Arsenal fans seem to be split into two distinct groups right now. On the one side they are demanding that Emery gets his team instantly playing brilliant football winning every game by a landslide, and then the other side (let’s call them ‘realists’) that know it is impossible to change a whole team’s philosophy and tactics in one fell swoop, and know that it will take time for Emery to get his Emeryball ideas instilled in the players.
The Gunners old Mr Arsenal, Tony Adams, seems to be stuck in the first camp, and can’t find anything positive to say about Emery’s first two game. ‘After Arsene, I was so excited with the prospect of a real change,’ he said.
‘It was a great chance to do things differently but against City it was an Arsene Wenger performance — only more so.
‘I felt so sad about that. Everyone knows what Arsenal have been missing — it’s that steel, that resilience.
‘Whether Emery can coach it or not I don’t know yet, it is early days.
‘But then away to Chelsea they were all over the place again — you’re not watching them thinking ‘there’s a change here’.
‘It’s the same goalkeeper, the same style of play — it just feels the same, there’s no one rocking the boat.
‘Chief executive Ivan Gazidis has gone for a ‘head coach’ because they don’t want someone with the power Arsene had.
‘But they still want to appease the fans with a style of play like Arsene had.
‘They don’t want to lose the ideology of the ‘beautiful game’ . . . whatever that is.
‘I don’t think you are going to have success that way because there are clubs doing it far better, with better players and more money than us.’
So I’m not sure what Adam’s is advocating here. Is there something wrong with trying to play ‘beautiful football’? Would he prefer us to go back to kick and run tactics and just hoof it down the field when we get the ball? We are hardly going to win anything playing like that. So someone should just give Tony a chill pill and give Emery a little more time than just two weeks against brilliant opposition.
Or is he right?
Sam P