Former Arsenal legend Ian Wright questions Unai Emery’s decision not to start game changer
Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United on Monday and have made the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Arsenal was looking to continue a run of eight games without a defeat. However, Bramall Lane proved to be an unhappy hunting ground and brought about the end of that run.
Skysports pundit, Ian Wright, believes Emery got his selections wrong and that contributed to why they lost the game.
Wright was particularly unimpressed by Emery’s decision not to start Dani Ceballos considering how creative the Real Madrid loanee is.
Ceballos was brought into the game in the second half as the visitors looked to chase the game and Wright seems to believe the Spaniard could have won them the game had he started.
Wright is also of the opinion that club highest earner, Mesut Ozil, should be allowed to shoulder some responsibilities instead of teenager Bukayo Saka being put under so much pressure to create the goals the team needs right now.
Emery has questions to answer.
According to Wright: “I think he’s [Emery] got to come here and Ceballos has to play. He’s played the youngsters and I’m pleased to see them in there, with Saka.
“But Saka, for an 18-year-old, if you’re leaving Ozil totally out of the squad, then we have to see more from him. We have to see more from Joe [Willock].
“Unfortunately, it was a game where it passed them both by and then it comes down to the manager and his choices.
“He’s made the change at half-time, so you’re thinking to yourself: ‘Why didn’t you start him in the first place?’
“Start him. He’s someone that gets on the ball when they want to try and play out, [Matteo] Guendouzi’s got a lot of energy and get the boys playing.
“[Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang didn’t have anything to play off because there wasn’t any creativity.”
The introduction of Ceballos did add some creativity to the side but even he was subdued.
Arsenal next face Vitoria SC in the Europa League on Thursday hoping to get back to winning ways.
I would love Emery to answer some questions!
Last night was an embarrassment for Arsenal football club. I feel we are some underwhelming in midfield that any premier league club has the capicty to suppress us in the middle and grind out win or draw. I would be looking to offload everyone apart from Willock and Guendouzi. I don’t get the love for Torriera he’s good in the Europa league but just lacks the physicality to be a dcm and the lacks the creativity to play further forward. Guendouzi Chambers Willock and Ceballos rotate now till then and maybe buy Ceballos if he shows further adaptation to the league. I want Emery out as his philosies are non existent and he’s far to negative however ANY manager would struggle due to the midfield.
😂 😂 😂 😂 let me see how we make top 4 with Socratic, Kolasinac, xhaka and Gendhouzi in midfield. And i hope he has likeness for lacazet. ozil and torriera I know he doesn’t like them at all.
Liam, like you I have concerns with Torreira. After a promising start his form and appearances have dropped. My concern is that he and his family have not settled into living in London, he regrets leaving the warmth and lifestyle he had in Italy and this is affecting his training and application. I personally would still select him over Xhaka. Also one of Ceballos or Ozil must start, because of the lack of creativity in midfield.
I also believe Arsenal’s back four should be Chambers/Bellerin, Holding, Luiz and Tierney. There is no doubt that Mustafi is a better option with Holding ifuiz doesn’t settle, as they had a good partnership prior to Holding’s injury. Socrates has lost his pace and should be sold.
Also it is about time Martinez is given a run in the EPL, as his judgement in whether to play short or long is better than Leno.
I said this against United and Last night. I’d we had started Ceballos over Xhaka We could have beaten United.
Emery loves Xhaka like Wenger did. It’s very frustrating
Ceballos should have started both matches. He is better than Ozil, Wilock, Xhaka
He should start against Crystal Palace
I guess you’ll keep talking about Wenger all your life, to kinda justify Emery nonsense. Xhaka under Wenger wasn’t 10% this bad.
Ceballos had the whole of the second half to make a difference and he didn’t. I can’t remember a single quality through pass, always sideways or to the wings which was a waste of time because we did not have anyone who can cross a ball. The only player who can was on the bench i.e. Tierney yet as poor as Kolasinac is, he always gets to play as does Xhaka. With regard to Ceballos, if he was a top player, he would still be at Real and imo we should think hard before buying him. He’s no Dybala!!
I agree with Wrighty about UE’s tactics or lack of but we got what we deserved and embarrassingly outplayed by a team whose back 5 cost a total of £5m.
And someone above said he is better than Ozil how freaking delusional is that. I thought I am the only one who noticed he did nothing last night. Every Saka played better than him in the middle. The length some fans will go to deflect the blame from Emery. Concentrate on why we play so poorly and not on the player who didn’t make the trip
i agree that UE should have done something different but to pretend that Ozil would have turned the game on its head had he played is stretching it a bit..
I read Xhaka’s response to Evra claiming what Evra said is búllshît.
Sorry Mr Xhaka, The truth hurts us Arsenal fans, but still some of us will never hide the truth, everything Evra said is the pure truth.
I don’t know when last Arsenal bullied any team. Rather we’re always getting bullied each year, even by lower teams.
You’re the captain so you’re allowed to defe d your poor performance and say your own búllshít, but Evra is a legend in the game. Evra is a legend in EPL’s history.
I’ve watched games where Evra and his teammates fought as if their existence depended on it. You know what? He has a huge trophy cabinet to show for it, Evra is a serial winner when it comes to football, he played against Arsenal so many times, so believe me even though it hurts to hear him say such stuffs about us. It’s the ugly truth.
And you can never lace Evra’s booth or boast half of what he has achieved.
So you and your weak average slow motion playing äss should STFU and stop the excuses.
👍👍 Absolutly right, even if it hurts.
Wow, Eddie you have just said exactly what I have just posted from Dan!
It will be up later…
Great minds 😉
I never heard Evra say he was “scared” .
like Xhaka supposedly said, just to clarify for Eddie.
Really?
I’m eagerly waiting to read it then
I thought someone said we don’t get push around anymore. I still don’t see the effect of the hard work on our performance, results, and defense as alli saw last night once again one Sheffield player taken out 3 of ours as they are kids and going through our defense with so ease. Could it has been because we were tired with all the hard work we did in training 😀😀😀😀
Eddie.. I just wanted to say thank you for your comment last night – about cutting off my emotions – I will take that on board 😊👍
Awwww Sue, you welcome😆
Sue, Eddie, if Ozil was looking to make babies I think yesterday was the day he would have potted the Jackpot. 😂😂😂😂😂 his organism from the shame and disgust in Emerys face would have delighted him so much!!!!!?
🤣🤣🤣🎯 we’ll wait for the announcement, Pat 😆
come again pat ?.
I don’t think we should pay attention to someone who is afraid of the mighty Watford. Whatever Xhaka said is irrelevant. His words are irrelevant as his football abiltiy.
I believe we are all in agreement that Emery is getting his team selections wrong. Moreover, there is no visible strategy at all. Nobody is creating space, and when someone does run into a gap, the preferred pass is back to the defence. On top of that, our tactics for scoring seem to be limited to relying on crosses and tapping in. There were quite a few times last night when Pepe, Auba, Saka, Xhaka etc had the ball on the circle and could have had a go, but the sideways or back pass was preferred. HAVE A GO, FFS.
And Pepe can’t even do that from 6m!
Seriously I need more comments.
I ain’t still satisfied with the ones have read so far since yesterday.
Feed me more comments.
We lack confidence in our games, especially away games. I often say here that the easiest way to beat arsenal is to run riot agaainst them.
Once any opponent can mount serious pressure against us, our confidence will go down and we begin to play safe.
This is not the first time we are seeing this.
Emery will never change, he is average at best. He can not get good result with his negative tactics no matter the quality of players at his disposal.
I wonder who recommended Emery for arsenal fc in the first place.
We have seen abysmal away form from Arsenal for at least the last four seasons and Emery has failed to correct this. The players are too comfortable and need to toughen up.
It must be said, so that all those Wenger sympathizers who invariably poke their heads out of their dusty holes whenever Emery trips over his dick, our club is in considerably better shape now than in the last several years of our former manager’s reign. That said, if we allow Emery to continue on this current course, which can be largely defined by his tactical ineptitude and deplorable team selections, a similar type horror show could be on the horizon. Let’s deal with simple facts, we all know of our defensive deficiencies, so a smart manager, like Klopp and Pep, who both faced similar issues at their current clubs, leaned on the old adage that your best defence is a good offence. Yet we continue to start defenders who aren’t mobile enough and who lack the ability to pass vertically, then to make matters worse we position Xhaka as the deepest lying midfielder, who is himself painfully slow and inept defensively, in the hopes that he can provide the magical link between the back and front thirds of the pitch. I get it, he has an above average left foot, but his knack for picking up yellows and giving up set pieces in dangerous positions, his inability to help the back four from a defensive capacity and his generally deliberate and increasingly slow long passes, makes him a liability on the pitch yet he continues to make our starting 11, with a ridiculous captain’s armband to boot. Not to mention he has provided precious little from a set piece capacity considering what most of us expected upon his arrival. So do us all a favour Unai and take this slow-moving shit show elsewhere and if you love the sloth-like football stylings of Xhaka so much take him with you to another League where opposing teams don’t press high and where they allow players ample time on the ball in their own end. His inclusion makes such little sense, from a tactical perspective, that I’m starting to miss the Diaby years. No more excuses, start your best 11 now!!!
List of clear out in October:
Unai Emery- reason: totally useless, embarrassing, disgraceful, good ebening😂
List of clear out in January 2020:
Xhaka- reason: useless
Sokratis- reason: reckless
Kolasinac- reason: useless
AMN- reason: not even a footballer
I believe the second half was perfect for Ozil’s vision , we had more possession and just needed someone with the vision to pick a pass