Morning all.
Well the moment finally arrived. Another terrible performance, a dreadful result and a half empty stadium was the last straw. We can go on all day long about how poor a choice Unai Emery was, how bad his teams played, how poor he was at man managing his players and how he should have been sacked a long time ago but it won’t change anything. The most important thing now is that the owners/board have sacked the Spaniard and there’s plenty of time to turn this season around.
What’s important now is the future which for the time being is with Freddie taking the reigns. I’m sure we are all desperate to know who will be appointed on a permanent basis but the club need to do their homework and do everything they can to make sure the next man is the right man to take the club forwards. We’ll all have our own ideas as to who that person should be but we have to realise that who we want is likely to be different to who’ll well get. Nuno, Arteta, Rogers, Naglesmann, Benitez – the list goes on and as much as we think Arsenal aren’t a club to be turned down, I disagree. Financial restrictions, Raul and Edu reportedly deciding who we sign, their own current situation and long term plans for the club they’re currently at and The Kroenke family too. After all, their lack of ownership qualities are often raised here on HH. Not that I support that theory though, not entirely.
Mustafi is right, there’s been too much chopping and changing going on for the last eighteen months. Too many personnel changes, too many captains and too many tactical changes on a game to game basis. Any team needs stability, players need to play together on a regular basis in order to understand each other better. The training pitch will only take a game plan so far.
The ideal guy would be someone who believes in youth but doesn’t rely on it. Someone who will get the best from our players rather than isolate them, someone who leads by example and believes in leadership on the pitch. A guy who’ll bring a group of players together on the pitch as well as off it, can organise a defence, a midfield, an attacking unit and turn them into one big eleven man unit. A guy who knows what the club is about, it’s values and the direction it wants to go in. Whatever that is these days.
Apart from Max Allegri, all other top managers are hard at work at other clubs. To prise them away will need a good speech with promises. Promises to be competitive, ambitious and supportive. And probably a lot of money. Arsenal must already have a plan in place for where they want to be in five/ten years time and that plan has to convince an ambitious manager that Arsenal are a club on the rise. A club which intends to bring a few glory days back to The Emirates.
The media asked Nuno Espírito Santo about replacing Emery just after Wolves had surrendered a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 against Braga on Thursday evening. He didn’t say he wouldn’t but then there wasn’t a job going at Arsenal then.
Brendan Rodgers is quoted in the Express as saying he’s not interested in giving up on “something really exciting” at Leicester City.
The Sun say Max Allegri has ruled himself out of the running. ‘According to reports’ they write.
In the meantime, we have Freddie and I wish him all the best…
After taking his first training session yesterday, he tweeted:
‘However long I oversee Arsenal for I will give everything I have to put smiles on faces again. ‘We have a busy few weeks ahead and the team needs your support.
‘Let’s get to work!’
The one thing we’ll get from the Swede is respect for the fans. He’s been there, won things and enjoyed some very special moments at Highbury with us all. He was part of one of the greatest teams to play in the Premier League and part of a team which played exciting and entertaining football under a very very good manager in Arsene Wenger. As coach, he hasn’t inherited the kind of players Arsene did, certainly not in central defence but there’s nothing to say that they can’t be organised better, to be more efficient. As far as attacking players go, he has a great crop in Lacazette, Pepe, Nelson, Martinelli, Aubameyang, Ceballos, Smith Rowe, AMN and dare I suggest a rejuvenated Ozil? I’ll remain on the fence re the German. Torreira, Guendouzi, Willock, Tierney, Bellerin, Chambers, Holding and two very good keepers. That’s a very good squad in my opinion. Lacking yes, in central midfield and defence but most of all it lacks discipline and direction. If Freddie can sort both, he’ll be half way there. In my opinion of course.
Perhaps there’s a bit of sentimentality running through my veins but I’m hoping Freddie is a huge success and the job will one day be his permanently.
According to a few headlines on NewsNow, Gilberto Silva might be joining Freddie’s new interim coaching team which is set to be announced later today.
Edu, Freddie, Gilberto. It’s like old times eh.
That’s my ramblings over for another day.
Morning all.
Let’s move forward.
We’ve spent 18 months looking backwards and it’s done us no good so here’s to the future-go Freddie!!!
Good post Rico, I agree with all you say. Especially I hope that Freddie is a success , but anyway for the first time in quite a few weeks I am really excited about watching the game on Sunday .
My very top choice for a manager would be Nagelsmann, he definitely wouldn’t come now but ‘perhaps’ he may come in the summer.
Mind you if Freddie, Gilberto,( have heard even Pires may be enlisted in ) are a success that would be amazing
Rodgers hasn’t said no !! That is Utter lies… what he actually said was Speculation comes from when you are doing the right things on the pitch !! Allegri hasn’t said no either … He said he wouldnt listen to any approaches until the summer… Where you get your information from makes me laugh !! as obviously its fake news sites !!
Rodgers may not have said NO, but he did not sound as if he was anyway interested in anything but staying at Leicester . NO manager ever says NO totally as they always like to leave something out there in case they ever need it. The only manager that has said a BIG NO is Jose , but he has only just gone to Spurs. Allergri hasn’t said no either, but said that he wants to take his whole year off. IF he was interested he would not passed up the chance to at least not rule him self out for now.
I don’t think it fair of you to brand Rico of giving fake news
we all know that NO ONE really knows what is going on at Arsenal , Rico was just giving us the info as he see’s it . I for one find him very informative & don’t expect him to be totally in the know all the time
Thanks Rico, Morning all,
it’s great to actually be looking forward to an Arsenal game.
I had to laugh at Gary Neville yesterday,he said our defenders are uncoachable – by him certainly,
I think Mustafi was at Valencia during his disastrous spell,so it’s understandable him being bitter.
Someone on here said he is the best pundit, which he is
I always think his credibility is undermined by what happened at Valencia.
Moving forward, I’m starting to think we’ll end up with someone weve never heard of.The Portuguese guy at Flamengo, another Portuguese currently coaching in China,this morning I see Marcelino linked.
We had never heard of Arsene,he wasn’t too bad ! For the first few years anyway.
Thanks Sohara on both accounts. I’m a she by the way… lol
Carl, if you read the post properly, you’d see exactly where the Allegri etc stories have come from ffs!
Also, where in the article does it say Rogers said ‘no’? If you’re going to bitch about my post, get your own facts straight first eh!
We should let Freddie run for a bit and see if he can bring stability and harmony to the “GROUP “.
The players in their own right are not bad players , lets see if they can be organised in the games before the window opens.
Whether the club will dig deep at that point is moot but as I said a few days ago ( seems like a lifetime ) if we get the old heads to rally round and if the players are receptive, it should all work out in the end.
As for us the supporters we have to realise that their is no quick fix .At least 5 years of Wenger and 18 months of Emery have to be unpicked and the responsibilty lies with the experienced players to organise themselves and get behind Freddie . We know the younger ones will so lets all pull together and accept that things are likely to fail on the way to the ultimate goal.
Hi Limey, I too don’t think we’ll get one of the names we talk about here, I saw the headline about Marcelino and thought he was a magician.. lol
Neville has a cheek eh…Another talker and failed walker..
Agree Potter.
I think all we hope to see now is improvement on a game to game basis and stability. I think Scott summed it up well on the last post. Freddie might not make a huge difference right away, but removing Emery will..
During the unbeaten run last season, the football was all over the place but because Emery was going through his honeymoon period, there was passion in the players and it was that which dug out results imo.
I must be getting old.
I had a ripper reply for Carl but didn’t post it!
I’m a shadow of my former self 🙂
Well controlled then Scott..
Gilberto in as a coach – very sensible.
A defensive coach too I hope. Someone like Keown.
Rico, I figured it wasn’t my battle to fight and knew you’d handle it 🙂
It was damn annoying though!!
Trolls Scott. Leave an offending comment then go. Buffoons..
Hi Rico If we go with a untried coach and willing to give him 12 month how do you and other think we will go
with Arteta as coach and Freddie as assistant
Hi Geoff, I’ve no idea. Let’s see how Freddie gets on I guess and a lot depends on the plan Arsenal have.
Are they thinking experience or an untried/unknown. If it’s the latter and Freddie does well over the weeks/months to come then I’d imagine he’d be in the frame, if not then I guess Arteta would in the boards mind.
I read on LG this morning though that he and Raul might not get on well.
If it’s experience they want, then perhaps they’ll go with Rogers or Nuno. Well, try and get them but I’m far from convinced they’d leave their current clubs.
Another great post Rico! Keep your ramblings going please!!!
Well I’m secretly looking forward to tomorrow’s game, but a little worried Freddie hasn’t had enough time to organise the players properly yet.
It will be interesting to see what team he puts out though!
Don’t want to play Devils Advocate , but if you listen to the whole Gary Neville clip, he was quite praising of Arsenal and I personally think he made some good points.
I still hate him!😁
Carl Shadbolt….What Planet are you on???
Can you actually read???
If you can, You should read the post again and realise what a Tit you’ve made yourself look!!!
Morning Rico and all. People tend to vote for personalities I think.
Thanks Mike.
Neville does make some very valid points and on paper, he makes so much sense but his credibility was bashed when he couldn’t put into practice what he preached. I much prefer him to most other pundits but detest him all the same.
I’m looking forward to tomorrow too and he’s been around this group of players for a while now, I’m sure they’ve ‘talked’. Lol
Morning Adam. Perhaps and I know I’m guilty of just that with Freddie but I’m not daft enough to think that just because he was a great player for us, he’ll be a great coach. I think many very good managers have been average players at best. Someone high up in teaching sport once told me that to be a great coach, one doesn’t need to have excelled in the sport.
But I must say, much of my enthusiasm comes from the departure of Emery and I hope the players feel the same.
Another talker and failed walker..
Just like Dick his major problem was that he did not speak Spanish .
Morning All, just been catching up on the final comments from yesterday’s post and it was like an episode of Sir Les Patterson talks Arsenal…. 😄
Misty morning all.
I really hope Freddie is a resounding success and that we go on a phenomenal run that sees us finish third! But I’m not going to hold my breath.
If all the ‘old boys’ return to help take the club forward and do so, we will be blessed!
I always thought it most strange, contrary even, that Wenger rarely employed members of his successful teams to assist him as coaches. And when he did, Keown for example he shot him off after the Champions League final. I guess Wenger was not too good at being criticised, especially be an ex-player whom he felt he’d already made ‘great’. Hubris? Anyhow perhaps the new management team will adopt a different approach, and they can all speak English! Always an advantage, I find😊
A win at Norwich should be a matter of course, but given our situation at present, nothing is certain. I’m looking forward to it, I’m optimistic that we’ve turned a corner and shall start heading north again. The alternative is just unthinkable!
Good start to welcome the new era Rico, let’s hope that Monday’s jottings are not full of woe, again!
Marcellino is presently unemployed since being sacked in September by Villareal. His only managerial honours are the second division title for Recreativo 2005/6 and Copa del Rey for Valencia 2018/19.
No Premiership experience as a manager nor as a player. No compensation to pay and probably a relatively low salary requirement. Is that what we are looking for?
Potter, or English. Lol
Ha ha Kev…
Afternoon Rico and the House.
Just a short visit going out to lunch.
I gather our BFG will be in the dugout with Freddie tomorrow.
At the moment mixed feelings with him as a coach, he is big on playing out
from the back just like Dick.
Tomorrow should give us a clue if he will continue the same way.
Some great posts and comments since my last visit thank you all.
see you later.
Thanks Wavy. I think there’s a better chance of us beating Norwich tomorrow than we might have had..
Afternoon Rico, thanks again for the post and all the posts you put out during the year, the majority of us appreciate the work you do and those that don’t appreciate it are irrelevant anyway.
I’m not expecting miracles from Freddie, but he does know the players and might be more sensitive to what they can do and what they can’t, so I’m optimistic that we’ll see a bounce whilst not being unrealistic.
I’ve read that whilst Freddie has the confidence of the younger players in the squad that some of the seniors are not so keen on him, but if those seniors start playing up again I think that the fans will quickly turn on them because with Emery gone there’s is nowhere for them to hide…
Getting Gilberto back could be a very smart move, just keeping things uncomplicated, working on the defence, building a solid base and letting the forwards do their thing is the way to go.
And, as Lampard has shown, trust in the youth, the kids may lack in certain depts but they won’t lack in effort, desire, commitment and enthusiasm, so with that in mind I was pleased to see Freddie bringing a few more youngsters into the group.
The seniors have shown so far that despite their stellar reputations that they really don’t give a shit, so if that’s the case, piss off and let the kids have a go…
Onwards and Upwards…
https://www.arsenal.com/news/its-great-honour-i-feel-excitement
Afternoon Kev and thank you.
Good comment and spot on re the players if they play up. How can they not like Freddie? Perhaps he’s not a soft touch, or because he’s done very little to prove himself as a coach at senior level. Well, we’ve seen what experience can dish up so roll with it I say. Give him a chance.
Exactly Rico, I’m not that impressed with many of our senior players because whatever you may or may not think about a coach, there is a thing called personal pride, pride in yourself and your own performance and quite a few of our seniors have performed quite appallingly this season, in fact in many cases I suspect deliberately so.
As I’ve written many times Rico I’m not too attached to many of our senior players, I wouldn’t be too bothered if most of them depart over the next 18 months because what they’ve delivered up for what they get paid is frankly not good enough.
In my time Bertie Mee and George Graham built successful teams based around mainly ‘Arsenal boys’ with a smattering of expensive signings.
Arsene Wenger did likewise initially building his teams on the foundation of ‘Arsenal boys’…
Well we’ve had the big signings in recent years Rico, the big reputations, the playboys, the stars and count the trophies we’ve won with them? Not too impressive is it?
If we’re going to go through a few more seasons of change then I’d rather do it with our own lads rather than putting more money into the pockets of people like Jeorge Mendez etc…
What a pity Raul and his mates didn’t sack Emery at the start of the International break. To have done so would have allowed Freddie time to sort things out prior to this weekend’s game.
From the official website:-
David Luiz
Bruised ribs. Sustained during the Eintracht Frankfurt (h) match on Thursday. Being assessed ahead of Sunday’s match.
Shkodran Mustafi
Bruised left foot. Sustained during the Eintracht Frankfurt (h) match on Thursday. Being assessed ahead of Sunday’s match.
Hector Bellerin
Tight hamstring. Being assessed ahead of Sunday’s match.
Sead Kolasinac
Missed Southampton (h) and Eintracht Frankfurt (h) with slight hamstring issue. Now available for selection.
Dani Ceballos
Left hamstring. Sustained during the Vitoria SC (a) match on November 6. Aiming to return to full training mid-December.
Providing they are passed fit, I’d like to see Freddie select Leno, Bellerin, Chambers, Holding, Tierney, Guendouzi, Torreira, Ozil, Pepe, Aubameyang and Lacazette.
The back four all have decent pace, Guendouzi and Torreira should be told to sit in front of the defence while pepe can use his pace and ball dribbling skills to get behind the Norwich defence and put in some decent crosses.
AND DON’T MESS ABOUT PLAYING OUT FROM THE BACK.
Trouble is Kev, how much support etc will fans give the younger players? One bad performance or just an off day and they are heavily criticised by many. If the club came out and said we’re going down the youth route, then I’d be right behind them because like you, I’m very much against all these big egos and high wages players.
According to The Mail via some Spanish newspaper, Real Madrid are set to offer £70m plus James Rodriquez for Aubameyang… 🤔😂
“The Flamengo guy” is Jorge Jesus. Arrived this year in Rio de Janeiro contract by Flamengo, no one believed him, Flamengo won the championship with the most points ever and won the same week, the Libertadores (corresponds to the Champions League). It was, in my view, a good option. He surrenders 100% and was a winner wherever he went. He is a eager to train a big from Europe (besides Benfica, Sporting …). The only problem should be the English language.
I think the coaching issue now always goes through the businessman, in this case Jorge Mendes. In this sense, coaches who are not represented by Jorge Mendes are discarded. Unfortunately
rIco, “I hope that we can start a streak” really translates into “I think my chances of making a league appearance this season have just got better”
Ha ha Micko. He can’t be any worse than a Luiz though. Can he?
Mendes with Nuno too Jm, Edu has some link with a super agent/company too. Kia (can’t recall his surname)
Kia Joorabchian. That’s his name. Apparently he had something do do with us signing Martinelli and Luiz.
Let’s the managers job to Mendes or Joorabchien then if they’re going to run our club, what a joke…
Maybe we should steer clear of Nuno then.
Rico, are you sure that wasn’t 70 million OR Rodriguez? 😉
If it was both take the offer, it’s a no brainer.
Rick got his Wish we have the BFG on the bench with Freddie tomorrow. I would REALLY love it if Freddie turned out to be a brilliant manager and he could get us up the league high enough for the EL spots & who knows , win the EL ? ( dream on eh?) if we still want to change to a better manager at least if we have EL footie they may come . my top choice would be Nagelsmann 100% but we are unlikely to be lucky enough to get him, he is highly sought after
One thought I had if Freddie is doing well I ‘think’ that Arsene will come back to watch one of his legends manage the team, that would be nice to see him watching a game
I am female too Rico, perhaps that’s why we have similar thoughts on the team we both love
Both Cicero, honest…
Whilst it would be nice for Gilberto to be given some role at Arsenal, as far as I can discover he has no coaching experience whatsoever. His only job in football since hanging up his boots was a brief period as technical director at Panathiniakos.
Does that qualify him as a member of our coaching team?
Isn’t Nagelsmann only half way through his first year as head coach at R B Leipzig? It’s unlikely that he would want to leave yet….Isn’t it?
Ha ha Sohara, I doubt it though. Perhaps common sense though..
Yes you are right Cicero that’s why I don’t think we will get him BUT my little hope is that I am sure he would like a PL club so as to compete against the best managers in the world & the best teams, & Arsenal is still one of the BIG PL teams even though we have slipped down the ladder a bit . It is only a feint chance but still a ‘little’ chance
Gilberto said back in 2015 I think it was, that he was about to do his coaching. He was linked to a role under Wenger back then.
A great post form a vibrant and rejuvanated Rico. 🙂
Although I must correct you, you say all the top managers are currently within job apart from Austin Allegro………………….well Pocketdildo is available ! 🙂
Phil Nevile I heard that in Spain all the Valencia players took the piss out of him for his speech impediment of saying Good Evening to them all instead of Good Ebening, had them in stitches apparently !
Looking forward to tomorrow just for some visible improvement of play, competitiveness and attitude whatever the result………………………………..Ready Freddie Go !
This is good imo, I hope we take our time in getting it right this time…………………..Arsenal director Josh Kroenke says the club will perform a thorough search for their new manager, insisting it is about the right candidate, not the first candidate. “Our process is already underway. It’s going to be led by Raul (Sanllehi), Vinai (Venkatesham), Edu and Huss (Fahmy) here internally. I look forward to getting with them and working closely with them throughout this process.”
Le Coq, something to cheer you up, Poch has already said there’s only two clubs on this planet he wouldn’t consider managing, Barcelona & yours truly mate lol.
Hi Rico and the House.
After seeing our BFG and Bobby Pires on the training ground
with Freddy I am feeling much more happier then I was 24hrs ago.
I think they could make a very good team and they could change the way we play.
All 3 know our youngsters and I can see them getting more playing time.
3 points tomorrow would be a very good start.
Where’s Sir Les?
Kev, I’m always here!
Me too…
New post up now
Hi Rick, Bobby isn’t on the coaching team yet is he? I read he helps players through injury and their return.