The last time he came off the bench he offered nothing and barely put in any effort at all.Originally Posted by GP
The last time he came off the bench he offered nothing and barely put in any effort at all.
Apparently so, so far though if it is him then he's not recruited as well as he could have done.
AMN clearly can't play those positions, some players are more adaptable than others but I think he should be played in the centre where, his natural position, as for the injuries it seems to be a common problem with us.
IMO it's a nonsense to change your mind like this when you have a player who has a year left (especially given the limited money), you either decide to sell him for something in the summer or sign him up, you don't then change your mind, Emery should have done his homework before (likewise Gazidis though maybe he was more interested in feathering his nest at Milan, what a shambles that was to have him move 3 months into the season), especially given what's happen to us before. He also made the guy captain to be honest which should have never happened.
Ozil is on 350k, he's our most creative player and theres always a chance he'll produce something, he should not be frozen out as he has given that we have precious few options and those that we do have a frankly rubbish and need to be sold, it wouldn't hurt to bring him in even from the bench when you're losing, it's got to be better than keeping the rubbish we have who don't perform on the field.
Maybe but he's still better than the others, even at 50%, plus he didn't play the last match so had been rested.
Yes but you shouldn't play a kid all the time, he should be in and out, Emery should have recognised Xhaka was inadequate (it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see he's not much good) based on what he's done before and planned for that, either by selling him or by bringing in another option.
It's not really about top 4, like others have said it's about seeing some sort of methodolgy, some plan, something which appears to point to change, what we're seeing right now is something too similar to last season and that's not good enough to be honest, we don't want the Wenger way going forward we want something different, something better and Emery isn't doing enough, the defence is a total shambles (despite the signings), the midfield is average and the players still don't look up for it enough.
Selling dead wood also reduces the horrendous wage bill and frees up money for potential new players, yes we won't get a lot, but it's better to get something and take a punt on someone else than stick to the average players that are there not turning up week in week out, this club needs change and a part of that is personnel change, I suggest most of the Wenger players need to go as they are use to be allowed to under perform with no repercussions and right now the same cycle seems to be repeating itself.
I agree with you that we fans shouldn't base our opinions on the fair weather media and failed/bitter ex-legends who couldn't cut it as managers.
This is one of the main reasons I come on this board and have been on it for years- no matter where ever I happen to be in the world, I don't underrate the perspective a Fan Forum gives when you look at a club
The point is there is not a consensus opinion on here (or anywhere) that Ozil is finished, some fans and the manager think so- but he rates Xhaka, plays weak starting lineups and seems to think the solution to his defensive crisis is signing more attacking midfielders!!
Personally I don't think Ozil is finished, but like I said before- our current malaise is bigger than just this Ozil issue- I'm looking more and more at the manager's decisions and in particular his indecision on dealing with key issues he inherited from the AW era.
I think that's bollox. We finished 6th last year which was the lowest we'd finished under Wenger.
Wenger was poor tactically and a poor motivator. I'm struggling to believe that a different manager couldn't get more out of this lot, whether that manager is Emery remains to be seen. There were early promising signs but now it's all gone to shit. Emery should be given some time to get things right and we definitely need some squad improvements, but I don't buy that we need a massive clearout.
Our rivals have improved, we are no longer a shoe-in for top 4 and as such NEED to improve upon the players we have and our current playing style (which is still very undefined).
I don't think we can just assume a new manager can come in and finish top 4 with largely the core of the team which has finished outside of the top 4 for two seasons running now.
Moreover, Emery seems to have issues with Ozil, doesn't seem fully convinced of his best starting XI and doesn't seem fully convinced on the teams formation.
Unless he has been given a pass to finish outside of the Top 4 this season Emery needs to stick to a favoured starting XI and formation, all this chopping and changing isn't productive and won't get us top 4....
I personally think the starting XI could be improved in quite a few positions. Right now, the only players I would keep as starters are....Bellerin, Kola, Sokratis, Torreira, Laca & Auba. The first three are questionable too.
You're entitled to your opinion of course, but even when we were doing well we were getting away with a lot of mistakes that went unpunished, IMO this squad needs a lot of surgery, the goalkeepers haven't so far proved good enough, we need a left back (Monreal is 33 now) and right back as Lichsteiner isn't up to it and Bellerin still needs competition and to learn to defend, we need a CB or two (Mustafi, Koscielny aren't any good), we need a replacement for Xhaka and we need a winger and if Ozil isn't up to it another player to replace him, that's 7-8 players right there.
We'll probably also need to replace Sokratis and Aubameyang in the not too distant future too as Sokatris is 30 and Auba is 30 in June.
There's too many average players in this squad and it's not going to change until we replace them because frankly they're not good enough and never will be regardless of who is managing the side.
Aye, I agree with this. I'm not a fan of Ozil either but our lack of creativity with him and to a lesser extent Mkhi not being in the team is glaringly obvious.
It's all very well Emery having an issue with him..but if he doesn't have an alternative...which he doesn't...then Ozil should be getting games.
Let's leave aside whether we finish top 4 or not. Last year we were miles away from it, we finished 12 points off of 4th and with 63 points.
The biggest issue is clearly defence, we conceded 51 goals, 13 more than anyone else in the top 5.
I don't believe that a new manager can't come in and immediately improve some of that with a couple of signings.
After a promising start we now only have 2 more points now than we did at this stage last year.
We are scoring more but we are conceding more
I've been saying that Emery gets a free pass this season but it's time to start asking some questions.
It’s a free pass as long as there is evidence of improvements being made.
This time next year if we are still bumbling along like we are now then I’m not going to blame anyone if they feel he should be given the boot. He’s only on a 3 year deal so there has to be some marked improvement pretty soon if he’s going to see that contract out.
The competition is very stiff though. Even when we had the unbeaten run we were still 5th most of the time because the consistency required now is through the roof. You can’t be losing to trash like Southampton and West Ham and expect to be challenging for 4th.
Last edited by Marc Overmars; 14-01-2019 at 11:53 AM.
The only other option in the wing back/full back role was Lichtsteiner or a kid. At the very least AMN had played in LB for some of last season. He hasn't been great there, but I don't think he's been a liability. He's just 'done 'a job'.
He didn't change his mind about Ramsey. Literally 2 weeks after Gazidis left and two new guys came in the contract was taken off the table. So there's no confusion about what happened there. He seemed happy enough to have him before that when Gazidis was ready to pay him a high wage. The new guys aren't, so he's out the door. Remember, although he might be involved, he doesn't have the same power or influence as Wenger in that department. If Gazidis was still around, Ramsey would be signed up and in the team starting. We have several captains, so I'm not sure that makes much of a difference to anything.
I keep hearing Ozil is our most "creative player" but as always, memories are short. Over the past two seasons there have been constant calls to drop him because he's so lazy, a liability etc. He's only now become the solution because he's not around. There's obviously something going on behind the scenes. I don't think it's as straightforward as him just being frozen out for the sake of it. The times he has come off the bench he has offered nothing to the team. He was in the team last season with these same players and we are performing exactly the same with him out of the side. The way Ozil quit Germany says a lot about his ego and flakiness, and probably why Wenger bent over backwards to pamper him. Ozil has had more than a fair shot under Emery - he was publicly backed at the start of the season, yet he delivered fuck all on the pitch. One assist in 16 appearances - and most of those have been starts.
With Torreira, that doesn't make any sense - "at 50% he's better than the others". In reality, no he isn't. And is it any use to us playing him if he was at that sort of level? That's just a throw away statement that means nothing. And if he is tired or feeling the pace for whatever reason, it makes some sort of sense to let him rest so we can use him in this final stretch. Against the teams we were playing, he shouldn't have been missed that badly.
Given the obvious limited resources, it isn't just a case of getting a replacement for Xhaka last summer. Emery had to come in and give the team a clean slate to see what they are made of. There were other areas of the team that needed spending. With Torreira coming in alongside him, you don't want two brand new players in the centre of the team. That's way too risky. And anyway, how much would we get for Xhaka last summer and what sort of replacement could we have got at that point - especially as he was away at the WC? Not a lot is the answer. He's been of more use than not this season, even with his mistakes.
Until we start getting in different players, we are going to see the same results and patterns. Time has to be allowed for the manager. That's why the summer is so important. Even then, it comes down to how much backing he gets. You can't use the same tools and expect different results. You can try to use them in a different way but at the end of the day, those tools can only do the same job they did before. Fans keeping saying "he gets a free pass this season" and in reality he isn't being given that at all.
As usual, everything is over analysed to death and expectation levels after 6 months are too high. But the reality is, this frustration isn't because of Emery. It's because of the mess left behind by the last lot and that is continuing to spill over into this season. It was bubbling under the surface even before this bad period. Unless a manager is given hundreds of millions to spend to transform this club on the field, then I guarantee whoever is in the manager's job will be put in this same situation after only 6 months. Just look at Utd for a reminder of what happens when you are trying replace a 20-odd year legacy. And that's with hundreds of millions of pounds spent. Manager's need a bit of time to at least prove themselves right but that's seemingly impossible and Arsenal fans better buckle up and face up to the fact that with our without Emery we will get more of the same.
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