Quote Originally Posted by SMatthews View Post
There are certainly more people saying he should go - even on this forum, which is probably the smallest sample size available. Of course he’s going to say he’s happy with the squad if he’s not being given the money right now to replace them - the summer will show whether that’s the truth or not. We’ve seen Jose throw several players under the bus at Utd and that worked out really well for him.

He’s shifted formations to try and protect the defence but it hasn’t worked. We always wanted a manager who reacted to the opposition and set up accordingly, so it works both ways. His style is clear enough but whether this squad can implement is another matter entirely. He’s six months into the job and has been given hardly anything to spend - what sort of identity or changes are we expecting already? You won’t find consistency when trying to radically change a style and identity that has existed for well over a decade. It will be in fits and starts at this point.

There’s this constant demand for instant results but it’s unrealistic given the scale of his job. He needs to be judged properly if there is a budget in the summer and then what Mislintat and co do with it, then we can see where we are next January. Six months doesn’t even scratch the surface of the job on his hands here. Emery may not be the answer, but he at least deserves more patience than he’s getting. The very best managers make mistakes all the time - the difference is they usually have great players to cover them up. Emery doesn’t. And unless we sell to reinvest, or miraculously stumble across a few hundred mill down the back of the sofa - 5/6th is as good as it gets.

Two different managers, same players and same results - it shows where the problems are to be fixed - Arsenal fans have been banging on about that for years. Now this team all of a sudden has more to offer but it’s the managers not getting it out of them? On paper, or on the field, this squad is performing to its limit, which we saw during the unbeaten run, and even then we were as creaky as hell at times.
Oh Emery is a far superior tactician to Wenger, I have no doubt about that and I have been happy in the main with his pragmatic approach to game management.

Where I'm uncomfortable with Emery is with his recent chopping and changing of the formation and personnel to protect the defence. It isn't working, if anything we look a lot worse in all areas, he absolutely should not be persisting with this 5 at the back malarkey. We were doing fairly well last year with the 4-3-3 formation, yes we got lucky and yes the defence was leaky...but I see no improvement or progress with this back 5, we look worse!

I know I have come across quite strong on Emery but it is only because what I saw in the early stages was very promising compared to the current mess.

I didn't expect top 4 this season and am happy to write off this season but I do want to see some sort of progress, yes I realise that we may not have the personnel that Emery wants to execute his project, but at some point he is going to have to stick to a trusted formation with the players he has and make do with it. Yes we have limitations in the team / squad....but we genuinely did look like we were moving forward earlier on in the season, we looked like a legit top 4 team...not anymore...we have gone back to that "Wenger" clone team of last season!