Unai Emery

[Fran Solo]

Everything was against us from the beginning. Sokratis and Mustafi are suspended, Holding is injured, Koscielny and Monreal just come back and can't be 100% match fit, Kolasinac and Bellerin injuries, all the midfielders were not at their best and Leno made the biggest mistake for us so far.
I don't want to comment too much on the starting line up. Yes, it wasn't supposed to be that defensive, but I don't know the reality of Ramsey's and Ozil's condition. They might be not fit enough as well. Ozil looked average against Qarabag and did not run as much as usual. Anyway, we still managed to score two goals. Usually two goals are enough to get a point or maybe three if we're lucky. But three goals? This is our first under Emery I think.

We conceded 3 in game 2 at chelsea
Today was game 25
Bertie mee was manager when Arsenal had the best home season in all my years of going
70/71 conceded 6 home goals all season winning the double
In his first 25 games
We lost 3-1 at Spurs
3-1 at Chelsea
4-2 home to Leicester
3-1 at Leeds
3-2 home to west brom
10 years of poor defending will not be turned round overnight

True.

[LMAO]

Why not El Neny or Monreal as CB? Xhaka as CB is outrageous; even as a full back he is poor. His defensive skills are mediocre, at best.
The team selection was short sighted today.
And what's with Ozil? Why isn't he started against a PL opponent? Push him, make him earn his living. He was brought in after 70 minutes, so there's nothing wrong with him.
This was a damaging loss against a very mediocre opponent.
If we don't make the top four come May, we will rue these days.

Depends. It's all moot if we win the EL.

[Cannoner]

Why not El Neny or Monreal as CB? Xhaka as CB is outrageous; even as a full back he is poor. His defensive skills are mediocre, at best.
The team selection was short sighted today.
And what's with Ozil? Why isn't he started against a PL opponent? Push him, make him earn his living. He was brought in after 70 minutes, so there's nothing wrong with him.
This was a damaging loss against a very mediocre opponent.
If we don't make the top four come May, we will rue these days.

We had 3 of our most consistent central defenders out and we had a makeshift defence. These things happen. I don't understand the argument for having Elneny at CB instead, there's not much difference between the two. If anything Elneny is slower and isn't accustomed to playing there so it would have been worse, whereas at least Xhaka has played in defence a few times.

Xhaka seems to be his utility player and I trust Unai because he's the one working with the players day in day out in training. We're the ones hypothesising on a forum.

As for Ozil, he isn't starting because he isn't good enough. He doesn't fit Unai's system or ethos, and no doubt he will be gone soon. We had a go at Wenger for persisting with players and now we have a ruthless manager we're having a go at him for not starting inconsistent players. I don't get it.

I know we're all desperate for success but let's think with rationale and perspective guys.

[PairyGrows]

Emery is doing all he can with, frankly, a squad that lacks depth and quality in many areas. While we've looked sharp going forward, we've been shaky at the back. Our defence keeps conceding a couple of big chances in almost every game, which indicates we've been riding our luck.

As long as there's no massive investment in the squad (we're talking £100 - 200 million), especially in the defence; we're not going to be a very successful side. I'm sorry, but I don't have much faith that our defenders can take theie games to a next level. None of them have shown any signs of that.

All in all, Emery's doing his best with the material he has. I'm not going to fault him for the effort. However, what he's accomplishing isn't enough. Simple as that.

[Dejan]

I dont think you can state that he is doing all he can when he is structuraly starting iwobi above lacazette.

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[Zedie]

I dont think you can state that he is doing all he can when he is structuraly starting iwobi above lacazette.

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We've got no one behind laca if him or auba go. We do have wing options. One medium term injury to either of those two and we are up shit creek immediately.

Also, emery clearly likes to use quality from the bench to apply pressure in the second half. Can't do that swapping out ballers for pubbers at half time.

We simply haven't currently got enough quality in all areas to fully rotate and keep a proper quality 11 at all times.

We need to get back in CL asap so we can start splashing cash again

[StLGooner]

He deserves a couple of seasons to get his players in and build a good foundation based off of his playing and coaching style.

[Dejan]

I dont think you can state that he is doing all he can when he is structuraly starting iwobi above lacazette.

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We've got no one behind laca if him or auba go. We do have wing options. One medium term injury to either of those two and we are up shit creek immediately.

Also, emery clearly likes to use quality from the bench to apply pressure in the second half. Can't do that swapping out ballers for pubbers at half time.

We simply haven't currently got enough quality in all areas to fully rotate and keep a proper quality 11 at all times.

We need to get back in CL asap so we can start splashing cash again

That still doesnt explain why you play lacazette in a pointless europa league game. While bench him for southampton. Which is our most important competition.

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[Interest: waning]

I don't get that logic anyway. Laca and Auba aren't both going to get injured if they play at the same time.

We also still have a very talented Nketiah as backup.

[DiamondGooner]

I dont think you can state that he is doing all he can when he is structuraly starting iwobi above lacazette.

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We've got no one behind laca if him or auba go. We do have wing options. One medium term injury to either of those two and we are up shit creek immediately.

Also, emery clearly likes to use quality from the bench to apply pressure in the second half. Can't do that swapping out ballers for pubbers at half time.

We simply haven't currently got enough quality in all areas to fully rotate and keep a proper quality 11 at all times.

We need to get back in CL asap so we can start splashing cash again

That still doesnt explain why you play lacazette in a pointless europa league game. While bench him for southampton. Which is our most important competition.

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Someone needs to play up front even in the Europa, Nketiah isn't ready especially when we progress we'll need a starting striker up front and Laca played half the game against Southampton, people act like he didn't feature at all.

This isn't down to Emery this is down to losing Welbeck, Welbs would of played up front in the Qarabag game if he was here, I think we need to get a 3rd spot striker in Jan if we want to go back to starting Laca and Auba together.

[PairyGrows]

Let's not forget that Iwobi is the only winger in our squad. In that sense, Emery has no choice but to play him if he wants to play a winger. He doesn't have the players he needs to fully implement his ideas.

We'll need to spend a lot next summer if top four is our aim next season. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.

[Dejan]

I dont think you can state that he is doing all he can when he is structuraly starting iwobi above lacazette.

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We've got no one behind laca if him or auba go. We do have wing options. One medium term injury to either of those two and we are up shit creek immediately.

Also, emery clearly likes to use quality from the bench to apply pressure in the second half. Can't do that swapping out ballers for pubbers at half time.

We simply haven't currently got enough quality in all areas to fully rotate and keep a proper quality 11 at all times.

We need to get back in CL asap so we can start splashing cash again

That still doesnt explain why you play lacazette in a pointless europa league game. While bench him for southampton. Which is our most important competition.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G920F met Tapatalk

Someone needs to play up front even in the Europa, Nketiah isn't ready especially when we progress we'll need a starting striker up front and Laca played half the game against Southampton, people act like he didn't feature at all.

This isn't down to Emery this is down to losing Welbeck, Welbs would of played up front in the Qarabag game if he was here, I think we need to get a 3rd spot striker in Jan if we want to go back to starting Laca and Auba together.

Why cant nketiah play up front in the game as pointless as qarabag ffs

Emery made the wrong decision and it backfired

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[DiamondGooner]

I dont think you can state that he is doing all he can when he is structuraly starting iwobi above lacazette.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G920F met Tapatalk

We've got no one behind laca if him or auba go. We do have wing options. One medium term injury to either of those two and we are up shit creek immediately.

Also, emery clearly likes to use quality from the bench to apply pressure in the second half. Can't do that swapping out ballers for pubbers at half time.

We simply haven't currently got enough quality in all areas to fully rotate and keep a proper quality 11 at all times.

We need to get back in CL asap so we can start splashing cash again

That still doesnt explain why you play lacazette in a pointless europa league game. While bench him for southampton. Which is our most important competition.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G920F met Tapatalk

Someone needs to play up front even in the Europa, Nketiah isn't ready especially when we progress we'll need a starting striker up front and Laca played half the game against Southampton, people act like he didn't feature at all.

This isn't down to Emery this is down to losing Welbeck, Welbs would of played up front in the Qarabag game if he was here, I think we need to get a 3rd spot striker in Jan if we want to go back to starting Laca and Auba together.

Why cant nketiah play up front in the game as pointless as qarabag ffs

Emery made the wrong decision and it backfired

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But did it?

Do you honestly think 45 more mins of Laca would of fixed Kos's horror show in defense? would it of stopped Southampton doing crosses into the box?

We'll never know but its 50/50 at best, I think it was more than just Laca not starting, I think it was formation, I think it was no Ozil or Ramsey as well, there was a few issues in that game, Emery didn't pull it out the bag this time, lets see what he does to fix it.

I'm not going to crucify him for one loss in 23 games.

[LegendaryKeown]

My viewpoint is that Emery is overachieving far more than I expected him to. Let's not forget Pep started on 4th and finished 3rd in his first season. Klopp finished 8th in his first season. He then finished 4th in his first full season.

They had 78 and 76 points respectively in those seasons.

We're averaging two points a game. We're on track for around that table.

Considering where we are, and where Pep was, for example, that is a fantastic turnaround in such quick time. Klopp started 8th, but he had three transfer windows to fix it.

Emery has only had one.

The task is huge. We have no wingers. We have one top level CB, and one clown who Emery has made look reasonably good so far. Holding shouldn't be starting. Koscielny isn't coming back from an Achilles to top level anyway, and is 33 anyway. Our midfield is unbalanced, and our one summer acquisition has fixed most of the issues there.

The lack of wingers, the lack of a top class CB is not a small issue. Despite this, we're challenging for top four, in one of the most competitive seasons. In most seasons, two points per game would be enough for a top four finish. It might still be at the end of this season.

He's also inherited a coaching staff, which is a disgrace.



This is what the goalkeepers were coached by. Can you imagine? (From 12:10, see Fabianski and Scez). Jesus wept.

He's set about fixing that. But you can't fix ten years of no defending in one day. I would take improvements and 5th this season, with investment next season to get 4th. And if he wins the Europa League along with it, that'd be an excellent season.

This isn't his 22nd season with him repeating the same mistakes. This is him making a few mistakes in his first season where he's still getting points.

[theHotHead]

I see a lot of people are frustrated and angry, I posted this in the match thread, I'll post it here too:

Let's all calm down a bit. This is still Wenger's squad and he left us in a right state. The media and whole country predicted us to nosedive after Wenger left and we've proved them all wrong by going 22 unbeaten. So ignore their doom and gloom headlines cause they've been made to look like mugs.

Firstly, Unai is still getting to know his team and players. He hasn't settled on a formation yet because he doesn't know what his best formation is, and that's completely fine, because that takes time. I see some saying drop X and drop Y and Z too, but no manager comes in and rips the squad apart; he usually gives existing players a chance to prove themselves so that's why he's persisting with Iwobi, Xhaka etc. But be in no doubt that if they don't step up by the end of the season he'll be shaping the squad into his own. Imagine he dropped Iwobi now for Saka, that would ultimately end Iwobi's career at Arsenal- the kid is young and still has room to grow so he's rightly giving him a chance. He has it seems, however, made his mind up on Ozil; it appears he doesn't fancy him so it wouldn't surprise me if he's moved on soon.

Secondly, in terms of today, we had 3 of our most consistent defenders out. We had a makeshift defence against a rejuvenated Soton. Look on the bright side, if we keep winning maybe it would brush issues under the carpet and we all know the squad needs surgery. So it's a blessing in disguise because I can't see Unai persisting with someone like Ozil after that performance. He bought on Ozil ahead of Ramsey and he's probably realised that was a mistake, so he won't be making that again. Once again, he's learning.

Finally, the fact you're all so pissed off is a sign of improvement itself. For the past few years we would have accepted the loss under Wenger but now we're annoyed, pissed off and angry- does that not show the change in mentality and mindset at the club? I am loving what Unai is doing and we knew the first season or two was going to be a rollercoaster. When Klopp and Jose took over their clubs they were getting beat left, right and centre up and down the country, and were ridiculed every week on social media. We're not. We've just gone 22 unbeaten. And that's down to Unai.

I agreed with you until your Ozil bashing. Yawn.