Well? Did you enjoy that?
I’ve been following Arsenal for a long time. I know that doesn’t matter for a hill of beans in this crazy old world but it’s true.
Before kickoff NBC played clips from the time Arsenal played against Sheffield United back in 06. Phil Jagielka pulled on the gloves for Neil Warnock’s side when his starting keeper, Paddy Kenny, pulled up with an injury.
I don’t just vaguely remember that match, I remember it like it was today. I remember that their pitch was a cow patch. I remember that they were a fouly bunch of cheats. I remember that Christian Nade scored (one of his 3 Premier League goals) when Lehmann did his best Morris dancing act. And I remember that Arsenal only had 3 shots on target that day. None of the shots on target really bothered Jags.
That’s all to say that I’ve seen us play worse at Sheffield.
And in this match I have to admit that Mike Dean absolutely jobbed Arsenal on two penalty calls. The first was a stonewall penalty denied when their defender pulled Sokratis’ shirt on a corner and the second was when Dean dramatically showed Saka a yellow card for “diving” when it was clear that the Sheffield United player had run him over.
And all of that is fair to say that Arsenal probably should have gotten a point from this match today. But we didn’t and we didn’t because we didn’t create anywhere near enough chances.
There was one chance in the 19th minute when Pepe was played in with a wonderful cross but his touch actually took the ball out for a throw in. That shot had an xG of 0.6. For the remaining 70 minutes, Arsenal, however, created just 0.35 xG. And let’s not sugar-coat this: that’s not even remotely good enough from a team valued at £620m and who spent hundreds of millions jettisoning Wenger’s players and bringing in players for Unai.
Credit to Sheffield United, they pressed and harassed Arsenal. They forced Arsenal into turnovers and made Arsenal kick the ball long to their runners. They also scored their only chance.
And we can and should complain about Mike Dean. But the refs have been fucking Arsenal for a long time and you have to create more to overcome them. Arsenal cannot live in a world in which they were only able to create one shot for Auba and Laca combined (Auba, blocked).
I will throw my hands up and say I was wrong. In the comments section here and on Twitter I often claimed that “any manager” would make Arsenal better than Arsene Wenger had done in his final season. But Emery has managed to make Arsenal worse. Much worse.
We play bad football. We rely too much on Aubameyang’s incredible finishing. Emery has picked fights with players he needs in order to win games. We don’t play proactive football. He hasn’t made players better like he promised. We are going backwards. If Emery was at any of our rivals I would be laughing my ass off at the football we play. We play like a bad Sam Allardyce team.
No top club will hire Unai Emery again. He’s on the way down. He’s on the way out as a coach. His football is bad. He is just a bad coach. And no amount of amazing football by Tierney and Bellerin and Holding can save him.
The owner, the CEO, have to have a look at this and fire him before we end up mid table, where we belong.
Fight me.
Agreed on all points except penalties.
Sok pulled jersey 1st, and Saka tripped over other players foot. Simple really.
Horrible futbol, boring and without a goal from Auba a predictable outcome.
Here in the States, I’ve literally never heard anyone say “…yank your balls…”
A doctor. Once.
where are the unai supporters? the folks that made excuses for him?
oh, he just needs to get rid of the wenger dead wood.
oh, he just needs a year or so to get his point across.
oh, he just (insert your cow poop here).
it’s nonsense. emery’s been at arsenal for sixteen months and he’s made a mess of our beloved club. brendan rodgers has been at leicester city for half the time emery’s been at arsenal and it’s clear to see what he’s doing there. lampard has only been at chelsea since the summer and it’s easy to see what he’s trying to do.
leicester don’t have the money that arsenal does but they’re getting things done without making excuses. chelsea are in a transfer ban and they’re not making excuses. emery’s been at the club longer and has had more money to spend but arsenal are still playing trash football where leicester and chelsea are playing fairly well. why does anyone make excuses for emery? it needs to stop!
Sorry, what? When Brendan Rodgers was floated as a candidate two years ago, Gooners were apoplectic. The toxic atmosphere would have started from day one. Can you imagine Rodgers losing any games in his first season? Don’t be naive. Gooners hated “Brenda,” and anything less than total and beautiful success in his first season would have been met with disdain. A similar prejudice was evident whenever someone mentioned Benitez as an option.
Let’s not pretend we have patience, nor, importantly, that none of us wanted Rodgers or Benitez when Wenger left.
“any one of us” (instead of “none of us”)
Yeah, we turned up our nose at Brendan Rodgers. We don’t after Emery.
i’m not saying anyone wanted rodgers at arsenal. i’m saying that rodgers has done more at leicester with fewer resources and half the time than emery has done at arsenal and that emery shouldn’t be given more time/money.
Yes, that’s what I’m saying. If you bring up Rodgers as a comparison, then you need to justify it. First, bringing it up as a stick to beat Emery with is unfounded because nobody wanted Rodgers two years ago; second, I think it’s too early to make any definitive judgments on how each of those managers have performed. Do you think Rodgers would be doing better with the squad we have? Based on what? An underdog status? Would that translate to Arsenal’s…”dog” status?! Lol.
Lol at “dog status”.
Definitely,Arsenal deserves a coach with a winning mentality .This coach prefers to keeping good players on the bench persistently.He consistently keep players that a messing up on the field longer.Torrera should be given more playing time, Lacazette is fit he kept him on the bench, why?our second goalkeeper with possibly zero goals conceded should not be on bench,misfiring Pepe must have less playing time until he proves better scoring ability,the list goes on and on, but he continues more of the same blunder and expects better results.He has the players but he is not making them challenge themselves.Leno can bench and watch the second goalkeeper and that should motivate him to be better.
Thanks for getting a post up so quickly after the game. Another poor performance. I have been defending Emery and I stand by a lot of the things I have said. I think the biggest problem is still the lack of attacking talent in the squad especially in the midfield. PEA and Lacazette when he has played have both done well and PEA is likely will compete for the Golden boot again. However PEA has scored 56% of our teams goals and PEA + Lacazette have scored 77% of our goals. That just points out how little attacking talent there is available in the rest of the squad. Pepe was supposed to help and hopefully he will still find his way and adapt to the PL but so far he has been a bust. I am 100% certain that the plan is not to sit back and ping the ball around our side of the pitch until we make a mistake that puts the team in danger. I am not sure exactly what the plan is but Emery can’t kick the ball and there is nothing he can do if the players are not executing.
However, with all of that said you can understand problems in the first year but there has to be evidence of progress in the second season and so far I don’t see any real improvement. There comes a point where you have to accept the team needs to move in a different direction. I doubt Emery gets sacked before Christmas and probably not even during the season but unless things get better soon I hope we have a new manager next season
“However, with all of that said you can understand problems in the first year but there has to be evidence of progress in the second season and so far I don’t see any real improvement.”
Exactly Bill.
The problem isn’t so much that we are not seeing anything from Emery’s work to suggest that there is progress as it is that what I am starting to see is a team that is set up to play too conservatively not just some times as might be necessary, but ALL OF THE TIME even when it is not necessary. He has to learn to strike a balance. Later years Wenger was one extreme, Emery is looking exactly like totally another opposite extreme.
Simply put, I think that we are not worse off in terms of results and performances in big games. However, Emery isn’t inspiring enough confidence in his work -and in the team- right now.
I agree Ljunberg could be our Guardiola, look at his record with the B team. Incredibly amazing.
And he actually gives a toss. The yellow he got today was brilliant. Passion!
Even if we had been awarded the penalty I am not very sure, we could have won the match. Those guys have a mean defence and with the kind of brittle midfield and defenders we have I won’t have been surprised if they scored more than us. They beat Chelsea and narrowly lost to Liverpool. Losing to Sheffield is not a problem in itself. It’s this muddled playing style which is becoming unbearable. As Joshua says above, Lampard has gone and imposed his vision at Chelsea. He is giving chances to numerous academy graduates too. I think Emery came in, talked big and dismantled Wenger’s structure in the club. He wanted to be seen as his own man (much like Moyes did at Man U). Well he is no better than Moyes and will be gone just like him. If Freddie takes over from Emery as caretaker we would have done a Man U as well. Hopefully, the owners will come to terms with the fact that their choice has disappointed and cut their losses. It’s time to move on.
Lampard’s great “vision” at Chelsea has them a mere two points ahead of us, and if you’ve watched them play this season it’s been disjointed, disjointed, and disjointed. So let’s not play that game where we big up our rivals without any context just to tell everyone that Emery sucks in comparison (btw, a lot of people think Pochettino is the better manager, and yet we sit above Spurs…but I bet you all say it’s because of personnel!). I’ve watched Chelsea and City lose to similar opponents to Sheffield this season, and in similar fashion, and so I’m not interested in making claims about Emery / Arsenal based on comparisons. I’m also not defending Emery, per se; all I’m saying is that a) I don’t like what I’m seeing, and b) I still don’t think we should fire Emery right now. I think it’s funny that people are demanding Ljungberg to take over because he “can’t be any worse.” Yeah. Good luck with that. It would be a sentiment hire, and United tell us that those can’t go wrong!
I think the club will assess things in December, and I’m fine with that. If it looks at that point like we’re unlikely to make top four, I’m sure Emery will be gone…which I’m also totally fine with. I have no attachment to Emery, despite what some here claim about me.
Btw, Lampard has been getting away with it because of individual performances, like Tammy Abraham’s. Right? I mean, I hope that we can be consistent about how we rate managers vs. players, and reasons for performances. Easy to see what Lampard is trying to do? He’s been getting by on Tammy Abraham! I’m not saying Emery is any better, but it’s nonsense to claim that Lampard is better if you’ve also gone the route of pinning your argument on individual performance when it comes to Arsenal’s (albeit few) successes.
Chelsea (as well as Spurs and United…and us) have looked both good and garbage in equal turns this season.
Maybe Lampard will go the same way of Emery. I am no big fan of Lampard. Nor do I fancy bigging up our rivals to put down Emery. But, for a novice coach with little experience he has come to a big club and started to produce results. He lost the team’s best player in Hazard. Had loads of youngsters to work with and got on with the job. I am not saying he has some grand vision. But he does seem to want to play in a certain way and his team seems to be trying to follow his plan. Maybe works at times, other times it doesn’t. Emery has WAY more experience than Lampard so I have lot more expectations from him. He is a league winner but he plays his team like Big Sam’s Bolton. Maybe because he doesn’t think he can win the title with this set of players. But if the ambition is to somehow reach top 4, you will never dream of winning the league. Question to ask is this, does this team excite us as fans? Does this coach inspire his players to do better? Are the players willing to put themselves on the line for Emery? Wenger, Fergie, Mourinho, Pep and Klopp are guys who inspire their players to do better. Does Emery reach that standard? If not, then we are selling ourselves short. We need to do better. I hope owners see that they are not getting the value they expected from Emery. I hope they are proactive and look for alternatives. I don’t know who will be better. I think the senior management has lot more experience in evaluating candidates. I just hope they can look for a coach who is keen to play attacking Football and who can communicate his ideas to this team because Emery seems to be failing in that area.
BUNBURYIST I read here most days and regularly find your opinions arrogant at best and ill-informed at worst. Your patronising tone enforces your own perception on the argument, far removed from the initial point of the comment. As if your statements are so squeaky clean and free from hypocrisy.
If you had actually watched Chelsea you would come to the conclusion that they are not getting by on Abraham, they are actually creating multiple chances for him and other under 23 players such as Mount to flourish. With a fairly progressive pass and move system; Lampard has done more in two months than Emery in 14, who has regressed Arsenal fc to a shapeless, clueless, midfield-less mess.
My patronising tone enforces my own perception on the argument?
Thanks for that! Lol.
Touche’. Bring on Freddie. He can’t do any worse that’s for bloody sure
UE is so bad, he’s hurting shareholder value! Surely, he’ll be sacked.
From a fan perspective, I’m already ready. From midfield forward, we have a very, very, very good team, with quality and depth a plenty. Ay the back, it’s more mix and match, but that’s where we have been wedded to veterans who may not still be prime time. We haven’t played to our strengths since UE got here, and now he’s gun shy on managing our weaknesses. Out!
If our midfield is as good as you say, they should be able to overcome the vagaries of selection / formation. Clearly system has a part to play, but I’ve also not seen anything spectacular, individually, from our midfield that would suggest they are triple “very good.”
Putting the Ozil selection aside, when we constantly start Xhaka and Guendouzi, we are constantly starting out least dynamic midfielders. Hardly an opportunity to let our quality shine. And the Ozil situation adds to this.
I wonder, if we changed coaches now, whether Ozil would be right back in there. Something tells me ‘no’. He looked a shadow of his former self even before the Germany debacle. His best years are long behind him. Happy to be proven wrong, though, as he was once my favorite player at the club.
I’m sure every coach will start him. He is the best creator in the team, and since we are not getting a more consistent creator, start ozil!
Other mid table manager would be jealous with what unai Emery got…team full of talented players. Instead of making arsenal stronger, this man slowly & systematically ruin us. His tactics has degraded some players…Pepe obviously one of them. I don’t think we would able to be top 4 if Unai still with us…even with Neymar & Van Djik. Good for ozil to be rested today…. otherwise he would got unnecessary blame…Sorry, forgot that if Neymar is with us he too may not on list….same as ozil. Hahaha. I’m counting your day…watch out Emery
Emery will be sacked this season (probably too late), because Sanllehi is no fool. But sacking him too early will reflect badly on the management. I think at the first sign of genuine crisis he’ll be out. We’re stumbling but this is no crisis yet.
Unai will not be hired by a top club again, as you said. PSG should’ve damned him, but that could’ve been written off as a one off at an odd ball club. This is much harder to hide.
Having said that, I’m sure we’ll see him in the prem again. At West Ham, Palace, Southampton… Any of those clubs would take him. And that would be his level. And he’d probably play us with his negative reactive antagonistic style, and nick a win.
I imagine you’re right about the sacking timing, but I don’t think we’ll see him in the Prem again. He’ll go back to Spain.
Lord knows I’m no fan of Emery, but part of me feels that calling for his head now is too reactionary. Yes, part of me also fears that he’ll never really be a fit, but still…
Emery’s Arsenal never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. How many times late last season did we threaten to go third or top 4, only to slip up at a bottom third team or a team that had previously taken a hiding from everyone else? Dare we dream to go back to third — a point behind City — where we were before the break? Im mean, honestly… who is surprised by this result?
I’m not. What I am surprised by is how well they played relative to us (toothless, aimless, blunt), and how easily they held us off. The truth is that we did not unduly extend them, we did not really outskill them, and we did not really trouble them. They defended very well, and played well.
The held off our “surge” with some ease. Bottom third sides will give them far harder games.
That’s the biggest knock on Unai. But realistically, I don’t see him having an interrupted season. But you never know. Christmas in 8th, and a 4th season out of the CL beckoning, and the hierarchy just might give him the boot.
The good. Don’t rush Bellerin back. We have a proper defensive presence at right back, and he contributes a fair bit to the attack.
Last thing. Ceballos has a bad habit. He loves a short corner why to too much for my liking. He demands the responsibility, but then taps the ball 2 yards, and we end up losing it two pointlessly intricate possessions later. The lack of incision and imagination at corners kind of summed up our overall play today.
Putting aside Dean’s bias and Pepe’s miss, I don’t know where to look to. The team selection on match-day 9 with a fully fit squad against an average opposition was … horrendous. The combination of Xhaka and Guendouzi when you need to be crisp and fluent in possession is the worst. Of the back 4, keep Chambers and replace the rest. Everybody can see that Saka has the Europa League level for the moment, no more. And then, leaving Özil out of the squad…
For me, he’s (Mezut is) the big winner of this disaster. Without playing. Thanks to Emery.
I’d better not talk about the changes he made, but I will: put 4 forwards on the field and change the attack line during all the second half to end with Auba at right wing, Marti at left wing, Laca as 9 and Saka as 10…. WWTTFF??
There is only one responsible to blame for that show. It’s time to pull the plug. Good ebening.
I stopped read and listening to whatever comes from the mouth of unai emery. His tiki-taka stupidity back from the keeper. Even monkeys can keep and protect the ball much better.
Emery is play defensive soccer always why are you playing that style this is not vintage arsenal we play offensive and defensive why the best players are on the bench you have a healthy squad but you insist in mediocre players i think this coach taking too long now
Emery takes it as a personal affront when Pepe, who otherwise had a pretty good game, misses a clear chance. Because those are the sort of goals he’s been getting by on.
Poor chap really wanted to throw Pepe under the bus but not so easy when it’s not a Wenger player, but a record signing brought in to be the winger you said you needed.
The football is bad, but I find myself getting really annoyed by Emery’s seemingly pathological inability to accept responsibility. He’s constantly looking to shift blame, or deny that blame should exist.
We didn’t deserve to lose …because… corners… and 3 clear chances??
Do you know your first XI, Unai? Today I thought we didn’t have efficiency. Bleh
“Emery takes it as a personal affront when Pepe, who otherwise had a pretty good game, misses a clear chance. Because those are the sort of goals he’s been getting by on.”
Could be. However, I think Pepe was starting to become frustrated with his game and it began to show with mistimed/misplaced/over-hit passes and shots. And he wasn’t so much in sync with Laca and Auba. He was just trying everything for the sake of it. Maybe be a sign of mental fatigue. Martinelli needed to come on too, and the obvious candidate at the time was Pepe.
“We didn’t deserve to lose …because… corners… and 3 clear chances??”
Don’t even know what to say about that one. Emery talking out his arse I guess.
“So so annoying…” **in Pep’s voice**
Pepe was right to be frustrated though. He has no support in this ‘system’. He’s left on an island and is expected to create something on his own.
The sub is whatever. I thought Pepe was most likely to make something happen. But worth trying to change things I suppose. Still, playing Auba wide after the sub was…. interesting. I’m sure there was logic to it, but Emery tries to be too ‘tactical’ at the best of times.
His whole approach is just bad. I say this with no pleasure, and a lot of sadness. But I really see no reason to support him. He doesn’t even come across as likeable.
I liked how protective Freddie is of Saka, who he’s taken under his wing. He was incensed that Dean called that a dive.
True, but he already plays better than Mikhitarian or Iwobi that he replaced and has a higher ceiling. So I think the problem isn’t in young kids, it is in how they are being used, the system(or lack of it) they are to play in.
What was asked of Unai Emery at arrival is done.
Asked to grab the helm in a storm– he did. He’s been paid well for steering. The deadwood jettisoned, he deserves no further consideration.
The players ‘Unai bought’? Be clear. These were Raul’s (and Josh’s) buys. Unai Emery gets a cursory rubber-stamp nod in the process. Ceballos might thrive if we keep him. Luiz was a necessary stopgap. The one truly ‘bought’, Pepe? Let’s please help him not to be Mourinhoed (and benched, a la KDB and Salah).
Only a fool cannot see we are at a decision point.
That no good can come from continuing over the upcoming falls, in a barrel, with Unai Emery.
Sanllehi is no fool.
I don’t trust Raul one bit. As long as he doesn’t face the blowback it’s convenient for him to keep Emery around. Especially if he makes a change now and we end up not getting top 4, it’s greater personal risk.
But I’m interested in what Edu’s role is and how assertive he is. Is he at Arsenal to make up the numbers and fit in, or is he here to make a difference? I can’t imagine he’s in any way impressed by the football we’re playing. Does he put his foot down and push for a change? Freddie’s clearly being positioned to take over if this happens. I hope it does.
Long aware of your stance on Raul my friend.
With the exception of the choice (Arteta) we both seem to agree he blew– I’m of the mind he’s gotten his decisions correct to date.
Don’t believe Raul is facing personal risk this season– unlike UE. After last night– I can’t see Emery rolling 7s often enough– through to season’s end– to reach top-4. The risk is sticking with Emery, not jettisoning him.
Now is far better than waiting until December’s slew of matches.
He advocated for Emery. Then got rid of Sven when he was opposed to the Suarez signing. Got rid of Ramsey, has been trying for a year to get rid of Ozil, had some issue with Koscielny, sold Iwobi for 30m, and spent 70m+ on Pepe. This is on him. It’s basically his team. But at least he can point to being okay-ish on results and the worst he’ll be accused of is being patient and hoping.
If he pulls the trigger on Emery, he’s admitting to a mistake, and might fear that won’t reflect well on him with Josh. Especially if the replacement ends up not getting us to the CL either. Then he gets accused of being wrong in his judgment TWICE.
I agree with you on what should happen. I’m just skeptical that personal considerations won’t override that.
After the kids didn’t get many chances last season, the club promoted Freddie with that specific mandate. Credit to Raul for that, and MAYBE also for the Edu appointment. (I still liked Sven for the role)
Sven was a power play. Liked him as well– but am actually pleased with what’s come to pass regarding players identified/bought (Pepe, Saliba) with the future in mind. Ramsey? Enigmatic. Good when good– though too expensive to resign with his injury history (really liked AR for a number of reasons– happy for him he’s off too).
Felt Iwobi was good business with Saka and Nelson almost ready. Can’t see where he would have fit in Emery’s gummed-up system. Kos was a dope. But got his way. Eh.
I’ll offer up this synopsis from James McNicholas at The Athletic (an excerpt from an interview with the BFG just before the ManU match):
“Arsenal are building a model which has the durability to withstand a change in coach. Publicly, they say the advantage of this approach is that it enables the coach to focus on the next game. Contained within that is a tacit admission: not only is a coach’s focus short-term, but increasingly so is their tenure. Emery’s current contract runs no further than 2021; Arsenal have built an infrastructure to outlast him.”
It’s not so much– in my view– of Sanllehi worrying about appearances. More likely the concern: Is the new infrastructure ready for it’s first real test of change?
No time better time than right now to find out.
If AW have this present squad , we would be challenging for first position.A biased coach is already a loser . The record Ozil has set in the premier league is yet to be matched by any player . Emery cannot manage elite teams like Arsenal .From the players paraded against SHU , only 6 deserve starting rights -Callum , PEU,Laca,Pepe,Martinelli ,Leno. Arsenal’s problems start with the coach . Self inflicted injury . Not fielding your best players in each match . The coach must go before Christmas otherwise there will be more gnashing of teath and heart break . Beautiful soccer has gone
“The record Ozil has set in the premier league is yet to be matched by any player”
Players should get starts because of their current form and/or their suitability to the team’s instructions. Players don’t get playing time at clubs like Liverpool and City because of their records.
It shouldn’t be any different at Arsenal.
Agreed.
Emery has to go. While there may still be a few loyalists who think 18 months and a couple of hundred million is still not enough to make him responsible for this team and that he deserves more time (and money?) to fine tune their current style of nicking a goal and channeling Pulis’s Stoke City, the talent in the squad requires the hand of someone else who inspires a little more confidence and at least looks like he knows what he is doing. There is no way I’m waking up at 3am on a working weekday to watch today’s version of Arsenal and I expect I am not alone in not wanting to sacrifice peaceful slumber for the frustrating boredom that is Emery’s specialty. With this team we should be solidifying 3rd place with Spurs, Chelsea and Man Utd in relative disarray. That we are not is on him.
we’ve got a bunch of really smart guys in this community so i’d like to ask the same question i asked at the end of last season; what is emery trying to do, strategically?
i’ve not suggested that lampard or rodgers are better than emery. my point is they’ve come in and, in considerably less time than emery, expressed themselves and provided direction to their respective teams. what direction has emery provided to arsenal?
arsenal were easy work for sheffield united but it’s not just today’s game. arsenal were lucky to beat an awful bournemouth before the break. they were lucky against aston villa a poor tottenham side, and a dreadful man united. arsenal have been as bad this season as they were at the end of last season. the only difference has been the brilliance of a few players, namely aubameyang.
i’m sticking with my theory which suggests that the players either don’t know or don’t believe in what the manager wants them to do. it’s not the talent, it’s the lack of belief.
I think it’s really difficult to discern the plan from the dross being served up, and I’m certainly no tactics expert, but my observations would be:
1) Emery doesn’t want to play through the number 10 position. No matter which player is furthest forward in the midfield (Ozil, Ramsey, Ceballos, Willock) they don’t see much of the ball in the attacking third – this is systemic.
Speculation: Emery feels safer with three midfielders behind the ball, or at least wants his 10 to be the ‘first defender’, hence initially picking Ramsey for his running, and the baffling frequency that Torriera appears in this position. Safety first!
2) If we accept that the lack of play from the attacking midfield is intentional, then the chances must be made by the front 3 themselves or by overloads from a fullback. Pound shop Liverpool without the press.
Speculation: Pepe’s chance is the Archetype of what I think Emery wants to do. I think Emery also tries to make space for the front three by passing it at the back to draw the opposition up, then springing quick direct passes to the forwards. If the quick break isn’t on, he wants to recycle possession and then work it wide for a fullback to cross. Pros – keeps players behind the ball. Safety first! Cons – doesn’t actually work very often, because Aubameyang isn’t Firmino, Pepe isn’t Salah (or even settled, for that matter), the fullbacks don’t cross that well, there’s no target man to hit, and unlike Liverpool we rarely get turnovers high up the pitch. Additionally, we are regularly pressed off the ball in our own defensive third.
Summary: I think Emery wants a compact midfield as a safety blanket and to create a few good chances on the break. Neither element of which is currently working.
Damn!
Comment of the year. Well laid out.
Your observations are 100% spot on. And I think your speculations are the closest anybody (I have heard or read from) has ever gotten to in trying to describe what Emery wants to do with this team. And I agree he is basically over-doing some of it and under-doing some of it.
The ‘safety-first’ bit is an essential part of an effective modern setup. But Emery is over-doing it.
The “passing it at the back to draw the opposition up, then springing quick direct passes to the forwards” bit is a brilliant idea when it works! But again, Emery is under-doing it – if that makes any sense at all.
I’d like to know what you think are the odds that Emery will somehow get the balance right and eventually get this thing to work?
Personally, close to nil.
We invite the press onto players who cannot play in tight spaces. We play long balls to slight forwards without offering them any support. We attempt to break down deep defences with fullback crosses. It’s garbled. None of the players match the roles they’ve been given. I think it’s a train wreck.
Good thoughts, Copperbottom.
There was something about last night’s game that just broke my hope in Emery.
END OF!
Maybe Unai’s definition of protagonists is different from standard English definition. A good question for the next press conference?
I am not the type to be wedded to any player or manager -Ozil, Wenger or Emery- to the point where I am blinded to their failings.
I am more concerned with enjoying the sight of Arsenal winning games (foremost priority) and playing fine football. Simply put, I am wedded to the team only.
So, while I am still of the opinion that we need to give this project adequate time to come together, I fully expect that Emery is sent packing by December if the results do not justify his approach to games or at the very least (more specifically) see a ginormous improvement in how the team defends.
At least with Wenger we passed sideways… frustratingly .. now we pass backwards. Freekicks in their half and 2 passes later with Leno. WTF. If we pass out from the back it is to create space not to invite pressure . Has Leno been watching the RUGBY World cup? we are not supposed to kick for touch mate..
At least go down fighting.
I wish Tim could tell us how many sideways and backwards passes we made in our own half rather than move the ball forward and get at the opposition.
Technically, there was no error on that goal. That raises the question of how they count errors. I felt like there was definitely an error. I felt like Xhaka standing there and watching Mousette score was pretty horrifying but according to opta, no error.
Yet Xhaka does what Xhaka does best – conced and complain!
copperbottom, i guess i asked the wrong question. it’s not so much what emery’s trying to do but rather does anyone believe it can work? everyone seems to have emery figured out but he refuses to change.
one of the biggest problems i see is that there’s no creativity. liverpool don’t play with a #10 but they still create plenty with good center forward play from firmino, who drops in and helps out in the midfield; he’s not a false 9 but he often does that job to make space for salah and mane.
second, liverpool’s strikers all help out defensively. their work is not random, but they develop a situation where they deny width to opponents. arsenal’s strikers only work hard sometimes and it’s often as individuals, not part of a scheme.
third, and i invite you all to pay attention to this when watching arsenal; whenever arsenal lose the ball, their central defenders drop off too deep. even with three center mids, the center backs dropping off like that makes the field far too big for 3 players to cover. arsenal don’t control that space. this is why it’s so easy for team too play between the lines against arsenal. not only that, but during transitions, those two center backs don’t do anything to help the team win the ball. they don’t intercept. they don’t tackle. they don’t even man-mark. they simply retreat towards their goal. it’s a foolish approach and i don’t understand why emery allows it. i don’t see how arsenal can win this way.
Hello,
I have been following this space since the last couple of years. I have been reading the posts out here and I must say, each one is just too good. I will always be a regular follower here.
After all this while, i have decided to finally post my opinion on stuff going around, and i dunno if it matters or not. I was a Wenger loyalist. Huge fan, loved the man. I always believed what attracted me to the club for the best part of fifteen years is his ideology. But come the latter years , I wanted him to go with his dignity intact.
When Arsenal chased a new boss, I had my own list of guys who I thought could do a decent job. Emery was by far the lowest on the list. I still supported. I have followed every single game. As a fan, all i can say is what we get right now is poo. I have actually slept through games. I hope he gets the sack.
I too have fallen asleep during a couple of our more atrocious performances. Definitely I’m not joyous watching how we play.
Liverpool went to Sheffield with their best starting 11 and got a lucky win gifted to them by the Sheffield keeper.
Arsenal had created better chances than Liverpool until the first goal was scored.
Goals change matches.
I’ve been an Emery out for a while now but no one goes to Sheffield and creates a lot, you just have to take your chances.
Auba shows more resolve on the Pepe cross and it’s a goal.
Pepe puts his right peg down instead of trying to swing his left at Kola’s cross and it’s 2:0 and game over, considering Sheffield don’t usually score more than one per game.
How is Emery stating we didn’t deserve to lose this game not accurate?
But this is what happens when fans turn on the manager, everything he says or does gets scrutinized.
Emery was probably the wrong hire considering how awful Arsenal had been away in Wenger’s last season and Emery’s away record in Spain ,but here we are.
Btw, Guen, Xhaka , Willock and Saka are as pedestrian a midfield you’ll ever find in a top four PL hopeful.
I agree with you. I only started watching in 2011 so don’t have a glorious past to reminisce about but currently Arsenal leave me sad. I am always left shaking my head at 2 in the night wondering why I stayed up.