I’m inclined to agree. Knowing that we will struggle to get anything away from home against average teams is a sobering thought. We don’t play on the front foot anymore and I’m not exactly sure how comfortable in possession we are now, as we always tend to cede possession to the opponent and run the risk of being overrun. It’s not a sustainable way of playing.
If Emery doesn't get rid of Mustafi in the summer, it will make it very difficult for me to trust in him tbh
If we'd won that Palace game we'd be fourth with a home game against Brighton to come - Mustafi's mistakes cost us that game
And yes, it was also the overly-rotated team, but you have to.hope Emery learns from it and rectifies it by being more positive for the Brighton game and also Burnley - Chelsea could still slip up
Thursday is a huge test - that team really needs to turn itself around - the players have responsibility there too
Last edited by Mac76; 29-04-2019 at 08:07 AM.
Weird you never say it after good results though, but every bad run up you pop...Originally Posted by Özim
This squad is neither "rubbish" nor is it full or world beaters. Aside from the top 2 we're about the same as the other challengers for the top 4.
Yes, three weeks ago we were feeling different. We may feel different again if we get a good result against Valencia - if we win the Europa League then of course that will change our perception of how this season has gone. Which is silly in a way, there are such fine lines in Cup competitions, but it does make a difference.
I was roundly mocked for saying that our manager should be judged at the end of the season not after a good run, or a bad one, mid-season. All seasons are roller-coasters with high points and low, clearly the season can only be properly be judged at the end. I do take the point though that with a long term manager there may be repeating patterns and repeated failures which make the end result of a season wearyingly predictable.
The more rabid anti-Wenger brigade were acting like Wenger was the sole problem at the club and was so incompetent, such a dribbling imbecile, that anyone would do better. I can't believe how quickly they flip-flip between
(after a bad run) "See! Wenger was rubbish! I told you the squad he assembled was terrible"
(after a good run) "See! Wenger was rubbish! I told you anyone would do better"
Well, we've got anyone now and it's not been that brilliant. There have been some promising signs but in the long unbeaten run at the start of the season we were riding our luck at times. It's was promising to get the final points tally from last year with 7 games to go but then we lost 4 of the next 5! If there has been progress then it's been incremental at best. The Europa League could yet save our season, I guess.
I've been pretty consistent in saying that while Wenger had become "a problem", he wasn't the only problem at Arsenal and removing him is no silver bullet. I cannot see us competing for the title while Kronke is in charge. None of that makes me a Wenger apologist. It was just always more complicated than Wenger being a bumbling incompetent ™
I didn't expect Emery to be working miracles this season but I did expect him to get the more basic things right that Wenger was getting wrong. I expected our tactics to improve and be more responsive to different teams and situations in games. I expected the mentality to be better. There have been some tentative signs of those things but it isn't adding up to much improvement overall, if any.
that is it - we aren't massively off the other sides because everyone is inconsistent. Spuds are probably 3rd best side in the league, yet we beat them and should have beaten them. No point us saying if we had won the last 3 games we would have it sewn up. As the other teams are dropping points as well and could equally say the same. No one is on a good run of form.
Incredibly if we win both are last two games I still think its 50/50 that we sneak 4th. Whether we win the last two is a bit more uncertain.
The disappointing thing about this season is that the coaching doesn't seem to have changed. We thought improved coaching, higher intensity would should better performances, but Arseblog made a good point when he said that we seem to be much better in the top 6 games where we are underdogs but against the other teams there is a noticeable dip in performance.
I am sure we will up our performance for the Europa league and all will be well.
I’m not sure that is true about the lesser teams. We haven’t beaten a top six side away (off top of my head) but have won similar points at home to last season, but more away from home.
The only way to tell if this manager can get us into - and sustain - a place in the top four and beyond is by giving him money to spend on the squad. It’s the only way. Until then all we have is presumptions. At the moment he’s got us back into contention for top four after last season’s debacle - and while this summer won’t be enough to tell us for sure, it will tell us by mid-next season if we are moving in the right direction or not.
Last edited by SMatthews; 29-04-2019 at 11:58 AM.
In Xhaka's post match interview he said that they don't know why they are so different away from home and that you can't play like that in front of the home fans as they are right in front of you watching.
Well, sorry mate, but your job is to play every game like it's a home game and not try and coast for 90 mins when you're on a trip away.
If that is indicative of the team's mentality then it's no wonder our home form is so appalling!
This has been the biggest puzzle for me over the last 2 seasons. Da fuq is that about? At home our record is close to title winning - even in these bonkers seasons where City and now Liverpool are basically winning almost every game.
Away from home it's mid-table stuff. It's pretty pathetic, I haven't checked but we must be the team with the biggest points difference between home and away records.
I've been consistent with saying it was rubbish, your pal Wenger built a terrible squad and part of the issue for Emery is he's had to work with these players who just aren't good enough as he got peanuts last summer.
I'm not going to absolve him of blame completely though, he's made some poor errors as well, poor team selections, odd signings like Suarez and he's been poor in the last 5-6 games, we were lucky not to lose to Watford, they gave us a bit of a pasting with 10 men, this run of results has been shambolc.
He needs to win the EL, but we'll have to beat Chelsea if we get through the semis and you never know how those games will go, the thing that's bugged me a lot with him though (and as I said before he's not an elite coach) is him sticking with certain players repeatedly which just aren't good enough, that's too similar to Wenger for my liking.
Last edited by Özim; 29-04-2019 at 01:42 PM.
Yes, you have been consistently wrong. Have a sweetie.
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