23 Oct 2019 08:29:26
After a day of much thought, Sheff U gave us the difficult, tough, physical match expected. Of course the foul on Sokratis was a clear penalty.
I understood the rationale behind the team selection, with none of the players returning from injury risked in such a physical match. I wouldn't have started Saka, playing Torreira instead.
I reserve judgement on Emery, as his first season was an improvement on the previous season, he has had to manage during a major overhaul of the squad, and he hasn't played what is arguably the strongest back four of: Bellerin, Holding, Luiz and Tierney.
If we were to win the remaining two matches this week, we will be in strong position going into November. If we were to decide on a change, I know it would not be welcomed by all Arsenal fans, serial trophy winner Mourinho would be my choice.
What concerns me about Emery is that we now have a strong squad and are still dropping points against teams we should beat and our defending hasn't improved.
23 Oct 2019 08:36:38
Fair comment mate.
23 Oct 2019 13:48:31
The Arsenal is in such a bother right now and the sad thing is it will take sometime to get sorted. The issue is we fans have been spoiled with top 4 for so long we see it as how rights. Arsene Wenger use to say top 4 is like winning a trophy but fans thought it was ridiculous now we crave for it, because of the highs of L’pool and M City.
I think Emery is very naive and doesn’t realise it is not easy to beat teams lower down the league like in Spain and France. However, he’s inherited a strike force that doesn’t suit. Lac and Pea are central strikers and should start there but can’t in out formation. Pea can play out wide but is a compromise - but for how long? He’s dropping far too deep just to play the ball and he hasn’t got the skill to beat players close up in tight situations. If we had only one of those Nketiah and Martinelli should be in the squad. Crazy as it may sound Pea would be the one to go for me - thinking long term.
Saka seems good enough to continue without going in the market. Pepe seems talented enough to be a really good player for at least the next five years. But he also needs to get a grip of the physicality of the prem. How can he score 20 goals in Ligue 1 and can't score any here. He needs to work on his composure and mental strength and learn the language as well. I am still ok with the purchase albeit 72m is weighting him done and a stick used to beat him. Zaha would have been more ideal at this time but I guess we can’t have both. Palace must be comfortable in themselves not selling him to us for what we offered looking at what we then paid for Pepe.
Xhaka must be having the curse of the armband for clearly he’s not going to offer us anything. With such a left foot and being captain how can you not dictate the ball to be shown on your left and keep hitting it, especially when these walls are in front of us. Even to fake it and then drop it over the top to an on running striker or wide man cutting in. I am not yet convinced by Ceballos I believe Ozil can offer more but yes you would have to have more runners in Mid to cover his defensive duties. I don’t know what is going to become of Torreira and M-Niles and let's hope Guendouzi don’t over exhort himself as it seems he’s the only one who looks like he feels the pain.
LB maybe ok for now as Tierney looks class but RB looks vulnerable Bellerin never was a great defender and Chambers who’s a CB cross the ball more than he does. We might find he has lost pace and confidence. Luiz is in the team for his winning mentality more than anything else to me and we need that and could use that in midfield as well. Big decisions need to be made in CB as we may need to buy someone young and proven / ready made. Yes young as the older defenders despite there experience are having it hard in the league now with so much pace coming from the sides. Holding is likely to step up when he’s back but Saliba may need time being unproven and coming from abroad. So we have surplus of at least two to move on.
Leno is a worry to me. He tries to look pretty and don’t know how to par the ball far away enough from the goal. Also holds on to the ball far too long and take risk when we playing out for the back.
With all that said yes I would love to see us win ever game but Sheffield United game so clearly that ain’t going to happen.
23 Oct 2019 14:00:26
Are you serious, Holding played 90 mins be for the September international break. How can he still not be ready? The simple fact is that the manager is a bottle job.
23 Oct 2019 14:50:09
We most definitely will not finish top 4 this season under Emery of that I'm totally convinced, if come next May after 38 games if I am wrong and Emery is still Arsenal manager and we do finish top 4 I will never say a negative word about Xhaka ever again on this page ever. That would be extremely difficult to do but If I'm wrong about Emery and top 4 finish i will 100% keep to my word.
He might if he's allowed to continue with us win the Europa league and get us into the champions league by the back door but that's 100% his limit, and PSG aside, always has been his limit.
23 Oct 2019 19:59:41
I think I can safely say that Emery is not the man for us, he has taken us backward and we are way way worse than we were in the latter years of Wenger.
We don’t even play decent football, we look a mid to lower table side at best, how we were ever in 3rd place is anyone’s guess and to blindly harp on about improving on Wenger’s last season and major squad overhaul is just blinkered bowlocks.
I have zero allegiance to Emery, he’s an utter clown who is so far out of his depth it’s unreal, the board need to act and offload the muppet ASAP.
He is wasting this squad and it’s criminal, he has made us weaker defensively than Wenger ever did. We look dire and have more chance of losing a match than winning one.
His insistence in playing Xhaka and not Ozil because Ozil had the balls to tell him he isn’t a coach is pathetic.
It won’t make a blind bit of difference who he plays because his inability to coach effectively will always hamstring us.
We are a joke of a big club with a joker as manager.
23 Oct 2019 20:15:47
You can always tell a stoner post before you get to the signature
He writes with such elegance.
23 Oct 2019 20:39:11
That’s because I was bought up proper Malaga! 😂.
23 Oct 2019 21:20:52
We are worse than under Arsenes last seasons and we couldn't make top 4 then and we are worse now than we were in Emerys 1st season when again we couldn't get into the worst top 4 in memory, it's not rocket science to work out if we are going backwards from 5th and 6th place be won't be 3rd or 4th this season.
I agree Stoner it won't make any difference what players Emery picks his coaching tactics motivation and organisation Just isn't up to premier league level.
Our football has been dire this season and 3rd place was always a false position just like 1st place up to November so often was under Arsene.
When your conceding so many chances in every game you play it's only a matter of time before you stop getting away with it, 5 or 6 games maybe 10 or 11 games if your really lucky but no way can you ride your luck over 38 games, it just doesn't happen.
We can only hope Josh and Co see it for what it is and do something to at least try and save our season before It's too late and we end up in the 20/ 21 Europa league with a new manager.
23 Oct 2019 22:24:54
I admire your confidence G62 that we will end up in the Europa league.
It seems likely that the minimum requirement for the next manager will be to get us back into the Europa league!
23 Oct 2019 22:54:20
I still think top 4 is on. Our squad and how pitiful the rest of the bunch are means Pool will walk the league and we will come 4th. Our squad should be top 3 and I can’t see us competing under Emery. Our champ league chances aren’t in Emery’s hands but rather down to how crap Spurs and Utd are. Sheffield actually outplayed us. We have issues at both ends of the pitch despite close to 200m of talent. we can’t attack and we can’t defend. Please just make a change and put Freddie in charge for now I want to enjoy my football not moan.
24 Oct 2019 07:35:39
I know Chelsea are young Spurs are awful and Leicester unlikely to stay the pace but I just can't see how things will pick up and improve for us, our players are good but look completely lost as a team and so vulnerable and exposed at the back with absolutely no sign of anything getting better after 15 months.
Just can't see how or why things will change for us.