Will top-four finish be enough for Arsenal fans to believe in Emery?

Top-four finish may not be enough for Arsenal fans

If you look at the situation in black and white Unai Emery is doing a good job. So why are some calling for him to be fired?

Arsenal currently sits third just one point behind Man City. They have achieved this with significant injuries and big names missing. It should also be noted that Emery has dragged the team into third having played three top-six teams already.

Another factor to take into consideration is that the new signings have yet to make an impact on Premier League games.

So, injuries, new players being integrating, difficult games and even player disputes, as an example, Mesut Ozil. And yet, despite all this, Arsenal have lost just once in the league all season, away to the best team.

Now, we know the performances in some of the games have been a letdown but this is a results-driven business. Arsenal fans would have snapped your hands off if you would have offered third after eight games.

Emery gets criticised relentlessly for his team selections and tactics, and that is when he is managing a team that has lost just once and sits third. Imagine what the criticism would be like if that was not the case. It leads me to believe that finishing top-four will not be enough in some fans eyes.

If you can go after a manager that has achieved what Emery has done so far this season then were does it stop?

Most fans will be happy with a top-four finish I am sure, but I am also sure it will be shortlived. Silverware AND top-four is what the fans really want and will soon demand. As Arsene Wenger found out, finishing top-four is not enough.

What does Emery have to do before fans believe in him?

19 Comments

  1. It doesn’t have to be top four. A CL ticket through Europa League would be enough for me

    However, I think a CL ticket would not be enough for some fans, because of how Emery is treating Ozil and the way the team is playing. They must know that Emery has surely gotten a full backing from the club, otherwise he would not alienate a 350,000 per-week salary man like that

    The other fans have also forgotten how boring Wenger’s possession-based football was and how ineffective it was in 2016 – 2018. Another set of fans are also delusional about Ozil’s effectiveness in the last four seasons and keep pushing for the inclusion of this old passenger

    1. You are right.
      Any proper management would on the Özil management take the following actions:
      1) Call Emery into the office and asking him, what is going on, and why Özil isn’t included in the team
      2) Have a confidential chat with Özil to get his input
      3) Talk informally to other players and coaches around the team
      4) last but not least make their own observations

      Is there any reason to believe, we don’t have a management, that would do this??

      I can only assume this has been done, and that the manegement and Emery are on the same page here. There is nothing to suggest otherwise.

  2. Improvement is what we need; nay, what every fan wants, which is why Barca and Madrid fans are so awful.

    4th + a decent Europa cup run is the minimum. Style of football, youth involvement, player performance + selection, tactics are all just talking points.

  3. TF you talking about?
    Were you guys satisfied with Wenger when he was delivering top four steadily?
    Suddenly we should be satisfied with Top four alone ??

    1. So we shouldn’t be happy with top 4 right now then Eddie? 🤔

      Personally my expectations are for us to get top 4 this year (we should be aiming for 3rd), then next season start putting some pressure on Lpool and City for the title race. If Emery manages that then I’m happy, if he falls short along the way then I trust the board to make the right decision.

    2. That’s NOT the point
      It’s not about being satisfied with 4th place
      It’s also a really silly and childish argument

      Wenger brought us down to 6th and we are working our way up.step by step. Next step is getting into CL

      We are not looking for staying simply in the Top 4 for over 10 years which was the case with Wenger. Wenger brought us down to 6th place

      You can’t win the PL overnight
      It will take a few years to get in the position

      4th place or wining Europa league will put us in Champions League and help us get better players and more money

  4. If Emery gets us back in the top 4, he should be given a chance to prove he can challenge for the title. If he does not put up a respectable fight for the league trophy but still gets top 4, he should be on his way. Whatever the management decision is though, I will support it. The new hierarchy seem to be very committed and Josh Kroenke in particular has been saying everything a fan would like to hear.

  5. 1. If top 4 is mostly due to temporary bad form of our rivals as our current 3rd spot is, then NO. We cannot hope it will be the same next year.

    2. But if from last year’s 70 points we can improve to 75 plus get top 4, I hate to say it, but that would be a good job regardless of style of play. (I know we got 75 and still ended up 5th in Wenger’s penultimate season, but that only happened once in EPL history I believe.)

    3. Since #2 is unlikely, at least let’s play in a way that it will again be fun to watch. If that happens plus top 4 – again I’d be satisfied.

    4. If we play exciting football AND promote our youngsters over has-beens like Xhaka, I’d even be happy without top 4 if we were close and it looked that we were improving (we look like stagnation right now).

  6. I’ll believe Emery when he leaves Arsenal at the earliest. He’s bad for business of the Arsenal brand.

  7. Top 4 finish or he’s gone. 12 new players, over £200 million spent backing Emery, and he had 2 yearz like Wenger at the end.

    There are managers out there who could for that level of investment, no need to waste a 3rd year on Emery if he fails.

    I’m not anti Emery, I’m just not for wasting years hoping he can. Been there and done that. Conte won league with less time and money, Sari got 3rd with less time and money.

  8. For some fans no, it will not be enough. Fans who’ve already called for his head ..it will not be enough, top four and European trophy this season might not be enough for some of them. Winning title will not keep them off his back either, give him some room but the talk about his style and certain players playing over others will still be a big topic. It’s not just a football thing it’s a person thing, all sorts are in the make-up, and some people just have anger issues so no they will not stop coming for Emery esp if they’ve called for his head last season or inside first six months of last season and then done it again inside first 6 – 8 PL games this season.

    Some of it is about Wenger I believe, also Ozil of course. The main thing is that he/we reach our target and we get to bring in another couple of players while letting some go. I believe we have a very good shout so I hope the match attending fans really get behind him esp when he needs them, those fans play a bigger part than the vast majority.

    1. The Emirates has a fixed capacity, bit the big revenue is from global audience, namely TV rights and merchandise. Ignore this factor at your own peril, and the migration has started.

  9. As I`ve opinionated before………………..The Prince of Darkness has a 2 year contract with The Devil Kroenke and an option of a third !

    If Vlad gets top 4 then he will stay for atleast another year and enjoy away trips to Transylvania, anything else and it`s a stake job !

    I still prefer to have had Captain Black………….aka Arteta…………although I would love to see a fight between Captain Black and his Mysterons Versus The Prince of Darkness and his hoardes of Lesbian Vampire Lovers !

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