Match Reaction v Citeh (away).

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Granted it looked like the players had the same idea in the second half but I'm really not arsed about this one.

[Marc Overmars]

A slam dunk of a defeat, never stood a chance.

On we go.

[dostoy]

What did anyone expect, honestly ?

Arsenal are miles away from City, who I hope win the league, and are very very unlikely to make the top 4.

That's the way it is and if you expect more, you will only be disappointed.

[SMatthews]

To be expected. Onto Huddersfield.

[Chippy]

To be expected. Onto Huddersfield.

Yep! We might get a point out of that one!

[Letters]

Remember when we used to go into these games thinking we might get something?

:(

Still, at least the BATE game has gone on General Sale <_<. I

[Özim]

I think we'll end up 6th based on what I've seen, the defence as we know is poor and the midfield is average and although we have two very good strikers it's not enough.

Expected a defeat today so not surprised, but no shots in the 2nd half is pretty disappointing, you're not going to get any points if you don't get shots on goal.

I don't know what to make of Emery right now, he's come into a difficult situation of that there's no doubt, but on the other hand some of his team selections, tactics and signings are odd, as the season has gone on he's been less and less impressive and even in the first part of the season he couldn't get the team going in the 1st half in almost every game.

Yes he needs time, but he also has to show the fans some sort of direction and plan, right now it's pretty aimless and he seems short of ideas.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Didn't disgrace ourselves like at Anfield but obviously the same result points wise. Thought Guendouzi was one of the better players in stark contrast to Lilo & Stitch at right back who moved like he needed putting down.

Emery needs to spend all his spare time analysing Chelsea as the entire season could come down to seeing them off in the Europa.

[Özim]

Guendouzi is decent and has potential, he's a better bet than Xhaka who should be sold IMO.

Agreed about the Europa, it's our only chance of getting into the CL, can Higuain play in that for them?

[Letters]

I think we'll end up based on what I've seen, the defence as we know is poor and the midfield is average and although we have two very good strikers it's not enough.

Expected a defeat today so not surprised, but no shots in the 2nd half is pretty disappointing, you're not going to get any points if you don't get shots on goal.

I don't know what to make of Emery right now, he's come into a difficult situation of that there's no doubt, but on the other hand some of his team selections, tactics and signings are odd, as the season has gone on he's been less and less impressive and even in the first part of the season he couldn't get the team going in the 1st half in almost every game.

Yes he needs time, but he also has to show the fans some sort of direction and plan, right now it's pretty aimless and he seems short of ideas.
Worryingly, I agree with a lot of that.
Wenger has clearly become “a problem” but I always felt that getting rid of him was no silver bullet. We have an owner concerned only with business and profit. So long as we do the bare minimum and the money keeps rolling in he’s happy.
The clubs doing well have got good managers AND had owners prepared to spend big. The exception arguably being Spurs but even then it hasn’t translated into trophies for them.
Until our owner sods off the manager can only make a limited difference.

[Özim]

I think Emery has to incorporate Ozil in the team, we just don't have other options if we want to win games, Iwobi is OK but lacks footballing intelligence, Guendouzi is young and is still learning, frankly our midfield creativity is in a shocking state right now and we need him in the team workrate or not.

Besides didn't think a lot of players worked hard enough today anyway.

[Özim]

Worryingly, I agree with a lot of that.
Wenger has clearly become “a problem” but I always felt that getting rid of him was no silver bullet. We have an owner concerned only with business and profit. So long as we do the bare minimum and the money keeps rolling in he’s happy.
The clubs doing well have got good managers AND had owners prepared to spend big. The exception arguably being Spurs but even then it hasn’t translated into trophies for them.
Until our owner sods off the manager can only make a limited difference.

Wenger was not the only problem (although this is the squad he largely built and it's not good at all and he wasted an awful lot of money building it), we all know Kroenke was a big problem (though some preferred him over Usmanov), our only hope was to bring in a manager that can work miracles,in terms of setting out the team, tactics and motivation and also discovring gems in the transfer market.

Based on what I've seen I don't think Emery is that, he's a decent manager but I don't think he's elite level who can work miracles, we were never interested in the elite managers however.

I do think Emery has to take some responsibilty though, he could do better than he has, I mentioned the regular poor 1st halves for a lot of the season, he didn't seem to be able to identify and fix that quickly which was odd, he's also shown too much faith in certain players, also think he could have done better in Jan, defenders and a winger were a priority, not some CM who if we're honest hasn't done much in his career, prioritisng him over other signings we needed more was just odd.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

He's doing the best he possibly could be as far as I am concerned. Maybe we will finish 6th, I don't think so given our relative fixtures remaining but even if we do, we'll be a lot closer than we were last season.

[Mac76]

Wenger was not the only problem (although this is the squad he largely built and it's not good at all and he wasted an awful lot of money building it), we all know Kroenke was a big problem (though some preferred him over Usmanov), our only hope was to bring in a manager that can work miracles,in terms of setting out the team, tactics and motivation and also discovring gems in the transfer market.

Based on what I've seen I don't think Emery is that, he's a decent manager but I don't think he's elite level who can work miracles, we were never interested in the elite managers however.

I do think Emery has to take some responsibilty though, he could do better than he has, I mentioned the regular poor 1st halves for a lot of the season, he didn't seem to be able to identify and fix that quickly which was odd, he's also shown too much faith in certain players, also think he could have done better in Jan, defenders and a winger were a priority, not some CM who if we're honest hasn't done much in his career, prioritisng him over other signings we needed more was just odd.

Agree with most of this, and got to say that watching shitsteiner today just made we wonder why the f**k we didn't do everything we could to get a decent RB, tbh that will be the biggest reason if we don't win the EL or make top 4

[Mac76]

One other thing i thought Leno had a good game today, seems silly to say given the score but i thought he did his best and it could have been worse without it

[Özim]

Agree with most of this, and got to say that watching shitsteiner today just made we wonder why the f**k we didn't do everything we could to get a decent RB, tbh that will be the biggest reason if we don't win the EL or make top 4

Lichsteiner is awful but then he's way past his best, honestly don't know why we signed him, he was never going to pan out.

[Mac76]

Lichsteiner is awful but then he's way past his best, honestly don't know why we signed him, he was never going to pan out.

The point is, if Emery ever plays him again (and i mean ever) it's proof he's not a good judge of players - in fact it's proof he's not watching the game properly

[SMatthews]

The point is, if Emery ever plays him again (and i mean ever) it's proof he's not a good judge of players - in fact it's proof he's not watching the game properly

No it’s not. It’s a confirmation he has very limited options there.

[Gooner23]

It was a poor decision by Emery, Jenkinson is limited but can at least run. Lichsteiner has looked off the pace everytime hes played for us, I don't know what Enery was expecting to happen. We basically played with 10 men today he was that poor.

[SMatthews]

He's doing the best he possibly could be as far as I am concerned. Maybe we will finish 6th, I don't think so given our relative fixtures remaining but even if we do, we'll be a lot closer than we were last season.

Pretty much the same as last year at this point, with a couple of points more and closer to fourth. Given what’s at his disposal I’m not sure what else we can expect at this stage.

[SMatthews]

It was a poor decision by Emery, Jenkinson is limited but can at least run. Lichsteiner has looked off the pace everytime hes played for us, I don't know what Enery was expecting to happen. We basically played with 10 men today he was that poor.

It’s the same thing with Ozil - the less they play the more important they seem to become. There is nothing to choose between any of the four options at RB. They’re all pretty bad.

[Özim]

No it’s not. It’s a confirmation he has very limited options there.

Unfortunately that's completely incorrect, if Emery was worried about right back (or indeed CB) he could have got someone on loan last month, he didn't and as he said he was happy with his options in defence, so it's got nothing to do with limited options, it's to do with him thinking Lichsteiner. is up to the job, it's clear to everyone else he isn't and shouldn't have been signed in the 1st place, he's also played AMN there when he can't play there.

IMO it's because he seems a bit slow to cotton onto things and doesn't spot the obvious.

Yet he was all too happy to sign a middle of the road player in a position we absolutely do not need at the moment. I'd say Emery is somehwhat misguided.

Problem with this club is they sign players based on cost rather than need.

[SMatthews]

IMO it's because he seems a bit slow to cotton onto things and doesn't spot the obvious.

Luckily you're around to point them all out for us. Not sure if that's a blessing or a curse.

[Özim]

Luckily you're around to point them all out for us. Not sure if that's a blessing or a curse.

Definitely a blessing.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I think we'll end up 6th based on what I've seen, the defence as we know is poor and the midfield is average and although we have two very good strikers it's not enough.

Expected a defeat today so not surprised, but no shots in the 2nd half is pretty disappointing, you're not going to get any points if you don't get shots on goal.

I don't know what to make of Emery right now, he's come into a difficult situation of that there's no doubt, but on the other hand some of his team selections, tactics and signings are odd, as the season has gone on he's been less and less impressive and even in the first part of the season he couldn't get the team going in the 1st half in almost every game.

Yes he needs time, but he also has to show the fans some sort of direction and plan, right now it's pretty aimless and he seems short of ideas.

You pretty much said it all.

We all accept he inherited a challenged squad but what exactly has he brought to the table 8 months and 2 transfer windows later?

Torreria and playing 2 upfront is all I can think of and IMO that is pretty mediocre.

[Marc Overmars]

We’re pretty shit and I think some of Emery’s decisions have been questionable but he’s really working with scraps here. I don’t think we should come down on him like a ton of bricks just yet.

We probably only have 3 maybe 4 players that could get into the other teams in the top 6. We need huge investment but it’s just not going to happen.

The Europa League is where it’s at for us this season. Emery could really lay down a marker for himself and the future if we could somehow win that. I highly doubt we will but that’s got to be the target even more so than 4th.

[hobson's choice]

I hope you all understand this brand of "work rate" football with very little creativity. This is Emery ball to a tee. We better get use to it

[Marc Overmars]

Rams lose the Super Bowl.

Kroenke. :haha:

[Özim]

Rams lose the Super Bowl.

Kroenke. :haha:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

#Karma

[selassie]

I expected a defeat because we can't compete with the best teams in this league, we all know that and we all know that we are a level or two below them.

As Zim has stated, Emery makes some very dubious team selections and his tactics at times leave a lot to be desired.

I am prepared to give Emery time and so far he has done so great work mixed with questionable work.

I have a question though, who here trusts Emery to get it right assuming he is given some kind of backing to build "HIS" team / squad?

I question Emery has what it takes to take us to the next level if I am being brutally honest.

[Özim]

We’re pretty shit and I think some of Emery’s decisions have been questionable but he’s really working with scraps here. I don’t think we should come down on him like a ton of bricks just yet.

We probably only have 3 maybe 4 players that could get into the other teams in the top 6. We need huge investment but it’s just not going to happen.

The Europa League is where it’s at for us this season. Emery could really lay down a marker for himself and the future if we could somehow win that. I highly doubt we will but that’s got to be the target even more so than 4th.

True but if we look at yesterday for a start the lineup was wrong, it was really negative with only Iwobi (who has no footballing intelligence and pretty much caused 2 goals they scored) as a creator, you're always going to struggle with that, especially given we don't have a good defence at all, I still think given our resources, Ramsey and/or Ozil should have played as let's face it noone else creates anything for the strikers.

The subs I also thought could have been brought on earlier, then 2nd half we went 45+ minutes without a shot on goal which is pretty poor to be honest, we're not one of the promoted clubs we should be getting shots on goal, it's pretty disappointing and you've got no chance if you can't even shoot towards goal.

Then there's Lichsteiner, we all know he's awful, it would actually be better to play with 10 men than with this guy, we could have played Jenkinson (also rubbish but better than Lichsteiner) or stuck Mustafi at right back and played Mavropanos (my favoured option even though Mustafi isn't that great, he's played there for Germany).

The way I see it there were a lot of errors he made yesterday and they gave us no chance of getting anything, in reality the score flattered us, City weren't that great but had a fair few chances, Leno made quite a few decent saves.

I agree Emery has had it tough, but it would be better if he didn't compound it with basic managerial errors as well.

[Özim]

I have a question though, who here trusts Emery to get it right assuming he is given some kind of backing to build "HIS" team / squad?

I question Emery has what it takes to take us to the next level if I am being brutally honest.

I don't entirely trust him now, but that's based on his decision making recently, including signing Suarez a middle of the road guy in a position we didn't even really need that much, he chose to sign him instead of focussing on defence (which he admitted he's fine with - a shocking admission if you ask me based on everything we've seen) or even a winger, we're actually crying out for width.

These are the kind of things that make me sceptical, if he couldn't find a winger or defender then fine (although there were players he could have got) but why bother with Suarez, we don't actually need him and he's not a long term option either IMO looking at his career.

[SMatthews]

I expected a defeat because we can't compete with the best teams in this league, we all know that and we all know that we are a level or two below them.

As Zim has stated, Emery makes some very dubious team selections and his tactics at times leave a lot to be desired.

I am prepared to give Emery time and so far he has done so great work mixed with questionable work.

I have a question though, who here trusts Emery to get it right assuming he is given some kind of backing to build "HIS" team / squad?

I question Emery has what it takes to take us to the next level if I am being brutally honest.

With the current set up and investment, there is no next level. We might get back to doing what we did under Wenger, which is top four and playing champions league, but aside from the cups, that’s about it. Unless we sell big and reinvest, whether now or in the near future, there’s a limit to what we can do as a club now. Any manager we hire will be limited.

[Mac76]

True but if we look at yesterday for a start the lineup was wrong, it was really negative with only Iwobi (who has no footballing intelligence and pretty much caused 2 goals they scored) as a creator, you're always going to struggle with that, especially given we don't have a good defence at all, I still think given our resources, Ramsey and/or Ozil should have played as let's face it noone else creates anything for the strikers.


I think his team selections are partly guided by factors other than the best players or lineup - he favours limited players who will no doubt be loyal to him in return for getting games - Mustafi, Iwobi, Xhaka (now mercifuly dropped admittedly), Shitsteiner

what happened at PSG says it all - he can't control the big egos - trouble is they are often also the best players

look at how Soljaer has brought the best out of Pogba - find me a Man Ure fan who's complaining about that £89m now...

[Özim]

I think his team selections are partly guided by factors other than the best players or lineup - he favours limited players who will no doubt be loyal to him in return for getting games - Mustafi, Iwobi, Xhaka (now mercifuly dropped admittedly), Shitsteiner

what happened at PSG says it all - he can't control the big egos - trouble is they are often also the best players

look at how Soljaer has brought the best out of Pogba - find me a Man Ure fan who's complaining about that £89m now...

Yes that seems to be the case which is worrying, we had enough of favouritism with Wenger the last thing we want is another manager who does the same, those players you mention should be nowhere near the first team.

I agree about PSG as well, he couldn't deal with the big players at all, but as you say they are usually the best players so that's an issue, Suarez in many ways is one of those small club players who'll do what he's told without asking questions, trouble is we're not Sevilla who with all due respect are a small club, I don't know whether he's more suited to managing a small club, some managers are.

[Marc Overmars]

True but if we look at yesterday for a start the lineup was wrong, it was really negative with only Iwobi (who has no footballing intelligence and pretty much caused 2 goals they scored) as a creator, you're always going to struggle with that, especially given we don't have a good defence at all, I still think given our resources, Ramsey and/or Ozil should have played as let's face it noone else creates anything for the strikers.

The subs I also thought could have been brought on earlier, then 2nd half we went 45+ minutes without a shot on goal which is pretty poor to be honest, we're not one of the promoted clubs we should be getting shots on goal, it's pretty disappointing and you've got no chance if you can't even shoot towards goal.

Then there's Lichsteiner, we all know he's awful, it would actually be better to play with 10 men than with this guy, we could have played Jenkinson (also rubbish but better than Lichsteiner) or stuck Mustafi at right back and played Mavropanos (my favoured option even though Mustafi isn't that great, he's played there for Germany).

The way I see it there were a lot of errors he made yesterday and they gave us no chance of getting anything, in reality the score flattered us, City weren't that great but had a fair few chances, Leno made quite a few decent saves.

I agree Emery has had it tough, but it would be better if he didn't compound it with basic managerial errors as well.

I find the Ozil situation bizarre. I don't know if they've had a falling out or if Emery simply doesn't rate him, either way we don't have the options to replace him at this moment. He will have to be sold now because you can't keep expensive deadwood like this, it's just haemorrhaging money. The Ramsey thing I have some sympathy for because that was out of his hands and now he's reluctant to use him. I agree both should be playing because without them we lose a lot from our midfield in terms of forward play.

I can't be bothered to dissect this game because even if we had gone with the best players/tactics etc the chances are we still would have been beaten easily. City have better players than us in every position and have been competing for the top prizes for years. We are so far behind right now.

The jury is very much out on Emery but he needs to be backed in the summer, otherwise it will be the same old story. You could be Pep in charge of this squad and results wouldn't be much better.

[selassie]

I don't entirely trust him now, but that's based on his decision making recently, including signing Suarez a middle of the road guy in a position we didn't even really need that much, he chose to sign him instead of focussing on defence (which he admitted he's fine with - a shocking admission if you ask me based on everything we've seen) or even a winger, we're actually crying out for width.

These are the kind of things that make me sceptical, if he couldn't find a winger or defender then fine (although there were players he could have got) but why bother with Suarez, we don't actually need him and he's not a long term option either IMO looking at his career.

Yep, I agree. Signing that Denis Suarez at the expense of strengthening our defence was a bit "Wenger-ish" IMO!

I don't know, I'm still backing Emery but I hope he makes the necessary required changes in the summer or at least goes someway towards really trying to tackle our problem areas.

[selassie]

With the current set up and investment, there is no next level. We might get back to doing what we did under Wenger, which is top four and playing champions league, but aside from the cups, that’s about it. Unless we sell big and reinvest, whether now or in the near future, there’s a limit to what we can do as a club now. Any manager we hire will be limited.

I agree, with the current options we are where we are irrespective of the quality of the manager.

I think we just need to invest and squad build wisely. I don't think we are going to need "City" level investment to improve...we obviously won't be getting that investment anyway.

We just need to build the squad wisely.

[Özim]

I find the Ozil situation bizarre. I don't know if they've had a falling out or if Emery simply doesn't rate him, either way we don't have the options to replace him at this moment. He will have to be sold now because you can't keep expensive deadwood like this, it's just haemorrhaging money. The Ramsey thing I have some sympathy for because that was out of his hands and now he's reluctant to use him. I agree both should be playing because without them we lose a lot from our midfield in terms of forward play.

I can't be bothered to dissect this game because even if we had gone with the best players/tactics etc the chances are we still would have been beaten easily. City have better players than us in every position and have been competing for the top prizes for years. We are so far behind right now.

The jury is very much out on Emery but he needs to be backed in the summer, otherwise it will be the same old story. You could be Pep in charge of this squad and results wouldn't be much better.

It is bizarred, but as MAC said it's not the 1st time he's struggled with players with egos, sometime you have to put your pride aside for the good of the team, right now he's cutting off his nose to spite his face, the squad is rubbish and yet he's intent on cutting out one of our most creative players because he doesn't get on with him, that's fine if you have other options but not in this case, he'll probably end up costing us points and as you said Ozil is on 350k a week which is just being wasted at the moment, by all means sell him in the summer but use him until then.

As for Ramsey the way I see it Emery brought it on himself a bit, last summer he should have said I need him to sign by a certain date and if he doesn't we should sell and invest the money, instead he waited and now Ramsey is going for free, he's not entirely innocent in this, I'm sure he was involved and this scenario is all a bit amateurish (again).

Whilst I see why he doesn't want to play him, he's been happy to play him a fair amount since it was decided he'd move on, so not sure what's changed, I can understand why you wouldn't want to play him more than the Ozil situation however.

City lost to Newcastle and Palace recently, if you try your best there's always a shot, but you need to get the lineup/tactics right, Emery just didn't, we've now accepted we're going to get a pasting from the big teams, even the likes of Palace don't so that shouldn't be the case.

I agree about backing him, if he makes many more the Suarez type signings however I'm not going to be particularly please, these aren't the kind of players we need, they're small time squad fillers with very limited talent, signing those kind of players won't get us anywhere, we need to be signings players in their mid 20s or young players with lots and lots of potential much like Spurs have done when building their team.

[Marc Overmars]

It is bizarred, but as MAC said it's not the 1st time he's struggled with players with egos, sometime you have to put your pride aside for the good of the team, right now he's cutting off his nose to spite his face, the squad is rubbish and yet he's intent on cutting out one of our most creative players because he doesn't get on with him, that's fine if you have other options but not in this case, he'll probably end up costing us points and as you said Ozil is on 350k a week which is just being wasted at the moment, by all means sell him in the summer but use him until then.
.

To be honest Ozil has never struck me as being someone with a massive ego or someone who's difficult to deal with anyway, he's a lot of things but disruptive and confrontational he is not. I think Emery had a lot more to contend with at PSG with the likes of Neymar who knew full well he was bigger than the club and better than everyone else in the league by a million miles.

Completely agree with cutting his nose off to spite his face though, it's pointless when you don't have the options.

[SMatthews]

I agree, with the current options we are where we are irrespective of the quality of the manager.

I think we just need to invest and squad build wisely. I don't think we are going to need "City" level investment to improve...we obviously won't be getting that investment anyway.

We just need to build the squad wisely.

Definitely not City level of investment but we have to make the most of what we have. That's why I've been banging the drum about Lacazette and sacrificing for long term gain. I'd love to keep him as he's a great player to watch but we all know our budget isn't going to be mega. That means taking a lot of risks that might not all pan out. Plus, the mess upstairs with back room changes isn't helping matters.

All we have to do is look at Utd to see how hard this is going to be. And they've had hundreds of millions to throw at it too. Another year from now will tell us about the direction we are going as a club. Right now we can only make wild guesses that may or may not be true.

[Bumble]

Definitely not City level of investment but we have to make the most of what we have. That's why I've been banging the drum about Lacazette and sacrificing for long term gain. I'd love to keep him as he's a great player to watch but we all know our budget isn't going to be mega. That means taking a lot of risks that might not all pan out. Plus, the mess upstairs with back room changes isn't helping matters.

All we have to do is look at Utd to see how hard this is going to be. And they've had hundreds of millions to throw at it too. Another year from now will tell us about the direction we are going as a club. Right now we can only make wild guesses that may or may not be true.

If we aren't going to be able to put in a lot of fresh capital then like Liverpool did, we need to sell and reinvest in 2-3 players. The saleable assets are Lacazette, Bellerin, Ozil to a point, Mustafi for a bag of chips. that could raise £120m+ with that you could get 5 good players. and mustafi wont be around.

Across a season we cant compete with City, but in a one of game we should be able to do something especially as for 30 odd mins we did quite well.

I do like Laca and Auba up front with Ramsey/Ozil behind. think that would work the best.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I would like to know what has happened since the unbeaten run earlier in the season, that isn't being followed through and drummed into the players in training?

We at least looked like Emery was having some kind of positive influence on the squad, even commentators were saying how together they looked and that we had a combativeness about us and not pushovers anymore.

Defence has gotten worse each week, we can't even keep a clean sheet when bossing a game and 2 or 3-0 up!
We looked like a different league team yesterday - not so much in the first half as, once we scored, we at least had a few chances. But that second half - just a poor, inexcusable performance.

City are beatable, and if we had played against them like we did against Chelsea or Spurs we could have got something from the game.

Now, I know people are going to say that we have lost a lot of players to injury and what we have left isn't as good, but surely, if Emery is laying out his vision and setting up tactically for each team, then it shouldn't matter as much.

I've said it before, but our attack looks inept, tired and out of ideas. Players are in the wrong positions constantly, no one runs into the box to get on the end of crosses or when they do, they look to pass to someone else or lay it off - all of which usually ends up with the opposition taking possession.

Where are the direct, pacy runs through the centre that Aubameyang can get on the end of?
Or the quick one two's that lay Lacazette off, to have a shot or two?
Or the shots from range that unsettle the keeper and defence?
Or any kind of pace to our play what so ever?

We have looked like a Wenger team at times this season, and I have forgiven Emery for that, as it seems the players are still on a come down from the Wenger era - but should he not be giving the players a bollocking after each game & using his videos & analysis that we were told about, to show them where they are going wrong? Most managers would even without all the analysis.

Where is the improvement in defence? I mean come the fuck on, should we really be this shit at keeping the opposition out? Even with the players we have we should be a damn sight more improved under a new management team than we were under Wenger but we are inexplicably worse.

I said I would give Emery 3 seasons but he really needs to step up for the rest of this season tactically and with player selection or he his gonna quickly fall out of favour with most. I'm all for giving a new manager time, but I have to backtrack and eat my words if the new manager comes in and repeats the same mistakes that we have spent the last 12 years watching.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Emery talks contsantly about control in midfield. Ramsey is going and Suarez is coming in, so I suspect he feels Suarez has the culture and nous to play the way he wants.

As far as I'm concerned though....I don't care about the new age Arsenal. I'd have done everything I could to keep Cazorla here, signed a veteran like Godin for a couple years and persisted with AMN and had him coached and micro managed to crap to play full back if we were this short of money.

I think Leno was very good yesterday but a keeper who is poor at coming for the ball in the premier league strikes me as a problem.

Wouldn't kill us to keep an eye on the next short, stocky South American forward from the streets or school of hard knocks neither. We need tough players with solid technical ability in attack. Tevez, Sanchez, Aguero, Dybala mould, though clearly we have at last got 2 top forwards. Doesn't stop people suggesting Aubameyang should be dropped every week though.

[Özim]

I would like to know what has happened since the unbeaten run earlier in the season, that isn't being followed through and drummed into the players in training?

We at least looked like Emery was having some kind of positive influence on the squad, even commentators were saying how together they looked and that we had a combativeness about us and not pushovers anymore.

Defence has gotten worse each week, we cant even keep a clean sheet when bossing a game and 2 or 3-0 up!
We looked like a different league team yesterday - not so much in the first half as, once we scored, we at least had a few chances. But that second half - just poor, inexcusable performance.

City are beatable, and if we had played against them like we did against Chelsea or Spurs we could have got something from the game.

Now, I know people are going to say that we have lost a lot of players to injury and what we have left isn't as good, but surely, if Emery is laying out his vision and setting up tactically for each team, then it shouldn't matter as much.

Iv'e said it before, but our attack looks inept, tired and out of ideas. Players are in the wrong positions constantly, no one runs into the box to get on the end of crosses or when they do, they look to pass to someone else or lay it off - all of which usually ends up with the opposition taking possession.

Where are the direct, pacy runs through the centre that Aubameyang can get on the end of?
Or the quick one two's that lay Lacazette off, to have a shot or two?
Or the shots from range that unsettle the keeper and defence?
Or any kind of pace to our play what so ever?

We have looked like a Wenger team at times this season, and I have forgiven Emery for that, as it seems the players are still on a come down from the Wenger era - but should he not be giving the players a bollocking after each game & using his videos & analysis that we were told about, to show them where they are going wrong? Most managers would even without all the analysis.

Where is the improvement in defence? I mean come the fuck on, should we really be this shit at keeping the opposition out? Even with the players we have we should be a damn sight more improved under a new management team than we were under Wenger but we are inexplicably worse.

I said I would give Emery 3 seasons but he really needs to step up for the rest of this season tactically and with player selection or he his gonna quickly fall out of favour with most. I'm all for giving a new manager time, but I have to backtrack and eat my words if the new manager comes in and repeats the same mistakes that we have spent the last 12 years watching.

Got to agree with you, for me I'm not seeing Emery's style of play or plan, it's all very similar to Wenger at the moment, we've got pace up front, I just don't get why we don't try and exploit it.

Also agree about our combativeness, seems to have disappeared, likewise the defence there's been zero improvemement, considering how bad Wenger was with defending it's a bit of a shocker to be honest.

What we can't forget in the unbeaten run is that we got pretty lucky though, we failed to turn up in almost all the 1st half of games in that run and got lucky the teams we played weren't good enough to punish us, when they were we lost.

I was pretty upbeat about Emery at the start, he seemed to be changing things, we were seeing obvious differences, but I feel he's lost his way in the last few months and his favouritism for certain players is annoying tbh.

[Özim]

Emery talks contsantly about control in midfield. Ramsey is going and Suarez is coming in, so I suspect he feels Suarez has the culture and nous to play the way he wants.

As far as I'm concerned though....I don't care about the new age Arsenal. I'd have done everything I could to keep Cazorla here, signed a veteran like Godin for a couple years and persisted with AMN and had him coached and micro managed to crap to play full back if we were this short of money.

I think Leno was very good yesterday but a keeper who is poor at coming for the ball in the premier league strikes me as a problem.

Wouldn't kill us to keep an eye on the next short, stocky South American forward from the streets or school of hard knocks neither. We need tough players with solid technical ability in attack. Tevez, Sanchez, Aguero, Dybala mould, though clearly we have at last got 2 top forwards. Doesn't stop people suggesting Aubameyang should be dropped every week though.

The thing about Suarez is that he only played for Emery for one season, at the end of that season he didn't even try to sign him, moreover to me he doesn't really seem like a player who is going to control play, he seems to make the odd run and pass, his highlight reel isn't that impressive either, wich considering they can make the worst players look like world beaters is worrying.

I just don't see what Suarez can add, I agree with you about Cazorla he was perfect, real talent and eye for a pass, good skill and could shoot a proper playmaker and even at his age he could still perform as his game wasn't reliant on pace. What we need is another player like him, not Denis Suarez.

Godin would have been great, he's top notch and he's the kind of player young players could learn so much from, I'm not usually an advocate for older players, but Godin is start quality.

We'll need to start looking for another forward anyway, Aubameyang won't be around for years and years, be good to get a young player with potential who can then takeover eventually, South America is the perfect market for that.

[Letters]

I was pretty upbeat about Emery at the start, he seemed to be changing things, we were seeing obvious differences, but I feel he's lost his way in the last few months and his favouritism for certain players is annoying tbh.

People who said that Wenger was a bumbling idiot and anyone would do better :haha:


:ninja:

[SMatthews]

If we aren't going to be able to put in a lot of fresh capital then like Liverpool did, we need to sell and reinvest in 2-3 players. The saleable assets are Lacazette, Bellerin, Ozil to a point, Mustafi for a bag of chips. that could raise £120m+ with that you could get 5 good players. and mustafi wont be around.

Across a season we cant compete with City, but in a one of game we should be able to do something especially as for 30 odd mins we did quite well.

I do like Laca and Auba up front with Ramsey/Ozil behind. think that would work the best.

Absolutely - the other obstacle we may have to overcome in that scenario is will the sale funds be made available for reinvestment, or go elsewhere now that Stan is our overlord. Given the prices players are gong for now we could see Laca and/or Bellerin for £60-80 million each. With Bellerin out until next season that only leaves Laca on the table. We’d have to take a hit with a Ozil as no club is going to pay a big fee and his wages.

What we have to realise as fans is that without the very best players, the mistakes managers make (which happens all the time like any other person in their job) they are less likely to be covered up. It’s what we’ve seen since moving the new stadium and will continue to be the case unless we do exceptionally well in the transfer market. Or, if we stumble across the next Pochittino or early Wenger. It’s a high wire act that doesn’t leave much room for mistake on or off the pitch.

[Mac76]

If we aren't going to be able to put in a lot of fresh capital then like Liverpool did, we need to sell and reinvest in 2-3 players. The saleable assets are Lacazette, Bellerin, Ozil to a point, Mustafi for a bag of chips. that could raise £120m+ with that you could get 5 good players. and mustafi wont be around.

Across a season we cant compete with City, but in a one of game we should be able to do something especially as for 30 odd mins we did quite well.

I do like Laca and Auba up front with Ramsey/Ozil behind. think that would work the best.

selling Laca and /or Bellerin would leave us even worse off and needing two players that could do the things that, err, Laca and Bellerin do

but agree that Ozil can link up well with Laca and Auba, i think he's another one who really suffers from having an unsettled team, when i've watched him on the odd occasion he actually plays the other players aren't used to looking out for him - which is usually in a position with space to go forwards or play in others

having said that he does need to be more consistent but again that's tricky if he's not getting a run in the team

[Marc Overmars]

The problem is even if we did sell our valuable players (which I don't agree with anyway) without CL football we would still struggle to bring in the required quality. It's not just a top 3 or 4 anymore, everyone has money now and everyone is a bigger draw than us thanks to our years of standing still.

Ozil we should definitely offer out to the highest bidder though.

[SMatthews]

It’s thinking about the options available to us. If the budget is limited (which is very likely to be the case) we can’t expect much to change aside from hopeful punts working out. There’s no perfect approach, but as a club we’re up against it if we want to make any real changes to our progression.

[Marc Overmars]

A bit of good coaching and scouting is all we can hope for at this stage really. Qualifying for the CL would be hugely significant so lets pray for that too.

Bit of a sad state of affairs overall though, being "self-sustaining" means nothing when you're in a bubble that is never going to burst.

[Globalgunner]

The Ozil chapter is dead and buried please lets put it to bed there is no resurrecting him. No at this club anyways. He played against Cardiff and had no influence, what does he need to step up? Seeing Barca or RM at the other end, this is the same player who bottled a pen against Bayern with the eyes of the world upon him. I was aligned with NQ back in the day in defending Ozil as not being the root cause of all our problems. (That was Wenger btw Letters). Now people are making out the Ozil is the root of our road back to success. Forget about him, the problem with Ozil is Ozil. He wants a team that plays around his deficiencies. If he loses the ball, he wants other team mates to get it back and it recycle to him, to play the killer pass to the lethal striker (Ronaldo). That is okay if you have 2 tireless midfielders who will battle all day like Modric and Khedira. We don't have that, everyone has to put in a shift as we Arsenal can neither rely on a strong midfield or a watertight defence. When Ozil decides to come out of retirement, we will have a place for him, especially since we cant get rid of him. I see him now as peripheral, like El Neney. We should all do the same, its only his eye watering salary that makes us thing he should be essential.

As far as Cazorla is concerned, that ship too has already sailed. A 33ye old diminutive veteran who almost had his leg amputated on the back of an infection that nearly ate all his tendon. He did his best for us but would not solve any of our issues now. Yes we need a playmaker but one that can also battle and not be dispossessed of the ball so easily. I recall a game against Spurs at the Emirates a few seasons back, Spurs midfield were all over him. They had a plan , As soon as Cazorla had the ball they would put 2 on him and take the ball, killing our game stone dead. It was one of the few occasions that Wenger made a half time substitution, He took Cazorla off, claimed he was injured but I somehow doubt it. Like it or loathe it the EPL is a tough league. Even technical maestros like David Silva can do the scroting as good as any other. Its not an option. I think the Suarez deal is with a view to next season. Ramsey is off and Ozil has been erased by Thanos. Emery hopes he can bed him this next 3 months and if he comes good will be our new no 10 next season, otherwise the search goes on as we definitely need a playmaker in this team.

However Emery is losing me too if i'm honest. I would have played jenks instead of Litch and Ramsey instead of Iwobi who Im no a fan of even less so after yesterdays calamity show. His ineptitude knows no lower limits and offers next to nothing in the AM position. Kos and Mustafi were a horror show yesterday. that pairing all season could see us drifting to mid table Koscielny actually fell over Leno, impeding him from getting to the ball that just crossed the line. Its ok for a CB to score occasional goals, but whats the point if they are useless at defending. Leno stopped it being a 6-1 game yesterday. His tactics are poor, 2 elite strikers who spend all game helping out the defence, Therefore the entire game is played in our half with the opposition CBs inside our half too. Either Laca or better Auba should stay on the centre line keeping the City defenders guessing while we defend their 9 players with our 9 and look for the pass for Auba to run on to. That's the only kind of goal he scores and what made him at Dortmund. Here at Arsenal we defend with all 10 players and attack with all 10 players. Its crazy . We call it attack but its really 6 or 7 players of ours playing the ball ceaselessly across the opposition box until inevitably a pass goes astray and we all collectively panic without a single shot having been taken. Video analysis: Instead of Emery spending hours watching videos of the opposition he should take 1 hour to study his own team.

[Mac76]

His tactics are poor, 2 elite strikers who spend all game helping out the defence, Therefore the entire game is played in our half with the opposition CBs inside our half too. Either Laca or better Auba should stay on the centre line keeping the City defenders guessing while we defend their 9 players with our 9 and look for the pass for Auba to run on to.

yes it drives me crazy seeing everyone retreat, especially when we face a corner / FK, as then there's no outlet when we clear it - and very annoying seeing Auba and Laca missing from goal-poaching positions at crucial times

[fakeyank]

My two biggest issues with Arsenal when Wenger was manager:
- Playing boring sideways slow football
- Players looking like they couldnt be arsed about the club

I believe under Emery the players always look like they give a fuck. They are just not good enough.

And now the part about playing boring football. Despite our first 2 losses in the opening two games of the season, I felt like the team was always pushing forward and playing some great attacking football. Quite a bit of this was very evident in our games against Fulham, Leicester and Spurs. I dont know what happened in the last couple of months however. We have regressed in our attacking play.. Guendozi cant stop passing the ball sideways and backwards, Torreira has gone off the boil, Iwobi has become a proper donkey and no one seems to have a clue!! All the more baffling that we are benching Ozil in the premier league.. does not make sense. Add to this, the lack of opportunity Emery is giving to youngsters like Willock and Saka who look very promising. Give these guys a shot.. they cant be worse than players like Iwobi and Lichsteiner.

[Mac76]

I think Emery's lost his nerve a bit, that was evident over Christmas with those 5-man defences, even in some home games

Agree with the younger players, we can at least hope that Nelson will come back and have an impact

[Bumble]

I think Emery's lost his nerve a bit, that was evident over Christmas with those 5-man defences, even in some home games

Agree with the younger players, we can at least hope that Nelson will come back and have an impact

i would add Iwobi to those we could sell, a West Ham or Everton type club probably part with £35m for him.

But gives the youngsters a go, disappointed that we brought Saurez in to let Emille Rowe go out on loan.

[Özim]

selling Laca and /or Bellerin would leave us even worse off and needing two players that could do the things that, err, Laca and Bellerin do

but agree that Ozil can link up well with Laca and Auba, i think he's another one who really suffers from having an unsettled team, when i've watched him on the odd occasion he actually plays the other players aren't used to looking out for him - which is usually in a position with space to go forwards or play in others

having said that he does need to be more consistent but again that's tricky if he's not getting a run in the team


I don't think we can sell Lacazette realistically, in a more creative team he'd score even more and he offers a lot. I think Aubameyang is a top goalscorer but in a way it was a mistake signing him, he cost a lot and at 29 his value was only going to plummet and he'd need replacing in the fairly near future.

For me we need to sell the likes of Xhaka, Iwobi, Elneny, Mustafi, Lichsteiner, Kolasinac, Jenkinson, Mhiki and Ozil

Then incorporate Nelson, Smith-Rowe and spend the money we have on a winger, a CB, a left back and a backup right back and try and pick up Rabiot on a free and if we can stretch another creative player in midfield.

If we manage to sell all those this should be achievable.

[Marc Overmars]

Kolasinac I would keep. I think he's been one of our better performers and without any natural wide players we need to at least keep some width in the team. He's a good age as well with his peak years ahead of him.

[Özim]

Kolasinac I would keep. I think he's been one of our better performers and without any natural wide players we need to at least keep some width in the team. He's a good age as well with his peak years ahead of him.

I'd agree with you but he's a full back and he can't defend, decent going forward but no good in defence, would rather get a proper winger to do that job as they'll no doubt be better than him at it.

We need full backs who can defend primarily, being good at attacking is secondary to that IMO, a winning team is built from the back forward.

We need to get a winger anyway so that should negate the need for him and his attacking ability.

[Mac76]

I'd agree with you but he's a full back and he can't defend, decent going forward but no good in defence, would rather get a proper winger to do that job as they'll no doubt be better than him at it.

We need full backs who can defend primarily, being good at attacking is secondary to that IMO, a winning team is built from the back forward.

We need to get a winger anyway so that should negate the need for him and his attacking ability.

i think he can do a good job for us - he's one of the few who's always up for it and we need those in the team, plus one of our key attacking options. I agree his defending is lacking but we can't think that if we get one quality left-winger it's all good, we need to account for the sheer number of games plus injuries and i'd like to keep him as a backup / alternate left-winger tbh, plus he can do LB in a five-man defence IMO

[Özim]

i think he can do a good job for us - he's one of the few who's always up for it and we need those in the team, plus one of our key attacking options. I agree his defending is lacking but we can't think that if we get one quality left-winger it's all good, we need to account for the sheer number of games plus injuries and i'd like to keep him as a backup / alternate left-winger tbh, plus he can do LB in a five-man defence IMO

If we need to raise funds them I'd be more than happy to sacrifice him over someone like Lacazette to be honest. There's reports we'll have 40 million to spend in the summer if we don't get into the CL (60 million if we do - how generous), if that's the case flog the ones I listed and bring in some new blood who can help us get back to the level we need to be.

To put it into perspective, Suarez would cost us almost half of our budget, I say send him back in the summer!

This is where Emerys careless mistakes may cost us in the end.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I think if he is really coached carefully and meticulously Kola could be world class.

Has the physicality to be solid defensively too......he just needs a disciplinarian to drill him on knowing where to stand defensively and the fitness coach to do doggies with him until he throws up.

[Özim]

I think if he is really coached carefully and meticulously Kola could be world class.

Has the physicality to be solid defensively too......he just needs a disciplinarian to drill him on knowing where to stand defensively and the fitness coach to do doggies with him until he throws up.

Even if you do believe that (I don't personally but that's neither here nor there), what's clear is that Emery isn't that guy, he's not made an ounce of difference to our defence which was terrible last season.

[SMatthews]

I think if he is really coached carefully and meticulously Kola could be world class.

Has the physicality to be solid defensively too......he just needs a disciplinarian to drill him on knowing where to stand defensively and the fitness coach to do doggies with him until he throws up.

Not sure he can improve that much. A good squad player. Either way, we saw how long it took Klopp to sort out the defence and that took £150m to sort out the spine.