Sometimes we can get bogged down in results. When we lose 5-1, no matter how tempered we think we are, it hurts and people tend to be more negative. When we win 5-1 we often forget about our woes. When we go on a 22 match unbeaten run, the things that bother us, like number of shots taken for and against, are minimized. And when we lose two or three in a short period of time all of demons we had pushed down below the surface suddenly appear gasping for air.
When Unai Emery was first announced as Arsenal’s new coach I wrote several pieces in which I outlined what I thought were pretty reasonable expectations. These weren’t meant to be your feelings, nor would they be what the board wants from him, but simply what I want from my Arsenal. Things that would indicate improvement at the club.
Looking back over that writing, what strikes me is that the only positional, or points, thing that I wanted was for Arsenal to finish above Tottenham. And we are locked in a very close race for 4th place with them, Wolves, and Man United.
Using data from Understat.com (don’t get too bogged down in the literalicy of xG – don’t think about the xG as literal goals that we should have scored or shouldn’t have, think of it more as a “rating” like the Whoscored.com rating system, but instead of something that heavily weights for dribbles, this is a pretty accurate measure of shots quality) I sort the top 7 teams by their expected goal difference. And as you can see it’s a pretty tight group of four clubs fighting for the 4th Place Trophy.
So, has Emery fulfilled this wish? Not yet, but I have to admit that I like the fight! It’s going to be a tough battle this year. If he doesn’t tup the white ewe I will have to forgive him.
Other notable problems I thought it would be nice to see progress on:
- Playing with a DM – remember the mess Wenger left when he went away (you ought to know)? Another big thing I wanted from Emery was for him to play with a DM. Weirdly, he does! In that same article I suggested that he might also consider a three man midfield. Though at the time, I also thought it would be Ramsey and Mkhi. LOL. Got that wrong, though in my defense, that was before we signed Torreira.
- Improving players:
- Bellerin – done
- Xhaka – I think he’s been better this season, played at fullback, played at center back, and doesn’t need to be the sole pivot at the base of the midfield
- Cech – I had two different opinions, improve or replace. Replace was my preference, done.
- “Iwobi is a talent who needs coaching” – done
- Holding – done. It’s just a stone cold fact that Arsenal’s defense is better with Holding. Is the attack better with Holding? What are the xG differences with Holding? I’m sure you will want to read that article when I publish it on the Arsenal Review.
- Maitland-Niles – WIP (work in progress). Not ready to say he failed here, nor that AMN is done. Lots of work to do there.
- Mustafi – WIP. Mustafi has gotten better at staying switched on, he’s better at heading the ball, he’s a better passer this year, but still makes coo coo for cocoa puffs errors. He’s the favorite whipping boy for all Arsenal supporters. Not sure he can ever be redeemed.
- Ramsey – failish? I think the plan was to play Ramsey up top and improve his goal creation while harnessing his energy in our high press. Ramsey did improve his delivery. We didn’t improve the press. And all improvements of Ramsey were for naught because he is leaving us on a free in the summer.
- Ozil – utter fail. My main wish was for Ozil to maintain his offensive numbers while playing a more rounded role for the team (which meant playing defense like his peers). This hasn’t happened at all. His suppörters will say “he’s been injured”. His detractörs will say “he’s the highest paid player and the injuries are fake”. I will önly say “I don’t care about all of that: when he played, his offensive production and defensive production both stank. And if he’s injured, he can’t produce for us. And not only that but there is very clearly a personal problem between Özil and Emery. This whole thing is a huge mess.”
- “My idea is to be protagonists all the match. We play against all the teams with this personality, with I think the history here is one. They love playing with possession of the ball. They like this personality. I like to be protagonists with the ball. And when you don’t have possession with the ball I want a squad, very very intensive, for the pressing.” – uhh… failish? We haven’t really been a very good possession team (yet) and scenes of Leno lumping long balls to Iwobi are going to grow old quick. They are reminiscent of the old Wenger team which couldn’t control possession and were reduced to Szczesny kicking long balls to Sagna (you kick long balls to the wide players when you don’t have a dominant big man who can win the ball in the air). Moreover, Arsenal still can’t handle pressure and even little teams come to the home of Arsenal FC and press the ball off us like a little girl pressing delicate spring flowers into her memory book. And when it come to the last bit, I think we have utterly failed to have an organized press in return. One off pressing games (against Tottenham) are fun and all but the reality is that Arsenal should be pressing teams like Burnley and anyone below top four, because they do not have the talent to hold on to the ball and break that pressure. This has been by far my biggest frustration with Emery. He promised a very specific playing style but we look a million miles away from delivery. BUT.. he has delivered on a new attacking style, which includes his own brand of crosses and dragbacks. That is very exciting. Obviously I’m not an Emery out guy (I’m going to stop saying that) and he needs time to redevelop this squad, I’m just stating the facts as I see them.
So there it is, a recap of what I (publicly) stated as my expectations for Arsenal under Emery this year and a look at where we are at half-season. I don’t think he’s done too bad to be honest. He has improved a number of players and that is a joy to watch. The thing with Özil is probably out of his control – some of the players have said that Özil was Wenger’s pet and was coddled by the Frenchman, and maybe big O is just really injured, honestly we don’t know what’s going on. And the thing with radically altering the playing style is that it’s going to take a lot of time. Coordinated pressing is difficult and requires all 10 outfield players to be fully aware of triggers and spaces. Same with breaking presses, players have to trust that their teammate is going to be someplace when they play a blind pass and that the return ball will get to them when they move. That takes a lot of practice.
Anyway, so far I’m not disappointed with Emery. I think he’s done pretty well with the hand he was dealt.
” like a little girl pressing delicate spring flowers into her memory book”
Nice one. Is this a reference to your daughter? If so, sweet 🙂
On Ozil, did you read his agent’s comments? It seems he wants to stay, and his agent even admitted that it’s not easy for him to settle into the new coach’s style of play but that he is determined to make it work.
I have been disappointed, mostly because we don’t seem to be playing better defense, and don’t really have the sort of attacking output I had hoped for, despite two strikers in great form. But it is early days and of course no one can seriously be Emery Out right now, can they?
I think Ozil’s agent recognizes that his client’s growing reputation as a player who coasts and is incapable of asserting himself in big games means a diminishing market for him. I have no idea what Gazidis and Wenger were thinking last year -there was zero rumors of interest in Ozil. In the summer it was all Sanchez and AOC, even Mustafi had interest from Inter. Barely a word about Ozil. Ozil’s contract therefore is wildly out of line with what the market was prepared to reward him with had he gone the distance to free agency.
I have no doubt in my mind that if we could move Ozil to generate funds and free up salary we would, but there’s only a handful of teams that would take him now and even then it would have to pretty much be a nominal transfer fee to offset the salary. I think the agent recognizes he has to both make Arsenal habitable for Ozil in the short term while doing some damage control for any future move by saying his client was injured or ill (both bs)
Here’s the thing. I think Ozil was genuinely happy at Arsenal. I think he likes the club culture, and he was happy playing under Wenger. People were saying he’d be off, and I said he’ll sign.
Now people say he signed because there were no media reports linking him to anywhere else, ie no one wanted him. I think he never wanted to leave and so his agent never put out any leaks of the sort. (Mirror chanced their hand with a BS ManU on a free story)
I think Ozil feels happy at the club and in London, and if the only annoyance is a new system, he’ll adjust, provided there is some leeway and give and take for his offensive talent.
That said, I can well imagine the club wants to push him out because they did that to Ramsey too, and another 350k a week off the books will be sweet cash money for them to fashion a Svemery rebuild.
There are few people I trust less than Ozil’s agent. They are masters at manipulating Arsenal supporters. He knows that roughly 50% of Arsenal fans are die hard Ozil supporters and this sounds to me like he’s playing up to them. I read Ozil by his actions on the pitch and Emery in his pressers. Emery looks like a man exasperated with Ozil and Ozil looks like a player who is willfully disobeying the manager. I could go into detail but basically it has to do with how Emery wanted him to play the Iwobi role on the right ans Ozil just kept ignoring that game plan.
As for the Emery out crowd, yes, actually, and I bet you can guess where they all come from?
Is there an Emery out crowd already?
I wouldn’t say that, but there certainly are quite a lot of AKBs waiting for opportunities to undermine Emery. They were out in force following the 5-1 and until we actually achieve something they will always be lurking, perversely hoping we fail just to feed their Wenger yearnings.
I detest them.
Wenger fans? I’m yet to come across anyone who’s serious. Most seem like trolls or just want to make a point. (Which I disagree with) It would be truly stupid to seriously want to sack the new manager., but there must be a few weirdos I guess.
I think I like Ozil’s agent because he’s unconventional. He writes a book and speaks about there needing to be an exam or certificate to be an agent, he puts out the FB messages in Ozil’s name hitting back at the media and ‘legends’ for their constant sniping, and he seemingly values Ozil’s happiness more than engineering transfers to highest bidders.
Of course he’s looking after his client here, and yes, there is something up between Emery and Ozil. I said as much. It’s just nice to hear that it doesn’t have to be terminal and that Ozil wants to stay at Arsenal. I understand that not everyone feels like this. My concern is that the club are going to push him out.
This is a balanced and fair assessment. It is clear that overall, this is an improving team.
With spending always at issue, there is only so much that can be done off-season as well, it needs to be said.
Injuries have again played an outsized role have retarded progress with Holding and Welbeck both gone until next year and Welbz’s Arsenal career is very much a question mark.
My ambition this year was to reclaim Champions League and I still think that’s achievable in Emery’s first season.
I give Emery a “C+” at the half way mark. As you point out he’s definitely improved players that had stalled or gone backwards under Wenger; Iwobi, Bellerin, Holding, Kolasinac. He’s integrated two new (younger) midfielders in Torreira and Guendouzi quite well. The Premier League is not easy for any manager in Year 1, so to be 5th with a largely inherited roster is commendable. The players seem to be on board and I think it’s indisputable that we’re a tougher team than we’ve been for many years now.
Where I think he’s not made the mark is we still are garbage defensively, I see no solid philosophical platform (in a footballing sense) for the future being set and the injuries are reminiscent of Wenger’s worst seasons which makes one question the training methods and rotation.
Good but with lots of room for improvement.
Can’t disagree with any of this, except the idea that our injury record over the years is somehow related to training/rotation. We have not one but two head coaches for fitness (how does that work anyway?) so strength and stamina are clearly a priority for the team, and I don’t see minutes played being directly related to injuries incurred, although the stats may show otherwise. I think the simpler explanation for our woeful injury record is that referees allow teams to kick the snot out of us, either out of a sense of “leveling the playing field”, or pandering to the image of the Premier League as a tough, manly league (unsuited to sissy “stylish” play) or because they just don’t like us (Mike Dean). Maybe I’m just paranoid, and I’m certainly biased. But we see so many challenges like the one on Lacazette – hip to groin, elbow to eye – or the push in the back on Torreira that led to Fulham’s goal, go unpunished so often that the commentators don’t even question it any more. I’m surprised we don’t see more long-term injuries than we do.
I don’t disagree that refs seem to allow teams to kick us, or that this is a problem, but I don’t agree that this is tied to our long-term injury record. I do question our training methods and rotation-especially under Wenger.
I don’t know how we compared to other teams in terms of minutes out due to injury but it seems we had players out when we could least afford it. This may be.more related to a failure to act in the transfer market.
As an example of rotation issues under Wenger, look at what happened to Koscielny-coming back from a long-term injury and Wenger plays him twice in a week. Injury. No World Cup, out for 6 months. Injuries under Emery could be a combination of an insufficiently deep squad and the players responding to a new manager’s more physical playing style.
One thing does bother me-It seems like Spurs press and run a lot-how is it they don’t suffer from the same injury crises we do?
Excellent half-way view on Emery. As for the pressing and counter-pressing, we have seen mostly to the big teams. It does take a lot of toll on the physical aspect of the players. With the injuries mounting my theory is he reluctantly decided to pick and choose games to do it. Also the quick games mean he did not have a lot of training ground improvements on that aspect. As u rightly pointed, he has respected outside top 6 teams too much. I believe by start of next season with the technique mastered better during off season and new players we might see a more of this approach.
Regarding the 22-game unbeaten run, anyone who saw it as an accurate measure of our quality wasn’t paying attention. We had a few good performances but in several other games we managed to avoid defeat only through the Hand of Leno and some unbelievably poor finishing. For those complaining that we don’t seem to have a personality, I’d suggest we’re just like Ozil: phenomenal on our day, but the attitude is still questionable and the lack of consistency is maddening. Still, it makes for an interesting season. As long as we finish above the Moaners, I’ll take it.
Can you increase the width of the text column in your layout? I feel like most of the time when your images are too small to read it’s because it’s shrunk by the need to fit within the column width. You’re only using like 850 px width and even less than that for the text itself, and everyone’s desktop resolution is much bigger than that.
Hail Emery.
The ‘pressing’ situation at Arsenal is really weird. Once in a while we’ll do it…with amazing results…and you think the blueprint’s been laid for all our future matches…and then we just don’t do it anymore for months on end.
There were 3 tests I wanted to see Emery pass.
One, improve our defence and defending, which was terrible last year. It still is. The half-term report is that he has failed to do that.
Two, stop our annual November swoon. He largely succeeded in doing that, but then things too a turn for the bad in December. He did not get us all the way through the festive season any differently from Wenger. Mixed results there.
Three, make us more competitive over winter generally; winter traditionally Arsenal’s weakest period. The jury’s still out on that one.
His biggest achievement is the startling improvement he has brought to Bellerin’s game , and the significant improvement to those of Iwobi and Rob Holding. Our stutter has coincided with the absence of Bellerin and Holding. Big success.
Im disappointed by how he has us defending. Sure, part of defending is having the nous; the other part is coaching. It’s not just the clown show at the back… it’s players constantly out of position and losing their runners, and players not being sure of their roles defensively.
I watched Wolves beat Manchester City over the Christmas break, and that was not the freak result you may think it was. They beat one of the best teams in the world, and in the face of a City surge, contained them comfortably in the end. Wolves were organised, defensively compact and (here’s a surprise) unhurriedly confident on the ball. Every player seemed to know his role defensively, and Joao Moutinho in the midfield looked like $100m.
That was coaching… good coaching of less able players than Arsenal have. May sound harsh, but Emery has few credible excuses for December sh1tshow, and he needs to fix it asap.
On the plus side, his attack using fullbacks have hummed when it’s on song. Arsenal have scored the 2 best goals of the season. Iwobi and Kola have been a handful for many a team. Bellerin, when he was fit, was all intelligent menace down the right.
His man-management hasn’t been great. Bigging up Ramsey before the club decided (evidently with his input) that he wasnt a long term fit, needlessly going public with his frustrations with Ozil, and not using Lacazette as well as he might. He may be overcompensating for a lack of player control at PSG, but a part of me does like his decisiveness.
Im giving him a C+ at this stage. But, for long stretches of the unbeaten run, he looked to be doing a B+ or A- job.
On the Ozil situation, the resolution is down to Mesut. Work with the coach’s methods; and work harder off the ball. All of Manchester City’s artisans do. No one on Pep’s team is letting an opposition player run unchallenged with the ball 6 feet away from him. In the unlikely event that one of them did, he’d probably never make Pep’s squad again. Ramheem Sterling works his nuts off defensively.
The power lies with the player, and he’s made it clear that he’s going nowhere. Arsenal can’t make him if he does want to.
From ever-present/leading man for Germany and Arsenal, he’s lost one gig, and is in danger of losing the only remaining one he has. 2018 has been a terrible year for him. It’s mostly up to him to turn it around.
Agree with this. But it also needs Emery to man manage the situation. Ozil is not a carthorse. Of course he should work harder on defense, especially if the system demands it, but he also needs to be given some assurances and freedom to play the game he visualises, because that’s what makes him special.
I think Emery is more about his system than the players (A bit like Van Gaal?) This can be a good thing, but I’m not sure it’s always the best thing.
I hope they can work it out, Ozil and Emery, because it would be good for Arsenal.
I’m also in the B-/C+ world. I had hoped that he would coach us into a stronger defense, and I have been sorely disappointed here. The Bellerin and Holding injuries have really hurt us, but even with those, one would think we’d look more solid with a new coach and system. How is it possible we are still so vulnerable to long passes and counters? It may simply come down to having players with pace to handle it, but we have to do better.
As Tim said, our offensive firepower has actually decreased. At the beginning of the season, we wondered how he would fit in all of the attacking talent we had – Ozil, Ramsey, Auba, Laca, Mkhi et al. His solution has generally been to use 3 of the 5 as bench options in most games. The reduction in XG should not come as a surprise. In an effort to impose his attacking style, he has weakened our attack.
That said, when the squad was at full strength, we had some excellent outings, especially the NLD win and the tie with Pool. I’m sticking with the process, but seeing a lot of unanswered questions at this stage. Change is hard, and we are in a valley after having some really promising peaks early on. More ups and downs to come, I’m sure.
What is it with Basque coaches and overthinking lineups? Laporte at LB against Salah? Didn’t Guardiola try that last year and get burned?
Jack, Pep is a Catalan through and through, born and bred. He was probably given a Barca membership at his Christening!
Aguero however, is Argentine and a sublime footballer. What a goal from both him and Firmino. Pulling for Citeh because of the Invincibles record but an entertaining match that is living up to it’s marquee.
Phew! Our unbeaten season record still stands. I mean, I’m fine with Liverpool winning the title, but not at the expense of the Invincibles!
No worries. Yet another year of Invincibility!
I’ve lately become a fan of the “Almost Invincibles”,.. a crazy in which there was a massive brawl at Old Trafford, our Captain was sent to jail and we were deducted points but still managed to win the season handily. You can’t make this s$&t up. Still waiting for the movie.
Didnt have a dog in the City/ Liverpool fight, but man, City is the most complete football team in the world right now. Both teams contributed to a match that combined high technical quality with fight. Pep, by now, has got the perfect alchemy. If City is the best team in the world, can you point me to a more assured defender than Virgil van Dijk? The game showed us how high the bar is, and how incapable we are of currently reaching it.
If City has a weakness, it’s that their No 2 striker, Jesus, is nothing special. They’d better hope that nothing happens to Aguero, although, mind you, they have scorers from elsewhere on the pitch, one of whom, Mahrez, didnt even play. Theyve got by far the best defensive depth in the league.
Stand and applaud Sane’s inch perfect finish. THAT is what we mean by goal productivity from the wings. If I’m picking an all-star premiership side, Bernardo Silva would be one of the first names I’m writing down. The guy never stops working, harrying, pestering, closing down; and he just so happens to be a very accomplished ball player.
City had moments of luck, but clearly have the edge in quality over Liverpool.
I cant believe what Guardiola has done for Raheem Sterling. He’s taken a decent wide forward and turned him into a very good one. Sterling still misses a lot of presentable chances, but he’s one of the best ferriers of the ball in the league.
That game had everything, most of it damn good.
I thought Ederson was excellent. His distribution is incredible. Like having Pirlo in goal. He was decisive about going for crosses and coming out of the box. Really outshone his compatriot at the other end
5th place could get into the Champions League next year as City look likely to be banned for more FFP infringements. Fined last time, but EUFA won’t be so lax this time round.
Basically, the club’s owners have allegedly been financing their sponsoships.
You have more faith in Uefa than I do.
Agreed. UEFA needs gulf money. Period.
If the actors here are severely sanctioned they will inevitably threaten to pull funding from many other sponsorship deals and programs across Europe which the game simply can’t afford and I predict UEFA will not only blink but in some form or fashion, close their eyes and turn away.
Emery had 1 major job fix the defence.our attack was never deficient.in fixing the defence you fix the midfield.now he got tor yet we struggle.emery has never been a defensive coach so I struggle to see how he will fix this.benitez would do soo better with what we have.if the defence isn’t organization.this now then when.next season after we buy manolas ramos van dijk and others
I mean if the defence isn’t organization.this now is it until we get ramps varane et all
what up, folks? it’s been a while and i’ve tried to keep up but…
first, arsenal had 5 games (4 very winnable games) over the christmas break and only won two of them. that’s simply not good enough for a team with champions league aspirations. they need to be routinely beating teams in the bottom 6. emery’s management has left me unimpressed. while you can blame injuries, arsenal just haven’t been very good.
for arsenal to play well, they need good center forward play. lacazette is arsenal’s best center forward by a mile; he’s got to play, full stop. the decision to take him out while the game is still far from settled is absurd. while it’s worked sometimes, don’t call that good management skill, call it luck. it’s failed far too often.
ozil is a generational talent as a playmaker. to quote jose mourinho, there’s not even a “bad copy” of ozil. to have that resource available and not utilize him is equally absurd.
granit xhaka is the worst center mid that arsenal have. why was he just given a contract extension? does the quality of his play scream “champion” when you watch him? yet, he plays every game. again, absurd.
most of the goals arsenal have conceded this season have happened on the counter attack. is it really that difficult fix that issue?
let’s talk semantics. emery’s duty is to manage arsenal’s playing staff. in high school, i memorized a definition for the word management that i still know: the most efficient and economical use of available resources to reach an objective or goal. it’s not exclusively to implement a rigid system, which seems without direction at the moment, but to utilize available resources to reach the top 4. considering the talent on the arsenal roster, i’m giving emery a low C.