from the fanbase (and there’s a big split in opinion on him) it’s because he won the FA cup in his first season so it’s not rocket science why. If most fans are like me they thought this was a turning point for us, but the ability to manage a load of overpaid has-beens and lower league level players isn’t something that’s going to come easy to a manager that hasn’t long retired himself. It’s taking its toll and he’s now making strange selection decisions to work it out which aren’t working. Just my opinion.

  15. I don’t see a big difference to be honest. Emery had his supporters as does Arteta. But rightly or wrongly the majority seemed/seem to be calling for their heads.

  16. It would made more logical sense if UE was granted same number of chances as Arteta is because he was a proven manager with one of the best track record. Arteta on other hand is uproven and does not have any thing to show that he can turn things around. Personally I would have sacked both of them way earlier. We have always left it too late when taking crucial decision. Our board is weak and are afraid to make tough decisions. When things are not working you need to make changes not just sit and wait for things to get better on there own. We should be pro active not reactive actually we are neither at the moment just in state of limbo.

    1. Mohsan, Under your sacking philosophy we would sack even more managers than Watford. Its aghuge relief that YOU ARE NOT IN CHARGE!
      You have amply and often shown, on this site, that you don’t believe in giving ANY manager a fair chance to prove his talents. In my view you are not a fair minded person, nor are you a thinker, beyond a very shallow level.

      1. @Jon, I think we have too many like you in this club that is why we are at the bottom half of table while teams like Chelsea, city, Barcelona, Juvnetus and Madrid are top of world. Because they are ruthless when it comes to achieving success while we are just happy for ppl to use as a lab rat and clap them for their failures. You comparing us to Watford says it all….because when it comes to comparing with big clubs you guys always have am excuse prepared.

        1. Young man, I do NOT need excuses as I WRITE THE TRUTH AND STAND BY MY COMMENTS, WHETHER PROVEN RIGHT OR ON OCCASION WRONG.

          I AM A MATURE MAN WITH THE COURAGE OF MY CONVICTION , NOT A LITTLE IMMATURE BOY LIKE YOU.

          AND WHO THE HELL ARE “YOU GUYS?”

          Finally, you bestow on me a power I DO NOT HAVE , AS THE CLUB DOES NOT EVEN KNOW WHO I AM, LET ALONE TAKE ANY NOTICE OF ME.

          THAT IS HOW LIFE IS IN THE REAL WORLD, YOUNG MAN, WHICH ONE DAY LONG INTO THE FUTURE , YOU MAY DECIDE TO JOIN!

          I AM MY OWN MAN AND SPEAK ENTIRELY FOR MYSELF. I DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ALIGN MYSELF WITH OTHERS, THOUGH I WILL ADMIRE THEIR SENSE AT TIMES, IF I AGREE WITH WHAT THEY SAY.

      2. Jon fox, I totally agree with you. Some fans looks like all they want is to sack managers . Sackers have sacker philosophy.

    2. Just been reading your post Mohsan and was about to mention the hire and fire attitude at Watford only to discover JF was ahead of me.
      Seasons greetings

  17. Imagine if we had one good game ie against Chelsea at Baku and got us Europa, we would have given crazy number of chances to Emery too.

    1. Yes, of course Loki because that would have been a huge result. Not only stopping the slide but Champions League football. It would have restored s lot of faith. Most of us wanted to see him succeed, if only for the club’s sake. The Baku result was an embarrassment and the bad results would have continued indefinitely because by Christmas Emery had lost the plot. Good luck to him for bouncing back so quickly with such a small club. Can Arteta do better? Would like to believe so, but but….!

      1. Joe. S, Emery didn’t “lose the plot”, some players, including the great Ozil, downed tools, undermined Emery and sabotaged the Club.

  18. My opinion is both were and are poor picks.

    I do beleive arteta is being given more slack that emry because of a number of reasons

    1. Wenger was the bench mark. People wanted wenger out because we wanted a Premier league and CL win. This was the aim and top 4 was not good enough. Under emry we didn’t achieve thus and our standards dropped to top 6 rather than winners being annoyed at top 4.

    After emry looked as if top 6 was now the new normal artetas job was simply to stay in the top 6. So he is now only failing at that. When 3 years ago we expected to be in the CL at minimum and wanted to win we are now accepting maybe top 6

    2. Pep effect

    People think because pep was good arteta is good too. But actually if we look at previous managers like wagner who played under klopp and didn’t turn out to be as good. I cant remember which team he managed

    3. Arsenal are stubborn

    Erm not all fans but most definatly the club. They take too long to change and come up to speed

    1. Unai Emery took Arsenal to fifth not sixth (1 point from Champions League spot) in his first sesson and Arsenal were eighth when he was sacked.

  19. I was very pleased when we got Emery but the language barrier let him down and ultimately the wrong choice. I was hopeful of a new coach and a new era from Arteta but in the end yet again because of his inexperience causing him problems, the wrong choice. Both were/are mistakes that this club will find it hard to recover from. Look forward people to a poor future unless we get the right person very soon. Even then between Arsene, Emery and Arteta the damage done might be too great for anyone to recover from.

    1. Reggie agree, I wanted Carlo Ancellotti and now he is gone Rafael Benitez. Max Allegri, like Emery, has poor English communication skills and will want big money, combined with a large transfer budget, if he would even be prepared to come to the Arsenal, in the current situation. It would certainly be a challenge for whoever is in charge.

  20. I have supported MA’s vision, and still believe that in the ideal scenario he would require atleast 2 full seasons before we become competitive again. But recently his decisions have become puzzling. He has some weird coverups for obvious mistakes too. Lines like – ” Saliba should be playing” and “I tried to help him” after some flawed decision making sound weird. At least I hope he will rectify some of his mistakes this winter, bringing back Saliba to the fold would ve a nice start. I dont think he would bring back Ozil, but should give more chances to ESR and Azeez. Also, maybe lift the morale of these guys on the field instead of constantly instructing them? It might help. Otherwise we are in for a long long summer.

  21. I dont want to see managers sacked continually and become a laughing stock.
    What message does it send out if after 12 months you sack both arteta & emery, Why would a top manager come to a club with a poor unbalanced squad knowing if things go wrong you will be sacked in 12 months.

    Thought sacking emery was harsh, sacking Arteta after 12 months without being given a chance to build a team would be a disgrace. We wont get relegated!!

    Watched a programme on Denis Law the other night, a couple of years before Man Utd won the European Cup Man United finished 1 place above relegation. Did they sack Sir Matt Busby? Ferguson was close to getting sacked in the 1st few years at Man U but they stuck with him.
    Arteta needs another 12 months minimum to get a better squad & get rid of the deadwood.

    1. “We won’t get relegated!”
      Arsenal FC currently have the longest tenure in the English top division. Talk to supporters of Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Leeds United etc. Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield, Sunderland and Preston North End were all great clubs in the past.

    2. Blink, There speaks a rare wise and mature fan. Thank God there are some of us mature ones left. . Any fan who thinks our club are even thinking of sacking MA knows little about how life works. It is VERY obvious that our club are going to give MA an extended chance to prove himself.

      Until he has a proper and fair chance to get rid of all the many deadwood AND get his own chosen players in the team, to call for his end is laughably naive and ridiculous. It won’t be happening and I expect , confidently too, MA to be here for many years to come.

  22. I miss Wenger ball. Our style is gone. The beautiful game and positive free flowing attacking style that drew so many of us to the arsenal brand is no more. It gets harder to watch each week. Sad times

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