Spurs Peak

Big game this weekend of course. As it is any time that Arsenal face Spurs, but these last few years have taken on a bit of an extra edge because for the first time in my football lifetime, Spurs are almost as good as Arsenal.

Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t anywhere near as good as Arsenal. This is peak Spurs. They have the best striker in their history, the best manager in their history, and probably the best team in their history. This team would beat the pants off their 1960-61 team and yet the Premier League is such a different animal, competition so much stiffer than ever before that Peak Spurs is finishing 3rd, runners up in Europe, and zero trophies since 2008.

I imagine that 2008 trophy is cursed. That was the team that beat Arsenal’s kids in the League Cup and then released a DVD titled “The Perfect Game”. They won the League Cup that season and since have gone trophyless. It is not a coincidence. It is the universe agreeing with them that it was their perfect game and they will never achieve more. Spurs can never top that perfection.

That’s Peak Spurs, finishing 3rd. Peak Arsenal is Invincible, winning the League at White Hart Lane. Even crap Arsenal, the one which was slowly unwinding like a ball of twine in Wenger’s hands, won three FA Cups. Even crap Arsenal is better than Peak Spurs.

But it’s a big game because they are closer to us than ever before. Beating them matters in an existential way to the folks who live in London but it also matters in terms of the final table position. This season the top two will be Liverpool and Man City. That leaves Arsenal and Leicester battling against Spurs and Chelsea for the remaining two places in the Champions League. Every point we can take off them is huge.

I was going to do a “combined starting XI” but I really like this Arsenal side the way that they are constructed. There are some flaws in Arsenal, yes, but I don’t know if their players are hugely better than ours and most importantly, I don’t know if any of their players fit the system and team that we have right now. Maybe Eriksen? He’s a hard-working #10 and I suppose he could step in for Ceballos/Ozil.

I’m going to let you know right now that no matter what happens this weekend I’m still not going to freak out about the result. This cuts all three ways: win and it’s a good sign of progress, draw and it’s not a terrible result, lose and we just need to pick ourselves back up and win the match against Watford after the Nationalism break.

If Arsenal get to the point where we can no longer finish top four I might have a little outburst. Hopefully it will be calm but honest and brutal.

This is our big chance to get back into the Champions League. Chelsea are not anything near as good as they were under Sari. Man Unit is laughable, honestly. And Spurs seem to be staggering like a prize fighter having taken too many blows to the head.

Beating them this weekend would be a fantastic way to go into the FIFA break.

Qq

46 comments

  1. Spurs have moved ahead of us, unfortunately. They even made a point of putting in their new stadium (a very nice one), more seats than there are at the Emirates.

    Goalkeeping is a tossup, but I’d take Leno over the error prone captain of France every day. They shade us in central defence and the full back positions. I’d argue that they are overall better in midfield, and the loss of Eriksen will be mitigated by the additions of Ndombele and Lo Celso, excellent ball ferryers. We have an overall better forward line with Auba, Laca, Pepe and Ozil, but Harry Kane is the best all-round striker in the league. He can assist, tap-in, hit it from outside the box and bully big defenders at set pieces.

    It doesnt give me pleasure to say this, but I’ll leave my cheerleading for game day. All that said, I’m exxpecting 3 points in a close game. I hope that Emery lets the dogs out, and does not go reactive. Laca, Auba and Pepe to start, please. Thank you.

    Back line unchanged, Torreira for Xhaka, Ceballos restored to the back of midfield, done. Willock, who’s played well so far, also makes way to accommodate that front 3, and Ceballos in the engine room.

  2. So, what us your suggested 11 to do battle with?

    We need to control the Midfield, as I think that’s where Spurs are strongest. So what combination is best equipped to deal with them? I hear Ndombele might be injured for this game(big news!).

    I hope for Torriera, Guendouzi and Ceballos, but Unai will play Xhaka as always. We must start the PAL front line.

  3. Agree, this seems to be a big opportunity to make a statement. Barring major changes, City and Pool seem a lock for the top two. But 3rd, and definitely 4th seem wide open and ours for the taking. A solid win over Spurs at this point would be a big step in that direction.
    As for which Spurs players would get into this team? Erikson, Son perhaps, Kane offers a better aerial threat than any of our current attackers.

  4. You’re promising admirable restraint, Tim.

    I agree with Claude. Spurs are a better team than us right now, even if, as Tim points out, historically we are the better club. This will be an extremely tough match. They are settled, well drilled, have played together for years in a system they feel comfortable, have a better midfield than us, and, of course, Harry Kane, who always scores against us, home or away. So, given that, I’m not prepared to freak out if we lose, necessarily, but, if we lose because of a limp display, I’ll be really frustrated. What I want to see is a fully committed eleven with real urgency and speed of thought and action.

    By the way, I think I should warn all of you: we’ll be playing it out from the back. This is not the sign of a small team with weak mentality. This is the sign of a brave team. It’s the opposite of what a coward like Mourinho would do in a match against a top four rival. I also think we’ll see a narrow defense again. This is similarly not a bad tactic in and of itself, and I think it’s something Emery has prioritized this season (based on the fact that he did this against Burnley and Newcastle as well as at Liverpool), but whether it’s because of personnel or preferred system, we’ll wait and see. AMN and, to some extent the aging Monreal, are not fullbacks in whom he can have complete confidence.

    Personally, I hope he’ll play PAL, but, again, I’m warning you, I’m not sure he’ll do it. First, Lacazette still seems to be bothered with that early season ankle injury (at least, this is the rumor), and second, it might be a problem to take a player out of midfield against the superior midfield of Spurs. It’s fine to say, “throw caution to the wind and hope to score more than them,” until you come away with the loss and everyone says, “that was naive, careless, foolhardy.”

    In any case, I’m excited for this game. I felt the Liverpool game was a foregone conclusion, but this game could go any way, win, loss, draw, despite the fact they are the better team right now. Derby!

    1. I’ve just remembered that we tend to play the diamond in away games, so yeah, at home it could be PAL starting, provided Lacazette is fully fit. If he’s not, I wonder if he’ll play Mkhitaryan-Auba-Pepe in a front three, bringing on Laca later? On the other hand, we could see a 4-2-3-1. I bet that’s what it’ll be, but don’t ask me who plays! Torreira and Xhaka in the middle sitting behind Pepe, Ceballos, and Guendouzi, with Auba at the top? Agh. I have no idea. If Laca’s fit, you’d like to think he’ll start.

      1. He was injured, Laca. You were right, I was wrong.

        The apology text message is on the way, Unai. Now, please… unleash PAL on the Unmentionables.

      2. Do you guys remember when Wenger starting implementing the play it out from the back thing? It was a comical. But then it kinda worked, because Hector Bellerin is pretty good at football.

        He’s so effortless at using his first touch and body orientation to evade a pressing opponent. All you need is one man to break the press. Torreira’s very good at it too. Xhaka is, shall we say, less good? I don’t mind playing it out from the back, but no hospital passes please.

        About Laca not starting, I don’t think it’s just the injury. I think he’s the key to making the front three work because he has to play the Griezmann/Firmino role while the other two stay up. Firmino was like a man possessed at Anfield, tracking some of Pepe’s early runs all the way back to their penalty area. I hope Emery didn’t play Laca because he needs him at 110% fitness for this game.

    2. They are actually quite unsettled at the moment. Poch is crying to the press in every presser, Eriksen wants to leave, and Kane is finding it difficult to get calls for all of his dives.

      I agree that we will play the narrow Urethra defense again. It will be easier for us because their fullbacks are dog shit.

      1. Oh, I’ve forgotten. Who are their fullback? Rose and…? Does Aurier start for them now? That does make me hopeful that our urethra defense (lol) will be effective.

        Still, this is a Spurs team that went to the Etihad a couple of weeks ago and drew 2-2…

  5. In any case, I’m excited for this game. I felt the Liverpool game was a foregone conclusion,

    ———————

    Same here.
    I watched the Liverpool game with my son and nephew ( both have recently turned 21) at a local bar.
    Both huge Arsenal fans- a result of mine buying Arsenal kits for every child in the family since they were old enough to kick a ball.
    Asked me if I was excited to which I said no. There wasn’t a scenario in which I thought we were getting anything from that game.

    Spurs are our level though.
    They edge us in most departments , if only just, but definitely a winnable game.

    Looking forward to Pepe tormenting their left side. I’m firmly on the Pepe bandwagon. As a matter of fact, I’m driving it lol.

    1. And I think I’m going to jump back on the Ceballos bandwagon that I hopped off from last weekend. We’re at home, he already feels the love: “Oooohhh Dani Thebayos!!!”

      What could go wrong?

      Also, does anyone else think it’s weird that we’re not talking about Ozil right now? Should we be?

        1. I hear that. But it is weird that he hasn’t even been on the bench for any of our opening three fixtures. And…no one seems to care. I’m sure the excitement over Willock and Ceballos is the reason.

  6. I’ve subscribed to The Athletic now that Amy Lawrence, James from Gunnerblog, Simon Cox and some other excellent writers are there. Interesting piece on Alexis Sanchez. Who knew he was such a monumental wanker and isn’t Man U absolutely hilarious right now?

    Now if we can just move Ozil to them…

  7. Gunners Peak: Crossing ‘ALPs’ at The Home Of Football.

    Sp^rs were _ _ _ _ .
    Hard to distill much else from the match they’d lost 0-1 vs Newcastle at Giant Crapper Stadium. Tots (except for Lucas Moura) looked disinterested much of the match (watched as much as I could on DVR last night– till it cured being awake). Their MF looked very ordinary even when Ericksen came on after an hour.

    763 passes. 90% completion. 81% possession.
    Two (of 17) shots on target.
    Hmm. Maybe we could warm-up in Barcode kits?

  8. If there was a time to play spurs.. this is now. Looks unsettled. Kane hasn’t started firing, no right back (aurier seems to have been dumped along with vertonghen). Erickson not starting, lo celso not fit to start games.. and btw.. no ndombele for this match due to injury. Anything less than three points, I will be fuming.

    PS: this got me cracking.
    “That leaves Arsenal and Leicester battling against Spurs and Chelsea for the remaining two places in the Champions League.”

  9. Peak Spurs only finished 4th last year not Third! Only one point above us. You give them too much credit saying they got third

  10. James makes a point, above. Peak Spurs was actually two years ago, in Wenger’s last season, when they finished 2nd and several points above us. They barely pipped us to 4th last year at a time when we were trying to sort ourselves post-Wenger with a new coach, etc.

    1. But they made the Champions League final, which obviously had something to do with them dropping points in the Premiership.

  11. This is my favourite sentence(s) in an Arsenal or football-related blog for ages:

    “This season the top two will be Liverpool and Man City. That leaves Arsenal and Leicester battling against Spurs and Chelsea for the remaining two places in the Champions League.”

    Manure? Oh yes, I remember them. LOL

  12. Started my long weekend early so decided to check the Tottenham headlines this morning.
    Looks like Vertonghen and Eriksen might be leaving the PL before the TW deadline. I would have to revise my top four predictions were that to happen.

    Poch also addressing rumors of him leaving the club after the NLD, which he vehemently denied.
    “I’m not going to walk away after the NLD, I will be here on Monday and Tuesday “

    So it looks like he’s leaving on Wednesday then.

  13. Favourable draw in the EL group stage, no “big” teams and no crazy travel. Belgium, Germany and Portugal.
    We can do this!

  14. Man U, Roma, Porto, Lazio and whoever gets dropped from the CL group stages.

    The EL group stages for Arsenal is just an inconvenient scheduling burden. The real competition starts after that.

  15. man, i’ve been busy and missed the thread about emeryball. it’s okay, i can do it in one sentence: emeryball is like having a fraction with a zero in the denominator; it’s undefined.

    seriously, like i said the other day, i don’t care what struggles other teams are having. i don’t get joy out of watching man united or chelsea have issues. the only thing i care about is the performance of the team.

    i want arsenal in the champions league because they play good football and are one of the best teams in the world, not because man united are screwed up or tottenham have injuries. it’s my biggest grievance from the liverpool game. it’s not that arsenal didn’t win. it’s that they didn’t play to win. the approach was hoping for some luck. i’m just not used to arsenal playing so cowardly.

    you guys are right, arsenal should be looking for a win at home. it should be that arsenal are looking to show that this is, undeniably, a special team.

    1. it’s that they didn’t play to win

      ===

      What do you mean by this?

      And Emery’s style of play is not undefined. That’s lazy or comes from such a narrow definition of “defined” that it hardly makes sense. Several people here and elsewhere have explained some patterns he prefers in his play. And as far as his team selections and tactics go, he likes to tailor them to some extent based on the opposition. Wenger almost never did this, and his most successful teams occurred at a time when we could bully almost anyone. That was a different PL era.

      Besides which, if his play is “undefined” how do you square that with claiming at the same time that we “did not play to win.” Define this for me. What “way” did he play?

      1. geez, bun. you again?

        i missed the “emeryball” thread, that’s why i condensed my comment into a single sentence. i say his style is undefined because his approach changes so dramatically based on the seemingly arbitrary direction the wind blows. his ever-changing strategy leaves this team to often look like they’re just left flapping in the wind, hence the term “undefined”. there’s no definitive structure to arsenal’s play in the defensive, transition, or attacking phase.

        in fairness, i think emery wants his team to be “fluid” but they simply lack true identity and form/structure so “undefined” was the best word i could come up with. the reason for the lack of form is that your midfield consists of a bunch of kids controlled by a “senior” guy who can’t control a midfield. i said that if arsenal didn’t bet a better cdm, it wouldn’t matter who else arsenal bought. we’ll see if that proves factual.

        the lack of leadership in midfield is significant because it’s a big deviation from what he had at his other clubs. given this dilemma, he needs to respect the fact that young players need consistency. his ever-changing approach is not going to afford these players consistency. before, he’s had the likes of ivan rakitic, ever banega, david silva, and thiago motta to control his midfield. now he’s stuck with granit xhaka and didn’t improve there, instead buying a £72 million striker. it’s like getting your car waxed when you, desperately, need an oil change.

        1. To add to your point Joshuad,

          Going into a game and conceding over 20 shots, while hoping the your side takes one of the few chances you create, is what is universally regarded as “playing not to win” and “cowardly”.

          It’s not a shot at Emery, its just the result of critical analysis of the team’s performance and basic observations. We may end up with Champions League football, but if we lose fans in the process, then what’s the point? Even I don’t feel as conflicted when I come across an Arsenal and other obligations. It’s getting to a point where this side isn’t worth watching.

          If the result is all that matters, why watch the game at all? I can still celebrate or mourn the result, whether I watch or not. But if the team is committed to playing to win, playing to the player’s potential and playing to the values that attracted so many foreign fans to the club, My emotional and financial investment in this side would at least be worth it.

      2. “arsenal didn’t play to win” means their approach was about playing not to get embarrassed at worst and hoping for a 0-0 draw or to nick a goal (newcastle-style) at best. that’s not an approach for a big team to take, even if you’re playing against another big team. i could give emery the benefit of the doubt with lacazette’s ankle, however laca was fit enough to feature and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen emery take this approach, so i won’t.

        being a manager is about maximizing your available resources. a blind man can see that arsenal’s best assets are in attack. a 4-3-3 would have minimized the liverpool attack dramatically; those fullbacks aren’t bombing forward when they’ve got 3 of the best strikers in the league to contend with. if their left back goes, our right striker goes with him and the other two striker shift to the right incase we win the ball, allowing a quick counter. the diamond midfield was ineffective.

        1. How you can compare our approach to what Newcastle did at Spurs shows that you didn’t actually watch the Newcastle game, and fundamentally don’t understand what Liverpool do and are. To take one example: Did Newcastle play it out from the back? Is that what small teams do now?

          Your arguments about tactics from hindsight are hardly convincing. 4-3-3 at Anfield with, what, a half-fit Lacazette up there? Or perhaps you were pining for the infuriating Mkhitaryan to start! Nelson? Um. Yeah, you go, jd. And that’s not even touching on the wisdom of that formation against Liverpool. Sorry, this is terribly naive.

          As an aside, I love how you and Devlin aren’t talking about individual errors here as a contributor, because for you, Devlin, and Shard, Emery is “getting by” on individuals, but all the bad stuff is on him and his “system”.

          What’s the score, by the way, if Luiz doesn’t concede the penalty or charge out to Salah at the touchline? Or if Auba and Pepe don’t fluff their lines in front of goal? Yeah, Emery’s getting by on this stuff. So what’s the score? Or is the woulda coulda argument only valid when you make it about Emery’s tactics? Lol!

          1. Stop it Bun.
            Can’t you get with the program already?
            Emery got lucky to make 70 points last season because the players bailed his clueless a$$ out. Xhaka Mustafi and a few others game changing mistakes that cost us points on the other hand were clearly Emery’s fault.
            I remember vividly how Emery fcuked up Auba’s penalty kick against the chickens that cost us two points.
            There’s this footage of Emery fist pumping and celebrating with his assistant Xhaka tripping Brighton player for a game equalizer, surely.

          2. jd et al are basically pining for Wengerball, which is to think primarily about one’s own style rather than the opposition’s. Modern managers are much more responsive and reactive. Or call it proactive if you don’t like the negative associations of reactive. In that context, it’s incredible to me that people like Devlin call Emery’s approach “cowardly.” It’s a word that seriously makes no sense when thinking about how teams approach each other in the game these days.

          3. Bun, our errors are not unforced errors. If they were, they would be on the individuals e.g. a back pass under no pressure slipping beneath the keeper’s feet when he tries to control it and it rolls into the nest, or a player trying to make a pass under no pressure and giving it straight to the opponents. A big example of an error in the game was when Henderson gave us the ball for the big chance we got.

            If the player’s errors are a consequence of pressure being put on them from the opposition, those then become tactical errors. These are errors that are forced upon the side by the pressure exerted by the opposition, or the decision of the manager to play so deep against a side that preys on forcing turnovers in the opposition half.

            On passing out from the back, its not that special of a thing and if you watched la liga, Serie A or the bundesliga, you will realise that playing out is done by basically everyone and it isn’t exclusive to the top sides only. It’s only in Britain where there is still this misconception of ball playing sides only being the top sides only, even though Bournemouth and Swansea have shown that it is possible to play expansive football as a small team.

            The way you utilise the ball throughout the game and across the entire pitch is what defines your approach to a game. In that regard, we did go to Anfield with a small team mentality and an incredibly stupid sense of inferiority complex.

            Bun, you are defending the indefensible.

          4. Dev, this is you working pretty darn hard to explain away individual performance on the basis of system. For you, context is everything when it comes individual errors, but nowhere to be seen when it comes to your claim that individuals are carrying Emery. Your lack of consistency betrays the selective vision here. Luiz’ shirt tug and mad dash to Salah were brainfarts. Auba and Pepe should have scored those goals. Putting those on Emery is the height of the absurdity around here these days.

            And nobody. Not you, not Shard, not jd have ever come up with an adequate counter to the fact that we played it out from the back. All the big sides in Europe play it out from the back these days. So do Arsenal. There is no misconception here. Are you watching Burnley play Liverpool right now? Guess who’s not passing it out from the back? When Newcastle played Spurs, guess which team wasn’t passing it out from the back? Burnley right now, I’ve counted: if the goalkeeper’s not hoofing it out, he’s throwing to a player and the team takes a maximum of three passes before a hopeful lump to Barnes. That’s what small teams do.

            I bet you’re going to say, “yeah, but they’re playing Liverpool,” because, as has been abundantly clear in your responses, context only matters to you when it suits.

            Using the ball across the entire pitch? What does this even mean? You mean positionally? You mean go there and play expansively instead of narrow? You mean like Luiz thought he should do when he abandoned the plot? No. You call it cowardice, I call it being smart given the context. The expectations of fans these days is just weird, and wildly inconsistent.

          5. Oh, and what’s this I’m seeing? Late in the second half, and Liverpool now conceding position, looking to hit Burnley on the counter. Liverpool’s small team mentality kicking in there, I suppose. Lol.

            And oh! 3-0 now for Liverpool! Cowards.

            Context matters though, right?

  16. Tim – Agreed Spuds are past peak. As I said at the beginning of the season, they have hit their ceiling. They know they can’t finish above Pool and City. They won’t repeat their CL run. The excitement of the new stadium is now over. As this reality sets in, they will recognize their only direction is down, and they will slide as the season progresses.

    If Emery doesn’t take the gloves off and put out a strong team this weekend, I will join the chorus of howls about his small team mentality, I promise.
    PAL up top
    Would prefer Guen, Torreira and Ceballos but I bet we’ll see Xhaka. Willock could easily slot in here.
    The usual back 4. Do you think any chance Holding is available?

    One thing I must say is that our young midfield has made for a refreshing change in the weekly selection discussions. In the last few years, it was: “Which combination in midfield will hurt us least?” Now it’s more, “Whom do we leave out?” Much better issue to chat about!

    I like us to take 3 points.

    1. I’ll say this again: Spurs went to the Etihad two weeks ago and came out with a draw. If that’s them in crisis then I sure hope we don’t meet them in crisis. Don’t put much stock in the Newcastle game. That won’t happen to Spurs very often this season. They are a better team than us right now, and the last few seasons have shown it.

      Tim’s argument is about club history, not recent form. We haven’t finished above them since 2015-16, and the last time we went to a CL final was 2006. They did it in 2019.

      But this is a derby. Anything can happen.

  17. Oh my goodness. Fellas, United and Chelsea have done it again.

    Hahaha! Glorious!

    Please, Arsenal, don’t ruin my mood this weekend!

  18. One last thing Bun, I do not think anyone would say that they were looking for us to go back to Arsene’s football, but for some, this isn’t better than what we got from Wenger’s worst years.

    For most, we are trying to tell you that we do know that Arsene’s side was flawed, but our criticism isn’t because we want Wengerball back, but because we can see that this is just plainly bad. I won’t lie, I wanted Arsene to leave, but not for us to just end up with the opposite of Arsene, but for us to get “better”, and this is actually worse.

    I wanted Arsene to leave because there was no balance between attack and defence, to what he was doing with his side. He leaned more on the attack and failed to compromise a little bit to achieve balance, he even failed to compromise in distributing his off the pitch duties. Now we just have someone who leans too far to the defence, without even being good at coaching a defence.

    So my criticism is because I can currently see what Leipzig are doing in Germany I see what Atalanta are doing in Italy, What Lille are doing in France, What Sevilla are doing in Spain and what Leicester are doing in England.
    Before these sides, I have seen Napoli in Italy, Atletico Madrid in Spain, Dortmund in Germany and Spurs in England.

    The first group of teams I mentioned, are sides that have followed a clear process and have plans to progress to into becoming sides that can challenge the top sides. The second group were Europa league sides 6 years ago and now can be counted among the best sides currently in Europe. They did this by setting a clear way of playing and trying to develop first, instead of going with a chameleon style. These sides worked hard to perfect their way of playing and are now some of the best sides at what they do.

    If we continue with this way of playing and approaching games in the way that we do, we will be overtaken by sides like Leicester and Wolves. Lucky for us, we are also witnessing the fall of a side like Man Utd. I thought the same of Chelsea at the beginning of the season, but watching their games, I see a side trying to develop a generation that will challenge for trophies after City and Liverpool’s squads age. They are trying to play very high tempo and attacking football, and when they get it right, I am afraid we will still be saying that we understand why our manager changed the side, tactics and approach every weekend.

    I just want to see the start of a way of playing that we will be good at and that will be a symbol of this team for years to come.

  19. I just want to see the start of a way of playing that we will be good at and that will be a symbol of this team for years to come.

    ===

    It’s funny you say this and then claim not be hankering for the days of Wenger.

    There is a general style of play at Arsenal right now. It’s responsive to the opposition, so it adapts, but there are certain patterns emerging. You just don’t like them, I suppose? You realize where we are in the process compared to Spurs, etc., right?

    And this doom-mongering about being taken over by Wolves and Leicester. Yeah, I’ll give it a few games.

    1. Please Bun, I can’t stress this enough or say it over and over again. Wengerball isn’t the only football in the world that is expansive or attacking. Liverpool, City, Napoli, Barcelona, Ajax and so many more have philosophies of playing that are attacking, not just Wenger.

      You are right about me not liking then current style of play, and its not just me. For me, it is a style that is dour, but most importantly, it is defeatist in nature, it is negative and it is too reactive. Like I have said, there are so many others ways of playing football, and this one that is being implemented at Arsenal, I just don’t like.

      My biggest gripe with this style though and what I am mostly disappointed at, is that it is a style that is very short termist, it only looks at the next game and never the long term, it constricts/disturbs/sidelines the development of our young talents and it is going to have us start all over when things go bad for Emery.

      The sides I mentioned, I am talking about the first group and what they are currently doing, and the second group that contains the likes of Spurs and Atletico, I was looking at where they began to build towards what they are now. I don’t thunk we can get to the levels of the top sides right now, but we can start building towards reaching those heights right now. Teams like Wolves and Leicester aren’t going to overtake us now, or even next season I hope, but if we continue with this style, they will in time. The same way that Spurs have gone past us and United.

      So, I would like to ask you a simple question. Have you seen a team in the state that we are in or even lower, build a side that has become competitive whilst playing without an attacking philosophy?

      If you can answer that, then I will know that you are not just dealing in blind faith.

      1. What is Athletico Madrid’s ‘attacking’ philosophy ? Or Dortmund’s, or Napoli’s ?
        All the sides you mentioned above have been competitive by being well run clubs off the field that have a structure in place,which means results don’t suffer greatly when the manager is changed.Which is exactly what Arsenal are trying to do after being run by dinosaurs for a decade.
        If you can’t understand that ,no wonder you don’t appreciate what Arsenal are doing.

  20. At the time Emery was hired there wasn’t a Technical Director in place (Sven wanted to be and perhaps presumed he would be).
    Now we have Edu who will want/ need to imprint his philosophy on to the team.
    I think as soon as he lays that out to Raul/Josh/Vinai, he’ll look to identify someone who can implement it over 3-4 seasons (depending on how far away we are from it).

    It’ll probably be an attack-minded philosophy as that won us many matches but as importantly fans – especially overseas fans who don’t necessarily have obvious links to clubs (location, family, friends etc).
    Arsenal can’t keep rolling out the clips of Thierry and Wright and Bergkamp et al.
    Soon (already?!) kids will be saying “Henry who?” thinking its a first name.

    So – for me I don’t worry about Emery’s ‘philosophy’ as this season is likely to be his last. He fails to get CL he’ll get the chop.
    Edu lays out his plan and identifies who to implement it, Emery’ll get the chop.

    So Emery just has to get us points (hopefully today!!) – the manner of them is just extra.

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