Emery Can’t Be Immune From Criticism by Dan Smith
Regular readers of this site will know my opinion on Stan Kroenke. If I could change one aspect of the club it be who our owner is. Yet that shouldn’t absolve our manager of any blame. Many didn’t afford Arsene Wenger the same luxury, when the likes of myself pointed to who he worked for, we were accused of being naive. So, the latest divide at the Emirates is unique. Those who pushed the greatest manager out of the club showed so much disrespect, they now can’t admit the Frenchmen was never the problem. They now have to commit to the change they demanded. It’s like ending a relationship for someone else then quickly realising your new partners traits are just as annoying. You’re too proud to admit the grass is not greener elsewhere. Yet to now suggest Unai Emery should not be criticised due to his employer’s lack of a ambition is ironic if you were not prepared to do that 12 months ago.
Like I said even when we went 22 unbeaten and I was mocked for this, things change yet stay the same.
The fact is Mr Kroenke has nothing to do with what we saw at the London Stadium. He might be sat in America unaware we are even playing but he doesn’t influence the choices made on the pitch. He doesn’t choose to sacrifice an attacking individual for the sake of a back 5 and two DM, no matter how many times it hasn’t improved our clean sheet record. Emery is the one who time and again claims tactically he needs to leave Ozil out of his squad even though his replacement is…….Iwobi. For four years now, the Nigerians statistics have been shocking.
Ramsey admitted he was ready to sign a new contract only for Emery to suggest he wasn’t comfortable with such a salary given to a midfielder he feels not suited to his style (Iwobi is?). If Wenger was still here, he at least we would have extended Rambo’s deal and certainly would not pick Iwobi ahead of Ramsey or Ozil. I don’t feel sorry for the Spaniard for a lack of backing as he knew what he was walking into.
One of Ivan Gazidis’ final lies was to suggest we hired our first choice out of a 30-man shortlist. In reality though did we identify this man has a guy who could make us champions or was he a cheap option? Someone who wouldn’t cost 9 million a year like his predecessor while so happy to get a big job he accepts a limited budget. What do you think a Carlo Ancelotti would have said if he is were told the bank balance? So however much we want the owner out (and rightfully so) we can’t ignore when Emery is making obvious mistakes.
Dan Smith
I feel folks who says Emery shouldn’t be criticized just because it’s his first season or with stuffs like he’s not being given money to spend are only kidding themselves and would prefer yo hide behind the early truth.
Emery has really done his bit on this club, before we were known for our attacking threats and goals even though we were wasteful, our defense was the problem under Wenger.
Right now under Emery the team from the attack to the midfield and Defense has so many problems… We are not scoring goals like we used to, we are wasteful and we are not creating enough chances while at the same time we can’t even defend?
what has changed in this team then??
running around the pitch this time around and calling it pressing??
The only difference I see is the team seems worse…
Go on ahead and say it’s Stan’s fault the team is worse
You want to criticize Emery who are is handicapped and doesn’t have the funds to shape the squad in his own image? When our talisman is Ozil, what do you expect?
nobody’s criticizing him for lack of transfers or any other that, he’s being criticized and questioned because of the way he’s been handling the players he currently has, before all we needed was a good DM and a solid defense, now we have a great DM but our defense is much worse, and our attack is kinda lame, boring and wasteful while lacking creativity, iwobi and Ozil used to play well together when Sanchez left and now Ozil is not part of the team and he me keeps forcing and putting pressures on Iwobi when it’s clear Iwobi alone can’t handle all the job of creating chances, I used to criticise that boy when he plays bad, but the last few games he stepped up but it’s leading to nothing, the boy can’t do it all alone, and people expect Ozil to be on the pitch too to support in creating chances…Emery’s not doing that, that’s the reason he’s being criticized and questioned, Even Ian Wright has spoken on this same thing Emery is doing, nobody understands it..so yes he should be criticized for the handling of players
Well said Eddie ?
Ok, nobody has said Emery can’t be criticised. Unlike the Wengerites of the past, I know Emery is not a god and can actually make mistakes every now and then. I’d rather make fresh new mistakes with Emery in the hope of finding success than stick to the same old mistakes of Wenger. Besides, even if Ozil played does anyone here want to bet he would have turned up? Yeah, thought so. Oh and Wenger was a snake. Destabilized the team and threw away a whole season with his own contract stand off. Now that was one comfortable coach. Couldn’t be bothered where we finish when he’s got a £9M contract weighing on his genius mind!
Emery seems to be making a few mistakes lately though and not learning from them! And one thing I really can’t get my head round QD, is Ozil being left out completely for the likes of Iwobi ??
Yes you are right
I totally agree with you Sue. Am not sure of what Emery is doing and I don’t think he knows as well. For instance if he doesn’t have the players to do the job he wants, why his he not saying it, or at least wish he could have different players. Why has he not improved some players because only iwobi seems to be improving under him, why is he picking up fights with a players who is not going anywhere, and who does clearly have something special than those he trust. Where is the team heading, what is the vision for another 2 years? As much as some might hate Ozil I can point to many good things he has done at the club, and many were angry because he didn’t seems to want to say. Am getting confused with were we are heading.
Ozil is the first name I look for when the line ups come out… gutted lately with him not playing… I don’t like how things are between him & UE.. I know one player doesn’t make the team, but he is one of the best we have… and he HAS to play!
I don’t even want to think of 2 years time – might be even worse than it is now (unless Oxford United have made an offer for Iwobi ?)
So how was your fella after the spuds losing earlier?
Same here, Ozil and lacazette are the first names in check for in lineups, I hate it when they’re not playing. Against Brighton when he subbed off ozil at half time and then lacazette later on, I wanted to leave where I was watching it,if not for a fellow fan that asked me to stay
That game was definitely one to forget, was really not happy with the substitutions he made!
If you watch Pogba’s pass that led to Rashford’s goal, you miss what Ozil did in the past. Passes can lead to goals. One Ozil is not enough, you need another Carzola. Arsenal may lose its attacking style and become an average team. A team which is defensively poor and also blunt in attacking. I’m a Brazil fan but following games by RM, Barcelona and Arsenal. I like the attacking soccer play by these 3 clubs but not hesitate to stop watching Arsenal’s games; already following less RM games after CR7 was sold.
He couldn’t do much about our lost. I think I got a bit of respite. Lol
Haha you did indeed ?
Emery will say nothing cos he’s a YES man. That’s why Arteta didn’t get the job. The board needs someone they can hide their failings behind.
Th14, Emery’s already said there is no money available for transfers, only loans; thus putting the onus on the board/owner. That doesn’t sound like a “yes man” to me. At least he didn’t claim ” there is no quality in the market”, as the reason for no action in the transfer window.
He should learn from Mourinho on how to call out the board/owner. That’s a very weak attempt.
Give him time; if not supported he will walk, then who could Arsenal attract?
Work rate. We have been defending poorly and so the first thing Emery did was to bench the one player on the pitch who never defends. He is nervous about the defence just like all of us.
Jesus fücking Christ!!! I’m sick and tired of hearing this whole work rate büllshít.. even when he’s being benched cause of work rate, even when we play mid table teams with seven defensive minded players, has that ever stopped us from conceding goals like a basket leaking water? wtf is the work rate when it’s dropping UA points we should be picking? Tell me does Aubameyang run around the field chasing players??…the whole work rate excuse is getting tiring
In 2 weeks Eddie, he’ll feature against Cardiff at home so he can thrill us and remind everyone how brilliant he is. Another 14 days so be patient.
Are you on about Mesut by any chance? I hope he is as I’m going to that game!
Yes Sue I’m talking about Ozil. I don’t think Emery will play him next week against Chelshit or Manure and we know why. But against Cardiff, just like Leicester and Burnley, I expect Ozil to shine and then disappear for another 3 months ??
Ozil always shines in my eyes!!
I am totally with you about ozil, he is probably just had one beautiful game and two OK games this season. That’s not 350k, that’s not the type of No. 10 arsenal needs
Emery doesn’t play with a no10. He’ll never rate Ozil.
Well that’s your boy Iwobi well and truly F***ed then isn’t it.You have been continually spouting out about how his rightful position is as a No10.And now your saying Emery doesn’t play with a No10.If that means the end of both you and Ieobi then even I would take that as one of the most positive things to come out of the season.
You’re wrong there Phil, Iwobi has adapted, he can play on either flank whereas Ozil has refused to adapt. If he doesn’t play as a no10, what good is Ozil to the team? If you play Ozil out wide then you just want to suffer your full back coz Ozil will never track back and help with defending.
Iwobi has ZERO ABILITY.He will never be a playmaker all the while he has a hole in that extremely big arse of his.
You can’t argue with stupid Phil
In his eyes iwobi is the new messi ,dazzling footwork ,amazing eye of the needle passes ,and Dennis bergkamp shooting ability .
Most in here can see the team miss ozil but when you have fans with rose tinted glasses on there’s no point arguing with them .
Yeah Dan we can all see it but this guy really does force me to ask the question-What exactly does his village do for an idiot when he’s not there?
See Mumu!
The team misses who? what good is he to team in the 3-4-3 system which Emery favors, there’s no use for a no10. Ozick is useless in this setup that’s why he can’t make the team.
Next time you get to watch your Ozil is at home to Cardiff, he’ll display his dazzling footwork, amazing eye of the needle pass and Dennis bergkamp shooting ability for you dimwit and you can sing praises of how awesome he is.
Funny, when I suggested we should review Emery regularly then I was criticized. I was saying that we should review it every 6 months or so, make sure we do not drop and blindly back a man who puts us in relegation zone.
First half for me was enough to see how he can do till the end.
According to it, we should shut up and give Emery multiple transfer windows to build his team… Even though we have all read about Sven picking the transfers.
Some people are insinuating that we shouldn’t question Emery at all yet. You may not but you do not speak for everyone do you?
QD, was is it with you and AW’s salary?
Just be placated by the fact that every time we qualified for the CL, that paid his salary for the first twenty years.
The last two years his salary was the£9,000,000 you claim, it was paid for by the three fa cup wins, so rest easy my man, rest easy!!
It seems to me that it’s you who can’t let go of the man, after all this was about UE and his mistakes.
Couldn’t be bothered? He kept saying how important it was to qualify for the CL, but nobody listened, including kronkie and Gazidis it now seems.
Now on to UE and kronkie…. I think Dan has got it wrong by comparing him to AW, what’s the point?
One has left the club and the other has been here for nine months.
Let’s judge UE on what he is doing and for me there are three defining points:
1. The horrific injury list that saw two players out for the season. The rest have been mainly defenders and I think it’s fair to say that most of us thought that was the area that needed strengthening the most. The fact that the club wouldn’t even pay to bring Chambers back sums up kronkies commitment to his manager and his club.
2. His failure to sort out the ongoing debacle with Ozil. It’s quite obvious now, in my opinion, that it’s more than just playing style, it’s an inability by UE to see that Iwobi, Guez, Elneny and Ramsey between them, haven’t got the vision and ability to do what Ozil can with his footballing brain. It’s also become a personal thing when UE states that he picks the best players available for a match and that includes subs, he leaves out a man who, supposedly, earns £350,000 a week ( sanctioned by kronkie and Gazidis NOT AW).
3. The signing of average and below par players (with the exception of Torreria) that have actually made the defence even worse than before.
Now what he has to do to ensure that he isn’t labelled with the same accusations that AW was, is to come out and state categorically that he 1. is not being supported by kronkie regarding transfers 2. either pick Ozil for the squad, or place him on the transfer list immediately. 3. Sign players that will be able to fit his style and not try to mould players who can’t do that (Cech for example).
Kronkie will have to accept that he will lose money on Ozil, due to him and Gazidis giving whatever salary he’s on and then invest the money saved on his salary and transfer fee on other players.
By the way, I thought the silly days of labelling other people’s views had gone, but there’s still some WOB’s out there who haven’t realised he’s gone.
fans these days are very impatient….they expect instant success….
In the real world, players and managers are human and they get affected by surroundings….everything needs time and changes are unpredictable….
In Fifa 19…..fans can spend as much as they like….players can score 200 goals….a non league team can hammer a top team and one can release a 200m player and sign another 200m player…and etc…
Its better the fans stick to Fifa 19 or go support City
Ken and John, thank you for 2 rational posts.
With regard to defense, to be strong it demands teamwork, discipline, tactical awareness and confidence in the players around you. It is very difficult for any coach/manager to develop this when you have to constantly change personnel due to injuries.
With regard to Mezut Ozil, I have always highly regarded his skill as a player; however he has been a nightmare to manage for both Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery. Wenger appears to have given Ozil leave of absence whenever he wanted it and this season he has had a multitude of injuries, such as back spasms and knee problems. Thus he has been unreliable and managers have not been able to rely on him, let alone build a team around him. Given what he is earning, the pressure needs to be placed on him to play to either perform to his ability; or destroy his legacy before being sold for whatever Arsenal can get for him. Either he suceeds or Arsenal removes his wages from the books.
Ouch!
shady pines is beckoning for some guys on here it seems.
It was not too bad but we should have came out with a point at westham at the very least I dont know on which criteria did emery pick his team to fight westham he should have picked a stronger side perhaps he was worried about next week as we entertain chelsea and than a week later man united the pressure is on as we need to win them I hope the togetherness we had over the 22 match run reignites than we will be cruising to beat them all We should because we are capable in doing so come on Ya gunners
What a nasty post. What right have you to call the greatest manager in the history of Arsenal a ‘snake’? Even in his final less successful period he still managed to win three FA Cups.
Well said,it’s so disheartening to hear that the 6th richest club can’t afford to stump up money for new signings that we clearly need and as for ozil i think people have forgotten even against lesser teams he doesn’t contribute .wenger deserved criticism for not identifying where we needed to strengthen and just buying flair players
Exactly as I saw things with Wenger too. He was far too comfy in his job, the same as the vastly rich, already achieved all he cares about winning and thus unmotivated Ozil. He is bleeding our club dry and giving practically nowt in return. Unless you wet your knickers over a once in a blue moon Leicester game type perforrmance. And many do just that. Fantasists, I call them. We need ANY non 100% tryers gone from our club. Today preferably!!! Bloody hell, it took us a decade too long to finally ditch Weed Walcott.
I’m not comfortable with emery tactics of selection and putting some important players on the bench. Goundoze is not doing good for the team.
Good article Dan 🙂
I think Emery has done well in the training ground, players do look fitter and have that team spirit again which is nice to watch, no longer can teams physically bully us and for us to whimper away, we stand up for each other.
I do feel our football is becoming boring, we may have scored a lot of goals but I think a lot of them was training ground type of goals rather than the flair of creativity, so much so that I honestly feel as if the teams creativity is being sucked out of it in favour of well drilled movements… Which bore the hell out of me when I watch it over and over.
I was hoping for a well drilled def tactics that allowed for the flair and creativity we do have, a solid base that would allow the front to have freedom to take risks and do the unexpected, moments of magic that has happened time and time again in our attacks.
do tactical reasons imply that a player isn’t good enough or that we need to play a different team.
we’re Ramsey and ozil not at fault last season when we finished sixth? when we lost nearly all away games?
You can’t blame Emery for trying to change the team selection and tactics of last season because clearly they were at fault.
Do you think any other manager would have done any better with the resources we have at the club?
no no no.
many fans are slaughtering Emery for not playing ozil or Ramsey as if they were Messi and Ronaldo.
Ramsey and ozil are not the answer they are not our Messiah they would not have put us in a better position and please respect iwobi the guy has improved and he at least gives us an incentive on the pitch though we need better
So you really believe no manager in the world would beat Brighton, Southampton, wolves and West Ham with the players we have?
Do you really believe we need to sign more players before we can beat those 4 teams we dropped points against?
Think about that question and answer it sincerely, please, sincerely.
Have you even seen those players?
It is a struggle to beat any team with our players especially away from home.
we didn’t beat any of those teams away last season.
we had multiple injuries coming into those games this season.
even top 6 teams have struggled taking points away from them this
Sarmmie, please tell us again, how many away games Arsenal won last season?
if we played ozil and Ramsey we would have completely been overrun by westham
We were completely overun without them, so what’s your point…. that is until Ramsey came on of course.
what difference did he make after coming on?
We certainly didn’t score and we had no shot after the 67th minute.
my statement is that those players are not the answer.We have won so many games without them this season
You obviously didn’t watch the game, so how many shots did we have before the 67th minute?
How manydefence splitting passes did we make?
How many sideways and backward passes did we make?
There was no creativity and/or vision, just an even worse performance than we watched last season.
While this was happening, the one player who could have changed that wasn’t even on the bench!
One doesn’t need to be a professional coach/manager to see and query this, just watch the game.
We had Ozil for majority of our away games last season, with all the creativity he brings, how many did we win??
Yet again you blame one player for all last season’s failings? Wasn’t Iwobi also playing in the majority of the games?
Anyway, that was last season and this is the present.
Having bought in five new players, supposedly to strengthen the team, we are worse than last season.
We are not discussing history, but the present….so can you answer my questions regarding our last match and what happened, or is that too difficult for you?
Jah son, re post below, agree with post except that he has really hasn’t he?
To leave out a player, whoever it is, then openly give negative reasons as to why that was the case, amounts to public criticism surely?
I have never seen a manager who makes a change on 45 minutes 90% of the time amean what does this do to players confidence.
Emery remind me of Jose only thing is he haven’t criticize a player publicly
The buck stops at Kroenke for sure but equally he would say ‘i appoint XY&Z to manage transfer negotiations, brand partnership deals, staff salaries….’
In 2015 our wages was £166m and 4 years on it is £199m. I believe our budget (based on income revenue then ownership personal wealth) is £200m.
So if we are to get 5 x £120,000 per week players (that’s £23.04m per season) we need to sell (because we are above budget).
With monreal in his final season (no sign yet he is offered a new one and his last 2 season’s have been injury prone) and licht on a 1 year deal (no sign of a renewal atm) and welbeck, Ramsay off that’s an additional £15.8m available on wages.
Wenger was a true gentleman who understood how to be successful and focused even in the face of BS from media and ‘fans’. People will bemoan his ability to keep up with the market dealings (and focus on what he missed out on – regardless of other managers also missing out) yet in his time our wage bill budget sits alongside the top clubs in the league, let alone the world!
The issue with Arsenal we say we see is now clear to see it’s the board now Wenger has gone but in truth it was our structure and as much as I was always under the belief ‘let him decide’ the problem was Wenger was the structure. Gazidis was brought in to manage Wenger and when that job was done he’s sent packing. Along comes Raul and co.
I am not pro Stan as much as I back the attempted work by our club. Give me any name to propose to own our club and I’m say Yes…Give me the cast from Looney tunes and I’m say Yes.
The reason being because Stan is not here to invest his own personal money to fund our wages or transfers. He never was and never will I knew that when I heard David Dein speak about him back in yester years. So I feel at pain when our fans moan about him.
We have always been a self sustained model – before Wenger- before Stan. Get use to our heritage it’s who we are.
Fans see other owners spending their cash and we expect the same and when Stan does what he said he will also do (buy the club and secure the loan to build arsenal and be rewarded with profit for his exchange of management) we have a pop.
I don’t like Stan and maybe others don’t because he ‘sits back and makes profit’ off of our club but like at United, they make investment off of their turnover…they are just a bigger brand then everyone else (yet they get it wrong too)
As for unai. A lot of errors I wait to cast a true opinion on at the end of the season because it’s 75% through the season and 15% through his contract. All i will add is after pep only unai sits as the next most successful manager in the league.
(Honours won as manager)
Just consider what we know we have done with developing our plans. We are the 6th best team for the last few years…anyone thinks we are more and just underperformed on the pitch have failed to see our structure was outdated and our squad is imbalanced!
Tom, excellent post?.
Please stop with this Emery criticism. It’s becoming farcical now!
Emery – He inherits a bang average squad, filled with overpaid so called ‘stars’, making it almost impossible to sell them, or to get a high transfer fee if we can manage to sell them. Emery is given hardly anything to spend, and has had an injury crisis, almost all season! We’re only just past the halfway point, and already the fans are judging, and criticising him.
Then we have the polar opposite
Pep – He inherits a fantastic squad, jam packed with WC talent. He spends almost £200 million (net spend around £165 million), to strengthen them even more. He has an ambitious owner as well. Everything is set up perfectly for Pep. Despite this, Pep only manages 3rd in the league. Does nothing in Europe, and doesn’t even make a domestic final.
My points are, that fans not only need some patience, but they need to start living in reality. If one can fail like Pep did in his first season, when everything was set for him so well, then one can imagine how difficult it is for Emery, given what he took over. And the season isn’t even finished! We can still win 2 trophies, a European trophy, and qualify for the CL.
I do like your positive outlook TMJW ?
ThirdManJW, thank you for your rational, well reasoned post. Unfortunately it will be lost on many.
JW,
Are you attempting to convince me that the
following players wouldn’t have featured in
Pep’s first year dream team that finished just a
few points ahead of Arsenal
Mustafi
Xhaka
Iwobi
Monreal
Ramsey
Guendouzi
Chambers
Socratis
I have questions about Emery and he definiteky
s^&t the bed tactically against WH yesterday
but I’m not sure what to realistically expect from
a first year EPL coach with BANG ON AVERAGE
AT BEST TALENT and an absentee, greedy owner who could give a toss about the club and fans.
I felt an unsettling morose today realizing that
the current incarnation of Arsenal futbol is much
closer to the likes of Everton and Bournmouth
than Spuds or Manure.
ACE, enjoyed the darcasm and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry ??!
Whatever Emery’s fault he is better than Wenger. In Emery we have a 12th player unlike Wenger who spent 90 minutes fighting with his zippers. Emery reads the game better than Wenger and is not afraid to make changes before the 60th minute. Oil and Ramsey were around last year and where did we end? I support benching Ozol because he is too damn lazy. Add to that the fact that the assists have dried up. So what is he giving the team. If speculation is correct Ramsey is going to Juventus for 70k less than he was offered by Arsenal. Granted he has a better chance of winning trophies. Why did he not demand the same salary from Juventus?
Juventus guarantees trophies whereas AFC doesn’t.
Maj, his Juventus pay is after tax meaning he is on something like £280,000 gross.
He will receieve a huge signing on bonus which will equate to more or less the same amount he would have gotten at arsenal
It’s being foolish to back Emery for leaving out Ozil.We ‘ve lacked creativity in almost all of our recent games.In stead he would have brought in some players to back him up in defense since just like Messi and Ronaldo, Ozil is poor off the ball;but on the ball ,you know what he can do and yet he’s left out.
So let’s just be frank,it’s obvious Emery doesn’t like him because not a single coach could leave a player like Ozil on the bench or out of the 18.
If Ozil did so well at Real Madrid under Mourinho,why can’t he do it again under Unai who is so good as we claim.
Put it this way who releases the funds for the management team to spend…. Stan.
Who says how it goes at the club now hes 100% owner… Stan.
What I’m getting at is that anything that goes on at the club at all, the final decisions come down to Stan Kronke & what he wants, its been stated several times that we are a self sustainable club that wony spend beyond its means. Thats on Stan as he doesnt want to invest in the club personally but to use it as leverage for all his sports ventures for future loans etc…
Unai has inherited a mess of a squad that lacked direction, motivation & hunger to do better as they have had it very comfortable at the club for years and at home with all the big wages paid to them (didnt state earned as 90% of players at club do Not warrant that sort of money) and again all comes down to mentality!
If we have an unambitious owner to win, a manager with the same money making mind for 12years of his 22 tenure & players buying into that too, then what the hell do you expect? Them to be pumped every game, i doubt it that is why Unai cant be criticised for pushing the players to their max, try getting that losing mentality out of the players 1st, as we need to win silverware to get it out if the club & away from all of this but the question is pretty simple, do you want this Yank out? Easy answer Yes! Bigger question how? In a previous Article I had did about the youth but it will work but we won’t win anything for a long ass time but keeps club afloat & in Top10 of England which Stan is happy with.
Loads of work to be done, Unai needs backing from Stan or we will see the same process we have for the last 10years in the next 10. No matter what we are ArsenalFC & will get through all this in next few seasons all being well.
STAN OUT, Club Worth (apparently) £1.6b.
Fan Clubs need to get the banners, proper petitions, boycotting of games, merchandise & actually costs of being In the stadium. Stan probably wouldn’t listen directly but if you hit him in the pocket with half empty stadiums (again in 12months) then sponsors start asking questions, he loses money, Club loses more value & you might have a chance of him wanting to sell as he is not wanted! Things have to change or we are stuck but this could never happen as we don’t so these sort of things. I saw your man on AFTV saying he would get it going again all the campaigns etc…
Maybe some day our dreams will come true & we get an actual owner who cares for the success of Arsenal & it’s Fans as he doesn’t give a no keys about any if the fans in any of his franchises
Here we go again with some supporters expecting us Season ticket holders to simply boycott the games.I will tell you what I’m prepared to do.You pay to me the remaining games left on my £1500 season ticket and the cost of £26 I pay for every away game (which under the Away scheme I must buy irrespective of whether or not I attend the games) and I will gladly not attend in my seats for the rest of the season.My season ticket costs include for 6 cup ties excluding the Carabao Cup so that works out at £60 per home game meaning I have paid 8 months ago for 9 games that I will not attend.That is £540.Add the 3 Cup ties I am due makes it another £180.Include the 7 remaining Away games and that is £182.Total £902.00pence.
Ask admin for my email and I will send you my bank details for you to pay me for what I have already paid out.
Is that what you are prepared to do?
PS-if you do decide to put your money where your big mouth is (which you won’t) I will simply sit in my wife’s seat for all the games.
Nobody will EVER stop me supporting my team.
Phil, absolutely correct in every detail.
I would love to hear from just one “fan” who actually has a season ticket and can prove he/she has given it up.
So easy to tell others what to do, when the don’t have the means to do it themselves.
Furthermore, if they are on any of the waiting lists for s/t, let’s suggest that they take their names of those!
What is so telling, is your use of the word “supporting”, that’s what these “fans” don’t get.
I have a friend who has loyally waited for ten years on the red list to get a season ticket and she would pay anything to be able to get one, no chance in hell and she knows it!
Firstly Ken I trust you are enjoying your break in Portugal.
And your friend is no different to the other 40,000plus who remain on the waiting list for season tickets.Why would any fan willingly give up these seats with zero hope of ever getting them back?
So the season is pretty much panning out as was expected.We are no doubt a Club and Team in transition.Its frustrating but you and myself together with thousands of others endured tougher and more barren times than this yet still survived and I have no doubt better days are ahead.But we must be patient and understanding of the situation we are in and trust the management team to get the right players in over the next 3-4 transfer windows.
Emery is struggling I believe.The system he wants to play seems to have been lost along the way.I see very little of the high press he demanded and the team at times seem to be disjointed and not on the same wavelength with each other.
To me the single biggest disappointment is the way Mesut Ozil seems to have been blamed for all that is wrong with the team.He remains the single most talented player at the Club and Emery needs him in the team.We are better with Ozil in the side than with him not playing.Surely Emery must realise this.
Carry on enjoying the break Ken
Ken and Phil, another touch of reality.
Peaceful demonstrations outside the ground and signs inside will get the required adverse publicity to impact advertizers, without stopping lifelong supporters from financial disbenefit.
Sorry Ozzie, Kroenke would just continue to ignore them. Nothing short of directly and regularly harming HIS pocket has even a hope in hell of working. I do NOT. though, expect loyal and dedicated fans like Phil to give up his season ticket, even though I chose to do so five full seasons ago but still came, sitting wherever I could get a ticket – until Oct 2016 when I vowed never to give this rapacious and corruptly owned club another penny, until it was cleansed. It still reeks of a nasty pong , so I choose not to come now. But others are free to make their own decisions. It is called democracy and is a precious freedom we let go at our peril. So, consequently, I see virtually no hope in the forseeable future of removing Kroenke.
Your suggestions would do no more than slightly inconvenience Kroeke. Snakes like him without a conscience don’t therefrore get embarrassed. Because, they simply don’t care about people. Only about their money coming to them.
jon, I support your self sacrifice, but from the corporate perspective wouldn’t demonstrations combined with bad press, plus poor on pitch performance (guaranteed in a competitive league withou investment) deter sponsors?
Ok Mr season ticket holder, I hope you’re enjoying what is being served at the Emirates. Nobody is going to give you any refund so enjoy the shit show.
It take courage to actually boycott games.. Not everyone has that courage, not everyone is brave so I understand you Phil.
And doesn’t that comment just about sum you up.So now just because I am a season ticket holder who refuses to give up my seats I am labelled as you have suggested.Pretty pathetic of you but then again as you constantly write such crap it is not unexpected.
Tell me something-what is it you ate so envious of?The fact that I get to see Arsenal EVERY GAME or is it because you have NEVER seen them and are most unlikely to in your entire lifetime?
As I’ve said before NOTHING and NOBODY will ever stop me supporting my Club.Dont forget to change the batteries in your remote control every season (providing you actually do have a TV of your own).
Phil. Totally agree with you, people like this are beyond talking to. Bet he’s not asked his mum to give up the Sky subscription because Arsenal profit from it has he? People like him don’t know what a true supporter is. At best he’s a fair weather fan and at worst, a troll.
GB-I don’t rate myself as a more ardent fan just because I am able to attend most of the games.Zi enjoy what I do and will continue to do so for as long as I am physically able.But I recognise all Supporters as Arsenal fans.Many get to see the team only occasionally while many living abroad will likely only ever watch the team on TV.But just because I am able to attend all these games what right has another fan to insist I give up my seat as a protest?Dome suggest for the odd game or two while others expect me (and 42,000 others) to not renew these tickets next season
And that’s a great point you make-will they stop subscribing to Sky Sports to add to the protest?Of course they will not.Mummy wouldn’t like it
Phil and GB, I refuse to patronize Sky and Foxtel because I despise everything Citizen Murdoch stands for.
How is it different with us fans that support this club away from emirate but infront of our TVs.We are also paying to watch this team Th14 and directly contributing to the part of the money the club mate from tv rights. Let us all international fans switch off our TVs first before we ask the London fans to stop going to games. It is fcuking way of live to those guys and asking to give that up is asking them to commit suicide.
Dear Mobella, Isnt Jon Fox still breathing today? Was it not a way of life to Jon Fox? I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. You’re scared of tweaking your way of life for the greater good of the club ??♂️ Well, TRUE love is selfless, it is prepared to sacrifice.
Th 14, I would be grateful if you do not try to speak about me and my life of which you know nothing save that i support Arsenal. I realise you meant this odd comment as a sort of compliment to me but I reject it because it includes me as someone who believes season ticket holders SHOULD STAY AWAY. I DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK FOR OTHERS AND THEIR PERSONAL DECISIONS ARE, RIGHTLY, FOR THEM ALONE.
I have said that, IMO, the only way to force out Kroenke is by a virtual total boycott. BUT I have not , nor do I wish to have, the right to speak for what others “should” do. That would make make a dictator and I HAVE FOUGHT ALL MY ADULT LIFE AGAINST TYRANNY AND REPRESSION. So thanks, BUT no thanks!!!
THE PRINCIPLE OF FREEDOM IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN ARSENAL.
Fans like you are the reason Arsenal is gonna have a dark future , much darker than it’s current situation.
If you have any sense you will understand what Phil is saying but you didn’t because you lack sense. You are asking him and others to give up their way of life. Supporting arsenal and going to game is way of life to these guys. You can as well put bullet to their head instead of asking tnem to do this. Beside how does that help when there are 40,000 people waiting to pick up their ticket and occupy their seat. It is easier to ask others to give up what they have when we can’t. Asking people like Phil, Ken etc to stop going to games when they have paid for it when aimchair fans like you and I can put off our TVs is hypocrisy.
Thank you Guy’s those comments are welcome.
Ken 1945 travels to every game at the Emirates from his home in SCOTLAND.This man is a true supporter (along with his family who travel down with him).
Jon Fox gave up his season ticket years ago in protest against Arsene Wenger.That is the ultimate sacrifice of a true supporter who refused to put up with the mediocrity any longer.
Many others have reasons why they do,don’t,cant it won’t travel to watch the games but surely we are all supporters in the end.
The fact we have different views on things doesn’t make us not to be Arsenal fans does it?But while I am happy to debate or argue my thoughts in a hopefully reasonable and respectfull manner (not all the time I do accept) I refuse not to be angered by fans who suggest I should refuse to attend matches and/or give up my home and away season tickets in protest of Kronke (and last season it was Wenger).
As I repeatedly say 60,000 fans can make their feelings against Kronke known far more effectively than 40,000 with the ground only two thirds full.We are a BIG CLUB.We are above that.Wenger was revered my many fans inside the Emirates (not myself I simply must add) and he was at times visibly affected by the protests against him.We don’t need Kronke in the Stadium to make our feelings known against him should we need to make our protest. But just a word of caution.Whi knows exactly what players we are intending to buy?How much is the transfer budget?
I believe we owe the owner both this window and in the summer to allow him to demonstrate his intentions.You never know we all just might be surprised
??
What if you don’t give up your season ticket and still boycott games? Doesn’t an empty stadium send a stronger message to the board?
Look at Blackpool and what they are doing, I believe they also have season ticket holders right?
Just wish we had 40,000 fans like Jon then we really stand a chance of saving this club from the clutches of Stan.
And where exactly are Blackpool at the moment?And where exactly are they heading?And what exactly have those fans achieved by staying away from watching their team?
You are in an argument you will never ever win.So you now expect fans to do what Lord Jon Fox did And stay away for the greater good?I hold my hands up for what Jon did.As I stated it was the ultimate sacrifice he took.But although many thousands shared his views why did we not follow his lead and boycott the games with him?Jon made his own decision and he felt it was right for him to do this.I would never take that route to voice my displeasure at the Club but I admire Jon no less for his convictions.
As I said,why don’t you save up your pocket money each week and send it to me when you have enough.£60 for a home game.£26 for each Away League game.Put YOUR OWN MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS.
Phil, I have utterly rejected being “INCLUDED” and wrongly too, in those who feel they have the right to tell others what to do. If you scroll up this thread , you will see that I told the silly TH14 who was bizarrely trying to compliment me, that he had no right to do so and EQUALLY, I had no right, nor wished to have the right, to tell others what to do. He is just not bright enough to think more deeply than he does. I only answered him because he was insultingly trying to use me as “on his side”. I most definitely am not ,EVEN THOUGH I do think that a virtual total boycott is the only way to force his sale. But that is an entirely separate question, though Th14 will not be able to understand this. I have fought, sometimes literally when younger, all my adult life against tyranny and repression and do NOT intend to start practising it NOW.
JF-I have noted on here many times that what you did in refusing to renew your season ticket was your own choice and one that must have taken a gut renching decision on your part.I have described it as the ultimate sacrifice as that is how I feel.To suddenly have no Club there for you each week after decades of support must have been a monumental decision.As always JF my total respect for believing in your convictions
Jon fox my guy ??
Can you plz stop all dz about calling our players bang average. So you really believe we don’t have good enough players to beat West Ham, you think it’s alright to lose to a Southampton team that hadn’t won in over 10 games cos our players are bang average?
All the teams that got points against them, you really believe they have a better squad than ours?
The best players on the pitch Saturday were
Nasri, Felipe Anderson, Diop and Rice. Any of
these four players would walk into the current
Arsenal first 11. Other than Laca, Auba(when
hes in the mood and Torreria, there isnt a big
difference in the collective talent between the
2 clubs in my humble opinion.
Watching Manure and Spuds today was a sobering
reminder of how far behind behind both teams
Arsenal is in the talent department.
Nasri !!!!!! HAHAHAHA you are deluded.
Your humble opinion is wrong and clearly you don’t know how to analyse a player’s ability , our squad is much better than West Ham’s and Emery doesn’t have the ability to get the best out of them , we should get rid of him now and hire Jardim.
JustMe, any team in the EPL is capable of an upset on any given day, if the opposition doesn’t turn up with its A game.
By the way, please remind me, how many away games did Arsenal win last season prior to Unai Emery becoming coach?
I totally agree with maj, ue needs more time, also osi’l will never leave who else will pay him £350 thousand a week for no commitment what does he care he still gets paid.Its the same with kronke he also still gets his wack .come on stan just for once put the club first.
I think poor decisions by players and manager helped. Southampton scored on 3 headers, one where Kos watched the player run past him.
6 months and defense is still pathetic, Emery hasn’t changed that one bit. Where is the defensive coaching? Midfielders and CB’s repeating mistakes 6 months later. Both manager and players well deserving of criticism.
The up tempo game is gone, pressing gone, but the sideways and back passing have returned.
I never expected miracles from Emery, merely expected improvement.
what is not in doubt is that we have a squad of players largely inherited from the last 8 years that cant compete for top honours; what is still in doubt is whether emery can get more out of that squad than wenger … based on his first 6 months i doubt that … now he can say i need to bring in my kind of players to succeed which is fair enough but it seems unlikely that will happen with the yank in charge of the purse strings … so unless either or both of them departs the emirates then we are pretty much in limbo for the foreseeable future … a bit better at moment than the chasing pack of wannabee europeans but a long way behind the top 3 teams and hoping that both chelsea and man utd slip up — which seems unlikely — giving us a shot at 4th … compare this situation with the bs talk that surrounded the building of a new stadium, wonder at the duplicity of the corporate world and weep ..
Guendouzi , Torreira , sokratis and Leno are all new players , we have a better squad than last year and statistically Emery has done an awful job with it , the board should get rid of him before it’s too late.
And who in there right mind would take the
job considering the Status Quo at Arsenal isnt
going to change while Kroenke is still the
owner? The majority of top tier managers
would see right through the transparent lies
of the Arsenal brass and laugh at the clubs
BS bill of goods that they attempt to sell.
Heck even Arteta told Arsenal to Sod off when
they attempted to deceive him on the clubs
true ambitions.
Emery hasnt necessarily set the EPL on fire in
his brief tenure but unfortunately the Spaniard
is the best we could hope for at the club atm.
Nothing will change unless Kroenke starts to
feel it his pocketbook.
Ace, what your saying is very probable regarding the manager situation and that’s also the case with rkw’s observations about the last eight years.
What I am starting to question is can UE actually do any better with exactly the same scenario regarding kronkie?
Nothing has changed as far as the owner is concerned, its the self sustaining model and nothing else.
Maybe it’s just starting to dawn on people exactly how difficult a proposition managing a club of our size with a budget like we have actually is?
Then, finally, the previous so called ten barren years won’t seem quite as bad as some believe they were!
UE is just starting to find out, I hope he’s got what it takes.
“Many didn’t afford Arsene Wenger the same luxury, when the likes of myself pointed to who he worked for, we were accused of being naive. So, the latest divide at the Emirates is unique. Those who pushed the greatest manager out of the club showed so much disrespect, they now can’t admit the Frenchmen was never the problem.”
Wenger a manager, Emery a coach. Wenger saw the importance of superstars, Emery thinks superstars are not really needed and only running, running…. matters. I have said this before, Emery could not do much more than he did with superstars, so they kicked out. Then, Emery has been found out in the tough EPL. Other teams can out Emery Emery.
What Emery needs to learn is to appreciate players able to ‘see’ the game better than him. No matter how hard you run, if you do not run to the right place, or pass to the right place, you are done for Emery style. Emery does not have the talent of Ozil to see the game.
Emery needs to use Ozil as Ozil: free to do as the German chooses. Build the team around Ozil. Leave Ozil and forwards to score. If Emery could deliver a proper defense that is stingy I would have some respect, but he could not finish the job Wenger started when the Prof added Ozil, Laca and Auba, even while letting Sanchez go on a free.
Emery does play too much possession with defense, and that is not good unless the players are world class, which they are not. He should bring back Czech, and play proper defense and a more direct route to the front three of Laca, Auba and Ozil.
Sane words JJPawn, sane words indeed.
JJPawn and Ken, the one thing I would ask you to do, is to compare the Arsenal squad now mainly inherited by Unai Emery and that inherited by Arsene Wenger; in my view the present squad is greatly inferior.
How many players could be sold for more than they cost; maybe Lacazette, Aubameyang, Torreira, Guendouzi and Iwobi and other academy players like Nelson.
I’m still annoyed Arsenal didn’t tie down Gnabrey.
Ozil at 30, and you’re still talking of building a team around him ? Man you’re still a long way from realising what’s happening. Continue!!
C’mon lad, off to school now. Go away and let the grown ups get on with some meaningful discussion.
??????
What an optimistic bunch you guys are?..,,, some people just can’t accept a loss……..West Ham defence has not aloud goals in lately……and I saw two coaches dwelling with their substitutions……without that fluke goal…,, it was destined to be a hard fought draw for both sides ……..Wenger left an average team at best…..Emery needs time to build his team….I like the fact that he is focused on promoting the outstanding youngsters
Make arsenal great again ??
in as much as we ought to have at least come out with a draw with WH, u can not fully discredit emery until he is given a full season.
all managers must be given time to implement what they want. rome not built in a day.
the loss to WH pained me but i cannot be emotional about it and loose my sense of rational thinking.
if after 2 seasons he comes up short, then UE should go.
until then give him the time and benefit of doubt.
?lekan gunner, a lot of people don’t have much idea of a fair go. They would have sacked Sir Alex Ferguson after 2 seasons at Manchester United.
Emery will play ozil against Chelsea and say I told u he is not good enough instead of playing him against lesser teams and giving him confidence to play himself in .arsenal lacks creativity
i fear that senility is beginning to creep into some of the readers here. some people can not get over the fact that our former manager was actually kicked out of the emirates. get over it gus, he has gone, let the new manager do his thing now . give him two seasons , if he fails then give him the boot also. there should be no sentimentality in football. surely we have all learned that from the disgraced former manager.i often wonder on here that some fans of the former manager on here are actually living in the real world. i bet , even one or two of them, are holding out for him to return someday`,, lol.give it up folks, your guru is gone to pastures new, sure he has hundreds of top football clubs wanting his signature you do know.
And what precisely has that got to do with UE picking a team that lost to WHU?
Unless, of course, it’s you in that other universe where AW rules the world and tells UE to make our defence even worse than the crap one we had last season.
It seems like the only ones not over it are those who wanted him gone, but now can’t find anyone else to criticize.
Get over it and move on under UE.
hahahahaahhaa, you old fart.
A.N.OTHER KEN. You should learn a bit of respect mate. I wanted Wenger out since 2008 but you talk about him as if he had twenty two years and won nothing. Maybe you’ve only been following Arsenal for a few years and didn’t see Wenger’s first ten years where we played the finest football our club has ever seen. 3 Premier Leagues, 2 Doubles, 7 FA Cups, 7 Community Shields, 20 years consecutively Champions League is not to be sneered at, especially if what I suspect you are, a newcomer to the game, learn a bit of respect, the man you’re calling an old fart happens to be the longest serving Arsenal supporter on this site.
Totally agree Kenny about Ken – and what a gent he is too!
As I thought, the intelligence of a dodo and the manners of a pig.
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