Was going to say...they pretty much said what I said about Ozil. I see Clive has changed his tune on Xhaka....but he tends to go back and forth with him.Originally Posted by Power n Glory
Was going to say...they pretty much said what I said about Ozil. I see Clive has changed his tune on Xhaka....but he tends to go back and forth with him.
I actually think we’re more or less on the same page here P’n’G, I just think we are articulating it slightly differently. I totally get where you are coming from and totally understand that we can’t just buy our way into top 4 with a brand new team. However I would have hoped for us to make a few signings of real quality instead of this mishmashed window of what I would term slight hit and hope.
I am happy to be proven wrong and laughed at come the end of the season, I want we all want on here, for Arsenal to do well.
I am fully behind the new regime and am desperate for us to do well but I do have major concerns about our strategy, it doesn’t fully make sense to me.
Emery has a huge job on his hands, he has to repair a damaged ship as well as integrate new parts to it. I’m not convinced some of the damaged parts can be repaired, we all know who these players are. How much time do they really need to be given? Some of them are in third season in PL and quite frankly have gotten worse. They aren’t kids either.
Last edited by selassie; 14-08-2018 at 12:35 PM.
The actions of our recruitment this summer screams 'try and sneak into the top 4'. I will be delighted if Emery does it but fully expect us to finish 4th or 5th. If he achieves any higher I think he deserves a hell of a lot of praise.
If your ambitions are significantly higher than the above then you buy a top quality centre half, a goal keeper you really have faith and conviction in bringing in and buy a wide player for balance even if he isn't world class.
Like Bumble and a few others my eye is really on getting this club back into the top 4 via getting this club some more European silverware.....and that means the Europa league which we should have won last season if we weren't so fundamentally basic in terms of how we defend.
Finishing 4th is only significant because it gets you into the CL....so I'd rather do it via winning something but obviously you want to finish as high as possible.
Saying he was on a different wavelength isn't quite the same as saying he had a poor performance with poor touches and decisions. He put in a shift on defence but once again, he didn't make an impact in this sort of game. Maybe the game came too early for him but he has to sharpen up quickly because he hardly ever makes an impact in these sort of games.
I liked Clive's summary of it. A lot of players went into hiding and weren't showing for the ball in the second phase. Ozil included. That's always been my problem with Ozil. He doesn't impose himself on the game. We'll see how the season develops but he's included in the bracket of players that we're not sure where he fits into an Emery team. Out wide or central. We'll soon see.
I think they have all gone back on forth on their opinion with Xhaka. Tim still thinks Xhaka has a place in the squad but I disagree. Besides being to slow receive the ball from the defence, he's a liability on defence. They didn't mention how poor he was positionally for both goals. He can't spot the danger. We'll see if Emery can change that but I doubt it.
IMO we needed some top quality signings we could rely on in the summer, seems to me that our transfer window was just bringing in a few to scrape into the top 4 if possible as someone else said, all cheapish and none at the top of their game, Guendouzi a kid with potential who looks decent but realistically can't be relied upon to play every game at his age, Torreira who looks very good but was available relatively cheap due to the clause in his contract, Sokratis a decent defender available fairly cheaply due to his age, Lichsteiner a free signing and Leno a goalkeeper who has been a bit suspect recently which is again reflected in the price we paid, also a keeper we don't seem to have 100% trust in to replace a 36 year old keeper who is well past his best.
All decent signings, but the reality is these are the kind of signings a team like West Ham or C Palace would make, smaller clubs basically, so I get the comments about lack of investment, usually what would happen is a new manager would come in and sign one or two worldie's and some lesser players to work with, players he wants.
To be honest I have no faith in these Wengers duds, average footballers who have made a living on the fact noone at this club will ever challenge them to step up, Xhaka, Chambers, Mustafi, Ramsey, Iwobi, Holding, Welbeck, Elneny (the list goes on), players who lack hunger and even in the first match showed they aren't even that bothered about impressing the new manager. IMO we need to get rid of the old and bring in the new, this is what disappointed me about the lineup the other day, it was almost exactly like the Wenger team that came before, I would have expected Emery to try and put his stamp by picking the likes of Leno, Torreira and also Lacazette.
The new contracts for Chambers, Iwobi and Xhaka were a shocker too, none of those players have done anything to earn a new contract and yes I understand they could run them done like we've seen, but in this scenario who cares, they're average and barely have any market value anyway, we'd struggle to give them away.
Hmmm I can see where you are coming from, but my view is that first and foremost this bunch of players needs a new shape; a new system of playing and in particular to learn to defend as a team. There were some signs of the latter in Sunday's game despite the errors that led to the goals and as I've seen somewhere else, in the latter stages Citeh themselves were almost caught out by the pressing game that Emery is also trying to introduce. I'd agree that our signings seem somewhat underwhelming, but I can see the sense in not breaking the bank until Emery has had the opportunity to properly introduce his system, and seeing how our existing players respond to this.
I'm not sure that I agree with those advocating giving up on our most expensive player (Ozil) just yet. There is some sense in persevering with our investment for another season. Similarly, Ramsey IMO is quality, and I'm not sure who else is available who would be an improvement on him if the manager can get the MF pairings right - I can see sense in trying to get him to sign a new contract rather than paying what it would take to replace him.
It might be a cautious approach not to break the bank bringing in the fabled 'world class' players in this period of relative turmoil, but I have no massive qualms with this. Let's wait and see whether things can settle down and move forwards under Emery before looking to purchase further.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
I would be surprised if those three players aren't worth at least £30-40m if sold. So better to keep hold of them until a decision is made and they are replaced.
They said he tried, the effort was there and it wasn't a case of him not showing up it was more that nothing came off which was basically what I was saying. Particularly in the face of the regular 'he didn't show up/turn up' narrative on here. Not trying to be NQ, it's just how I Maybe that isn't to be taken too literally, but this was not an Ozil hiding in plain sight kind of performance. Not trying to be NQ, it's just how I saw it.
They also called out Lacazette on his faults, which I thought was slightly glossed over on here, even if I enjoyed him throwing his weight around and getting well involved in the game.
I think Emery was wrong to deploy him right, but that was simply a detail. On the day, Ozil's touch was off in general.
Tim said that given Xhaka is unsuited to receiving the ball in midfield facing his goalkeeper he doesn't know where that leaves Xhaka in this Emery era. He didn't expand and as usual on the podcast, if you pause for breath somebody else will take over, but to me that was Tim's way of saying.....'I don't think he really has a place in this team'.
It is telling though that so many had higher hopes for Xhaka under this regime and after a single game, so many are rethinking that.......
Last edited by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice; 14-08-2018 at 01:18 PM.
You only need to look at our squad right now and look at who we actually managed to sell (Perez I think) to realise selling these guys is hard, noone wants them or two play their overinflated wages, for years we've struggled to get rid of players, that's why the likes of Jenkinson, Perez, Campbell keep being sent on loan. Clubs have wised up and realise players from Arsenal aren't worth paying decent money for.
Jenkinson.
How bloody long is the contract we gave him? Can't believe it just hasn't be terminated. Even he must feel slightly embarrassed to call himself an Arsenal player.
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