We all know now that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had to have an operation on his sinuses which is why he missed the Arsenal’s defeat against Wolves. But Unai Emery has revealed that he actually chose which game Aubz would miss.
“We were waiting but then the doctor told us we needed to be as quick as possible for him,” explained Emery. “We decided two weeks ago to do it for Wednesday. Otherwise it would have had to be for this game on Sunday. It was not possible for him to miss the match against Valencia, or Brighton – it was not possible.
“We also decided not to do it against Crystal Palace or Napoli. But the doctor said to do it as quickly as possible because he needed it done. We decided this match was the best in those weeks.”
Was that the right decision? Personally I would have thought that the home game against Brighton would have been the obvious choice. Or if you look at it another way, if it was urgent two weeks ago why wasn’t it done immediately?
To be honest I don’t think it was so urgent, considering that he was not left on the bench during that time, and he also scored goals against Watford and Crystal Palace. So I wonder why Emery chose the Wolves game over Brighton. Could it because he thought that was the game we were most likely to lose anyway?
Maybe because of his premonition or perhaps because he saw Aubameyang was not fit physically/ mentally
Had Aubameyang played against Wolves, I don’t think he could do much either, since Lacazette and him were practically useless when playing against Palace. Both strikers’ movements were very predictable despite each playing only on one side
Slightly OT: Klopp is chasing another inverted winger again, Nicolas Pepe. Arsenal should have been collecting inverted wingers or wide forwards as well, to change the attacking method if the traditional strikers are profligate
Klopp can sod off – they have more than enough!
Wouldn’t mind if it means he gives us one of their cast-offs 😉
???
As long as it is not Shaqiri, Origi, Milner, Ings or Lallana
Didn’t Ings already transfer to Southampton or is it just a loan?
He has two main inverted wingers (Salah/ Mane) and a backup (Shaqiri). Maybe he is after another one because some rich clubs are trying to get Salah or Mane
We can’t let them get all excellent inverted wingers in the market. I hope Arsenal are serious in getting one of them in the summer
If only we could sell a player for about 4 times the amount we paid for him, hey?! This will just keep happening for Liverpool, the price for Suarez, Coutinho.. imagine what they’d get for Salah, Mane, VVD.. actually the whole team!! They’re sorted and the owners won’t need to spend much as the player’s sales will cover nearly everything! They’ll attract the best players… if only we were in this position… but hey we can’t even win away from home!!
Meanwhile our players are walking for free and signing contracts with other clubs even before they have actually left…???
Sanchez, Wilshere, Ramsey, Welbeck all left or will leave without us getting any funds back for reinvestment. Very bad management.
It is QD, just awful. No wonder we’re in sh*t street
Ashley Cole jinxed us the little bollox.
Maybe he thought it’s about time for another mask!
Just watched the video of the U23’s 3-0 win against Leicester.
We should use that team, if not all of them at least Saka, he was awesome again.
He was awesome, Declan. Can’t wait to see him in the first team – little gem!
Totally agree?
Arsenal still have a longway to go our team is not a team of champions.we dont have the steel an no fighting spirit.
No one:
Absolutely no one:
Arsenal fans: “We have the easiest run-in in the top 6” ? *Stolen from Twitter*
But it was tye easiest run in out of the Top 6.
Just because we have a weak squad that is making these games more difficult than they should be does not mean these games are harder than say playing against “City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spuds, United etc..
This just shows how terrible our squad is. Making games that we should be favourite seem like impossible challenges.
But my fellow gooners were getting too ahead of themselves with this current squad of Koala Bears (Arsenal players).
Lol
It has to be a mentality problem, or fitness issues, because we’ve been excellent at home yet we allowed Palace to take them points with ease. I’m not sure how many of our current first team players went to Dubai, but I think that kinda backfired.
Maybe the Arsenal players are doping up on eucalyptus leaves and want to sleep all day instead of playing football?
??
And it was. We are just blowing it.
I don’t hear Chelsea fans taking about giving Sarri a free season simply because they are in to win. But I find a lot of arsenal fans giving Unai Emer free season so why complain then about players.
Don’t players deserve a free season under a new manager too????
Yes but I’m not that keen on the idea of having a revolving door (like Chelsea) where managers are concerned!!
Sue, unfortunately jah son has an anti Emery agenda; he doesn’t believe being at least in touch with the Champions League places is an improvement on last season. He has never named who he considered should have got the job at the beginning of the season instead of Emery.
On his assessment Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp would have been sacked after one season.
While I agree Jah Son is usually overly and unnecessarily critical of Emery, doesn’t he have a point? If we give Emery a free pass season to adjust to a new season, isnt it only fair to do the same to players adjusting to a new regime and style of play? It makes sense.
Sue, IMO, it is best to ignore jah son, who claims to be a GOONER, but never writes anything remotely good about our manager. I have strong doubts that he is a Gooner at all, despite what he claims, as I look at his constant anti Arsenal comments more than his protestations of being a Gooner and I now ignore him. Either way, he is hardly the brightest brain in the box, is he?
Sue, Further to my comment above, do you notice, as I do, the way he uses language to describe Gooners as “Arsenal fans”, NOT as us, as a real fan would usually do? I have noticed this in many of his posts and how people use language is very revealing, far more than many realise, if you know what to look out for. As a theatre person I need to sum people up very accurately and am usually right in this. At very best he is a luke warm Gooner and definitely not a proper fan at all.
So Manchester United fired their manager and are looking to fire another one in this very season yet the great Emery only manages to lead them by 2 points is this a joke or what.
No Ambition
That’s because Chelsea have a practically unlimited transfer budget. If we had the much money available I too would be complaining about how poor we have been and our league positions.
The difference is that Chelsea players have shown in the last 6 seasons that they have the guts to win the title multiple times. So any manager that comes in has that pressure to also win the title.
On the other hand we have Arsenal and our Koala Bear cute players that have nothing serious to show.
Talking about giving them a free pass. Didn’t Wenger do that for the for the last 5 or so seasons. Underperforming, inconsistent, Embarrassing scores season in season out but their contracts kept being renewed and for some their contracts were increased so dramatically that it seems to have unnerved the whole club today.
Won’t name any individual players but how many free passes should these players keep being afforded when they keep showing no improvement whatsoever? We should just keep giving them a free pass until they hit the 30yrs of age and retire.
Uhh, those Chelsea players have won the league tho, and are known to be capable of doing so
COYI
Not everyone is going to like a revolving idea. But sure everyone wants a winning one. This is the second big club in Emery’s career and he failed miserably at the first and his record here so far doesn’t seem to suggest otherwise.
So why must he be given another year.
What has he done make believe.
Was it Emery when joining arsenal who he preferred a 4-3 scoreline to that of 1-0
Sue the longest liver see the most Emery is already exposed he is a fraud.
Yes I must admit, I wasn’t that keen when he said 4-3 over 1-0 (my poor heart & blood pressure ?)
But then how long do you give him?? It’s not like he’s lost EVERY game is it? If he had, then I’d completely understand getting shot of him! But then who would take over? Would they do a better job with the players we have?
No matter what happens, not everyone will be satisfied…
Think we must stop making excuses, Auba is not issue but partly on how team is picked but mainly poor performances in games we should win. Happened few times this Season and were still fine only because other teams competing 2 spots were losing.
Reality; we could, should be 4 points on top of Spurs combining wins to their lost past 3 to 5 games but we are now behind Chelsea at 5th spot we were ahead with one game in hand two games ago. These are facts, tuff reality certainly,
I read optimistic writers posts saying we still have more chances and easiest games to finish 4th and win Europa League.
Not at all, 3 games, wolves couldnt bien Brighton home where Burnley and first Leicester wont be easy trips at all.
Champions League football should be earned from PL top 4 target; we managed to miss it from our past few games.
Today we are out and may finish 6th upon our performance, we depend on others; MU & Chelsea’s results. Must first win at Leicester, then all of it, to hope to finish 4th. Note sure that’s enough if Chelsea wins Europa. Does 4th place still still qualifies? If Valence wins EL and an English team wins CL, doesn’t 5th place qualifies?
Have a good weekend guys.
I do not believe in people who talk about building a team for the next three years. The least expectations of this manager should be a top four finish he signed five players to a team that finished 6. Next year he should be looking to make a serious challenge. Europa league and six place is what we are becoming under Emery.
I’m just glad we have two of the BEST strikers in the Premier league
Love Aubameyang and Lacazette
Think we must stop making excuses, Auba is not issue but partly on how team is picked but mainly poor performances in games we should win. Happened few times this Season and were still fine only because other teams competing 2 spots were losing.
Reality; we could, should be 4 points on top of Spurs combining wins to their lost past 3 to 5 games, they even Lost today but we are now behind Chelsea at 5th spot we were ahead with one game in hand two games ago. These are facts, tuff reality certainly,
I read optimistic writers posts saying we still have more chances and easiest games to finish 4th and win Europa League.
Not at all, 3 games, wolves couldnt bien Brighton home where Burnley and first Leicester wont be easy trips at all.
Champions League football should be earned from PL top 4 target; we managed to miss it from our past few games.
Today we are out and may finish 6th upon our performance, we depend on others; MU & Chelsea’s results. Must first win at Leicester, then all of it, to hope to finish 4th. Note sure that’s enough if Chelsea wins Europa. Does 4th place still still qualifies? If Valence wins EL and an English team wins CL, doesn’t 5th place qualifies?
Have a good weekend guys.
Is it me or has our midfield missed rain Ramsey. I avnt seen anything from midfield since he got injured.
Sorry aron
Jah Son, expectation has warped peoples perceptions. The expectation at the start of the season was top 6 at best and challenge in Europe. Yes Emery has a lot to improve on, away form mainly and a squad that can last a whole season. If he hasn’t learned from this season and doesn’t produce next season then I would seriously say let’s re-evaluate. If Emery wins Europa and gets top 4 (and Tot do not win champions league) he has actually outperformed Pochettino who everyone is praising.
The Sarri argument is slightly nul and void as some have mentioned they have a squad that has won the league recently so Sarri has underperformed due to expectations.
I do understand your frustrations and point of view though.