Morning all.
Firstly, I want to be clear. I don’t dislike Unai Emery because he’s seems like a nice guy. Also, I want to think he can wake up tomorrow morning, look in the mirror and say to himself, ‘I’ve been doing things wrong but today I’m going to start again and make it right.’ I wanted Arsene Wenger to do the same too, right up until his last couple of years at the club, even though I knew it was never going to happen. In the end, acceptance of reality won.
Do you remember back to when you were a kid and I don’t mean your teenage years but younger, the day when you hopped on your first bicycle or jumped into a swimming pool for the very first time? You’d probably seen others do what you were now hoping to but it wasn’t easy. Stabilisers were fitted to your bicycle, armbands firmly placed on each arm because your Mum and Dad didn’t want you drowning or falling off and breaking your arm or leg. I must admit, I grasped both with relative ease and it wasn’t long before I needed neither but to begin with, I’d have been lost without them.
Arsenal, or rather Unai Emery has his own set of armbands or stabilisers. One is named Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the other, Alexander Lacazette. No, I’m not going mad at all. Take both of those players out of the team and what are we left with? Mush!
Their goals are keeping Arsenal going. They are keeping Unai Emery safe, for the moment. Their goals and in Lacazette’s case especially, hard work off the ball, is keeping us floating above the surface. Just.
No Lacazette for a month is going to hurt the team and if Aubameyang were to suffer any kind of injury, the reality of what Unai Emery is serving up would hit home. Assuming it hasn’t already. Emery’s ‘style’ of football is bland, boring and disjointed.
Reading/hearing comments like it was too hot for Danni Ceballos to play the entire game and that our second half was poor because the team was scared is both embarrassing and laughable at the same time. Laughable because Danni comes fro Utera, a small village in souther Spain where the weather has an average annual temperature of 17.5 °C, an average absolute maximum temperature of 41.9 °C. Oh yes, I can see why Sunday’s temperature would have been so difficult for him! He in my opinion was one of our better players yet Emery thought it was a good idea to substitute him.
For our captain to publicly declare an Arsenal team was scared is a sackable offence. What message does that send out? What will other clubs/players/managers think about that eh? After dragging themselves off the floor and nursing their aching bones from laughing too much, they’ll know that we’re weak, toothless and there for the taking. Xhaka’s comment will have done far more harm than he’s perhaps realised. Idiot! He should never ever be seen wearing the captains armband again.
Mesut Ozil doesn’t like a physical battle, he doesn’t do tracking back or tackling. He hadn’t played this season because of that incident and in any case, Emery had barely used him for an away fixture during last season. Yet for some bizarre reason, the Spaniard selected him on Sunday clearly believing it was not only the right thing to do for the player, but the best option for the team. Seriously? That decision was in my opinion nearly as bad as throwing Nelson on late in the second half. Surely common sense suggests Emery should be bringing Ozil back in a home game against a far less physical team and either start Nelson from the off or bring him on when we’re winning. Not throw him into a bear pit to be eaten alive. Torreira left out yet again, why?
These kind of decisions aren’t the kind top top managers make. At least I don’t think they are and those above are just a few examples. I’ll leave you to highlight others.
I know that everything Arsenal seems worse after a result like Sundays but it wasn’t the result which did it for me, it was the performance. Had we played well, fought hard and matched Watford’s energy, hunger and passion then yes, well done and be pleased with a point, especially as they had a change of manager but to be 2-0 up and surrender in the fashion we did was simply a stark reminder that little has changed really.
Yet it has. The squad has had an overhaul in a big way. Yes we still have the likes of Ozil and Xhaka conning the club out of a wage but a number of really good players have been added to the squad too. Even David Luiz. But they need discipline drummed into them, they need to be reminded which club they’re playing for and what the fans give up to go and watch them each week. As a group they need to be on the same page, singing from the same hymn sheet but in all honesty, I don’t think Unai Emery knows the words.
He was out of his depth at PSG, not on the domestic front of course but then the French League is nothing like the Premier League and as much as he excelled in the Europa League prior to then, when it came to pitching up against an average Chelsea side last season, it all went horribly wrong. As did our fight for the extra couple of points we needed to secure top four. A blessing in disguise really apart from the extra money it would have brought into the club.
All in all, I’m really disappointed with Arsenal and where it’s going right now under Unai Emery. I simply can’t see what his plan is and in my opinion, our ‘style’ of football, energy levels and discipline, are no better now than they were this time last year. I can’t even recall when I last watched Arsenal play and walked away thinking ‘I enjoyed that.’
Can you?
Maybe I will on Thursday after we’ve played the hot dogs…
See you in the comments guys…
Morning Rico. We’re past the point of ‘give Emery time, not his players etc’. He’s out of his depth, the football is dire and very good players haven’t got a clue what to do. Watford was a clear horizon for me. Emerys tactics mad them look like world beaters. 31 shots conceded is just madness. Xhaka in the team is madness as is his captaincy. I’d by happy to see him gone now, satisfied if it’s Christmas, but absolutely essential at the end of the season. Almost anyone could do a better job with these players.
Morning Rico and all. I imagine that the thoughts exercising the powers within the club today will be if and when the plug on Unai Emery will be pulled. This will involve an assessment as to whether they believe that our manager actually has the ability to change and learn from what he has achieved so far. They will need to look at his relatively brief history with Arsenal and note whether he has addressed the reasons why we blew out last season plus of course the generally dreadful quality of the performances that led to such a debacle.
There are probably 3 options. Assume that things won’t get better, because they haven’t up until now and move him out early and while the season is still young. Or perhaps just leave him doing what he’s doing for a while yet, but resist the urge to make the change because, historically, Arsenal don’t sack managers impulsively. For this option to have any merit they would need to be convinced that Unai understands what has gone bad and can rectify it all to turn us into contenders.
The third option is to take the Wenger route and just let him carry on indefinitely, or at least until season’s end and perhaps write this season off? And that’s a shocking option.
Arsenal have proved to themselves that doing nothing leads you on a road to nowhere and the owners and the board must have thought they had done well in the close season in the transfer market. They didn’t really address the dominant CB need but I imagine they tried which is why we have David Luiz, a player who has always walked the tightrope between success and disaster although now he is toppling toward the latter far, far too regularly.
Josh, Raul, Edu etc.. it’s over to you.
Is Unai out of his depth? The evidence seems to point overwhelmingly to yes for me.
Morning Chrispy, all.
I agree. This team isn’t Wenger’s anymore, not really. I know we need to offload a few more yet but regardless of who has come in, we’ve not improved at all. We should have, even if just defensively.
Morning Adam.
I think strike whilst the iron is hot. Even if that means handing the reigns over to Freddie in the short term. I’m sure he knows enough people to round up some help with coaching. Half his old team mates would probably bite his hand off to help him sort our defending out…
I see your point Rico. We can only go on what we see and what we are seeing is amateur nonsense.
Does he have what it takes to turn this around? We are told that the owner wants to move the club toward the top of European football. Can this happen under Emery? Something certainly broke on Sunday and there seems to be no way back for Unai. Where is the evidence to the contrary? Cast your mind back to the last games of last season. Lots of problems. Any solutions so far?
I’m with you generally, though the Freddie thing would concern me.
For me we need a pragmatic manager who will finally address our defensive madness to stabilise the club and use the players in a sensible way.
There was a hint of irony in my comment Adam.
But Freddie wouldn’t concern me much in the interim whilst a search for a manager took place. Although Allegri is of course available.
I think the board will opt for leaving things until next summer when Emery will leave, no third year option triggered and no payout etc.
Also, would Arsenal have to pay compensation to Juve if they employed Allegri now? We know money is an issue with Arsenal, or seems to be.
Top drawer Rico and, a good morning to everyone, from where it is a very sunny.
Watched the videos of spectacular flooding down in Spain yesterday which was mind-numbing and life destroying. Cars being tossed around like Dinky Toys in unthinkable volumes of floodwaters. They’ll have massive problems for months (maybe years) to come?
What we have with our Manager isn’t quite so dire but we all think he has to go and, as has been stated on this website by most of you, is WHEN?
Upper management can’t be happy either and WE certainly aren’t!
Not sure whether you agree (‘course I always stick my neck out) but whoever takes the reins has to be someone, ex-player or manager, who HAS PREMIER LEAGUE EXPERIENCE!
I agree Rico, start with Freddie – Arteta could be the answer longer term but like most (all?) of us we’re a ship without a rudder at the moment.
Rico. I don’t see how they can let it ride until the end of the season. It’s Raul, Edu and Josh’s reputations that are at stake too and I can envisage a kind of domino effect if they don’t act. That’s a long time and it seems evident that the fans have (understandably) ceased to believe already. Another couple of disasters and the support will die completely and we could be back to protests. Nobody needs that.
Thanks Rico, Morning All,
exactly this.A very few games I’ve found enjoyable – at home to Liverpool last season,all 3 games against Spurs,I thought we were very good at times against Spurs just a couple of weeks ago.
Ultimately frustrating because that’s a game we should have won.Wenger too would pull off as couple of good
results but they would always prove a false dawn.Not for one minute would I say we shouldn’t have got rid of Wenger.
Another thing that frustrates me is Emerys English.A lot better than my Spanish but he just talks gibberish.At first it was charming that he was trying, but surely it should have improved.It sounds worse,and he doesn’t even answer the question asked,he just rambles on.I hope he can communicate with the players.Contrast that with the Watford manager,he was so easy to understand.
Morning Rico, I’ve never been convinced that Emery was our first choice, despite all the spin that Gazidis put on his arrival. How many of us were really taken in by all the Ivan guff?
I said at the time that he was the cheap option, out of contract etc, at a time when the club was still in turmoil behind the scenes.
Would Arteta have been any better, I’m not so sure?!
At the time I wanted Allegri but I suspect that he wanted mega wages and the kind of conditions and control that the club were reluctant to offer him. For managers like Max it’s more about their reputation than anything.
Behind the scenes things are a lot more settled, Gazides has gone, Mislintat has gone, Josh seems more involved, the wage bill is looking a lot healthier, Raul had a great summer, Edu is getting his feet under the table, we have a great bunch of youngsters, a record signing, we had a great pre season and yet despite 6 points from our opening two games, we’ve somehow taken only two points from a possible 9 from our last 3 games and the fans are in uproar.
Like you Rico, I wanted Emery to succeed, not least to put to bed the last vestiges of the Wenger fantasists, but he doesn’t seem able to get what he should from our squad and the ‘be careful what you wish for’ AKB merchants are popping up periodically, trying to admonish us for ever doubting their washed up hero.
Emery has done a reasonable job in some regards, but his inability to change direction when something isn’t working, is a worry and will almost certainly cost him his job.
So we move on, we don’t go back, it’s what you do…
Hi Andorra and thanks.
I’m not sure PL experience is necessary as Klopp, Pep and Poch are doing ok. I think we just need someone who has what it takes to compete. To be competitive himself…
Go and get Arteta!!
The man was a bloody smart tactician and technician when playing, and will be every better now.
He’s no soft touch and would definitely ignore our defence massively.
He’s the man.
Morning all 🙂
On Emery, I’ve always been a believer that a contract is a contract, so like it or not, but believe he should see the season out, or at least be given the option to.
No reason we can’t plan ahead, though.
Arteta will be able to convince a few City lads to head over with him, I’d reckon.
Adam, it’s what I think they’ll do but not what I think they should. As you say though, we a few further bad performances and results away from a bigger problem and if Raul and co don’t react, it’ll be their reputation on the line.
But funny enough, our next fixtures are very interesting as apart from Utd away, we face clubs which we should be beating until we go to Leicester in November. That one could be tricky. Win them all until then and all will go quiet again.
Until the next time.
It could be that The Peter Principle has bitten the club in the arse.
Hi Limey. Pep too, and Klopp but then English is often learned in overseas schools. Perhaps not the one Emery went to. Lol
I can’t knock Emery’s English because I can’t speak Spanish but if I needed to in order to earn a few million pounds a year, I’m sure I’d soon perfect it…
Morning Kev. I think we think similarly in relation to Emery.
Excellent point about behind the scenes and perhaps that was the priority for Josh and Arsenal. Emery seemed to be a safe option after a turbulent end to a Wenger’s reign. Nothing elaborate just safe and I think the then board assumed regaining a top four spot would be a breeze. Reality is, it should have been but we threw it away.
Now the team behind the scene in sorted and the club know what their aiming for, they’ll find a manager to achieve such things. Certainly now they’ve seen how Emery is struggling to move us forward.
I really don’t get the obsession with Arteta.
Me neither Rico. He has no credentials as a manager and would be a leap into the dark. I can’t see the big link to Arsenal either. He was always injured when he played at the club. If we had bought him several yesa earlier he might have been a success.
Exactly Adam. If we want an ex Arsenal guy, I’d put Vieira head and shoulders above Arteta.
Personally, I think we need a guy who is a bit more steely, more demanding and certainly one who wouldn’t be afraid to tell our players how it is. Buck up or get out.
It’s an opinion, not a bloody obsession lol
Rico. I would too. There are no guarantees so I guess you have to go with your instincts when appointing a new manager. This surely means that you aren’t going to get it right all the time so short contracts and performance-related judgements seem best.
Agreed Adam. To be fair, there doesn’t appear to be a glut of managers out there these days who might be available so that increases the risk but Arsene was a risk, a big risk really but he did ok. For a while… lol
You sure Scott? Lol
Rico, he’d by my choice, that’s all.
Can we name any manager we could guarantee to succeed?
It’s always a risk and as Adam said, it’s an instinct thing.
My instinct says he will be a superb manager.
Could be totally wrong, who knows 🙂
I’ll tell you what worries me right now is the Auba situation.
Has he extended yet?
His comment after the game didn’t sound like someone desperate to stick around.
Morning all. Good blog Rico. Very pertinent at this time.
Changing the manager this early in the season could be counter productive, in that the club would have to dive into the mire filled pool of available or bribable willing to come shiny new men, or women. I agree that Dick has not changed anything much, except the squads’ ability to sit patiently watching endless videos!
His tactics and change of ‘playing out from the back’ is fatally flawed. He can surely see that?? His team picking is bizarre to say the least and his partiality for substitutes is mind boggling unpredictable. Lacazette – off. Torreiera subbed off or subbed on, usually for Guendouzi. Etc etc. Always the same players, rarely any variation game after game. He’s worse than Wenger!
I, like most others am struggling to find any good reasons for keeping him. He has some new shiny players who haven’t started yet or have made very little difference to what we had before. However, I can’t see the club parting with yet. There are several reasons for not ,letting him go’. Firstly they have to pay up his contract, that’d be a few million. Secondly he has several players to come back from injury who really ought to make a difference to our results, more or less the whole of the back 4. He perhaps needs a chance to see what difference they make. And thirdly, ( for now!) who will the club as another ‘long term’ replacement? Not an easy decision.
For now I believe we’re sruck with him, at least till the end of this season, unless we continue in this no win streak, which to be fair is relegation form. Status quo for now, but there could be rapid change of management if things don’t improve fairly quickly. If they don’t then he’ll be gone by November and damn the expense.
Bit negative, all that but, the weather here is positively Cornish!
Robin. That kind of ghastly comment isn’t welcome on here.
I get that Scott, I was generalising really re Arteta as many fans turn to him but admittedly, as my comment followed yours, it looked like it was directed at you.
Personally, I don’t think he’d be right for us but like with you, it’s just an opinion ..
Scott, did you see the look on his face at the end of the game? It reminded me of Sanchez when we’d lost a game that we had won until we let on a couple of very soft goals. Sanchez didn’t hang around for long after falling out with his fellow professionals. I rather think Auba might do the same, and who could blame him?
When is Auba’s Contract up?
Thanks Wavy. I don’t think they’ll opt to change now, but that opinion might change if after the injured return, nothing changes.
The third year option only seems to me like whoever employed Emery was at least sensible about his appoint. No big compensation needs to be paid.
Rico, I had a lovely welcome written for Robin but thought better of it.
I must be mellowing 🙂
What a pathetic thing to say, though.
Arteta, Vieira, Allegra-Hats to be sure how any would go to be fair.
Conte would be a possible one to look at I reckon.
Wavy, I didn’t, to be honest but just knowing the contract situation and the club’s stance on running them down, his comments really didn’t sit well.
Maybe I read too much into them.
Rico, I think it’s til the end of 20/21.
Glad to hear it Scott. I’ll soon bin comments like that.
I guess it’s sign soon or be sold re Aubameyang then. If someone offers £100m for him, I reckon he’ll be a gonner. Lol
Hi Folks, I`m new to this site but already impressed by the content and especially the guys commenting. Sensible discussion for a change. It`s really refreshing.
Anyway, I`m not one to be calling for managers heads at the first sign of trouble, every team or person can have a bad run. BUT… it does worry me some of the decisions Unai makes. Sometimes I think he`s watching a different game to me. I think he should sit up high in the stands and look at the whole pitch.We have a player built for these games when you need to get stuck in with Torreira, he can break up play and win the ball. Why can`t he get a game? I thought that Emery was supposed to be a master tactitian but from what I`ve seen from every game so far he gets it so wrong. I really hope he turns it around , but from what I`ve seen so far I think he may be out of his depth.
I’d take 100 lol
If we get to seasons end though, it’ll be half that.
We need to get it sorted, either way.
Sell Aubameyang and we’ll really be in it because he could well be followed out the door by Lacazette.
True, Adam, but if he doesn’t extend soon, he will be going I reckon.
Welcome Mike and thanks for your kind comments about HH.
I agree re Torreira, I really do.
Adam, I thought the same. Those two seem to have a pretty special bond.
Aubameyang has a contract until the summer of 2021, when he’ll be approaching 32, so I guess that come into it?
Rico, let’s hope they both extend for a few years.
Something we can continue to build on.
If you look at how effective Torreira is for his country, why not play him in the same role? That might be too simple for Unai I imagine.
Yes Mike, not using Torrieira is mystifying
Emery didn’t want Torreira according to some. He wanted N’Zonzi apparently. Odd, as is his devotion to Xhaka.
The guys on Arseblog mentioned that they’d heard that Emery said at half time that 2-0 may not be enough, I bet that had the players raring to go..
But if he thought that and being the proactive manager that we thought he was, why not make some adjustments at half time, Torrieira for Ozil for example?
If that’s the reason Torreira is not being played, Emery will already have cheesed off who decided to sign him. Which I can only assume was Raul.
allezkev, exactly ! But he makes such odd decisions. I think he believes that Torriera is maybe too short or not strong enough……. trouble is we have nobody who can or wants to head the ball anyway. But at least Torriera makes a nuisance of himself.
Torreira and Luiz In Midfield, Chambers at the back.
Hi Fellas,
I was not on board with Emery, but l believed then he deserves a chance. By all accounts he has done terribly; we all knock Ozil but with Ozil pulling the strings and Torreira in the middle, we went 19 games without a loss. Then Emery inexplicably began his tinkering and we lost out on top 4 finish. There was also the debacle of the last game against Chelsea. I wasn’t surprise because he did it at Seville and PSG, that’s why PSG fired him.
When Pep got the City job, one of his first hires was Arteta because he reminded him of himself…he recognized his tactical and technical skills on the field. Moreover we are all wishing for a midfield general or leader, that’s the type of pedigree guys like Arteta and Viera have. So it really doesn’t matter how long Arteta played at Arsenal, what matters is he has demonstrated the initial acumen needed to be successful as a manager when he played.
Scott, yes that could be worth a try. Chambers although he played in midfield last year, was great for Fulham.
Hi Obi, I thought Arteta might be a bit soft ( too nice) to be a manager. But Pep is no mug . You could well be right.
Future managers,
I’d like Leonardo at Monaco or Naglesam(not sure of spelling)Both have a track record of developing young players)
A Viera/Bergkamp combo would be quite something.
But really doesn’t need to be a big name.
Obi, interesting points re: Arteta.
I think he was lined up for the job, but someone got cold feet and went for a more established and out of work option.
Was it Gazides who pulled the rug, did Raul have any input, who knows?
I think losing Ramsey was the major reason we collapsed at the end of the season Obi.
And we still haven’t replaced him…
Willock or Smith Rowe maybe?
As Adam said Mike, it’s been suggested that Emery wanted N’Zonzi back in the summer of 2018, but the cost of getting him and his age went against that move and Mislintat brought us Torrieira.
Mind you, didn’t we get Torrieira before Emery arrived?
So who knows the truth?!
Our midfield looks better with Torrieira in it for sure.
I reckon he’ll start in Frankfurt…
There seems to be a tipping point in the career of any player and any manager and that tipping point is becoming shorter and shorter in these less tolerant and patient times.
Mustafi has gone well passed his tipping point with the majority of fans seeing him as a liability.
It makes no difference if he has a solid game as we’re all waiting for him to fcuk up – and he rarely disappoints.
Xhaka is on the edge of losing the fans and going over his tipping point and the path of no return.
David Luiz is approaching it at an alarming rate, almost Stepanov’esque in its rapidity.
And Emery likewise…
I’ve never known an era in my time as an Arsenal fan when things can change at such a rate.
A sign of the times..
allezkev, I couldn`t agree more re tipping points. What frustrates me most is why when defenders get to Arsenal they seem to turn into disasters! Mustafi was a German international player, we seem to have turned him into a clown. I can`t believe Steve Bould couldn`t sort that out.
So called lower teams have very ordinary players (don`t want to sound mean) but they know what their job is and don`t make as many cock ups. So you need a good bit of play to score. Arsenal these days just seem to gift goals in every game.
Sorry ranting on again….. Just not enjoying watching as much these days.
I always said that managers should stand high up in the terraces and see the movement . I used to watch Bobby Moore at Wembley from the top of the upper stand the way he read things was amazing and a great learning experience for young players.
Unai must have communication problems , I speak quite a lot of Spanish so it’s not the accent and I don’t understand a sentence he says . Certain words yes but a complete thing no.
When it comes to a half time talk he has probably only 5 minutes to talk tactics and I wonder how many players actually bother to try and understand or just stare at their boots.
The more the defence “f ” it up , the more the front players will get fed up. Auba basically carried the team against Watford and I would not be surprised if he upped and went. Same for Leno who obviously doesn’t like the playing out from the back tactic. If Raul wants to make a decision he has to weigh up whether to lose the players or the manager and his team
.Is Freddie a long term replacement ? afterall the same goes for him as went for Arteta re experience . Unai must know that unless things improve his days are numbered so i would hope that he would stop and think hard about how different English football is to European and make the neccessary changes.
Scott- Torreira and Luiz In Midfield, Chambers at the back
My thoughts exactly, got to be worth a few games.
Will say for Luiz, two stupid moments, but many good clearances and interceptions otherwise.
At least a Luiz has the common sense to sometimes hoof the ball up field just to get rid of it. Lol
Sokratis worries me these days and it won’t be long until his constant shirt pulling is picked up by VAR. I’m surprised it hasn’t already.
Mike, I agree re other ‘lesser’ teams being far more organised and more committed too. Watford are just the latest example.
Andrew, i figure a big bodied, aggressive guy like Luiz alongside Torreira would work.
Also, better Luiz make his “rash” challenges 20 yards up the pitch than in and around the box though I stand by my opinion that these challenges aren’t nearly as bad as the diving attackers make them look and that’s
where the true problem in football is.
Luiz pulled out of the challenge, the attackers touch us heavy so forces contact.
Defenders have no protection these days.
Ho hum, it is what it is so we need to work around it.
Chambers and Holding together could well
end up a fantastic combination in years to come.
Evening all and another super post from El Rico. 🙂
Amazing really when you think about it……….only 5 games ago we were all getting excited about the new season after our frenetic transfer window, now we are sacking the manager ! hahaha
I didn`t want Emery and like a few wanted Simeone or Arteta……………….Simeone as historically he has sorted a decent defense out and managed to gate crash the El Classico Party on a lot tighter budget and Arteta because as Obi said……………….Pep wanted him and for his knowledge of both Arsenal and Pep`s innner tactical secrets, but mainly because his LEGO hair reminds me of Captain Black of The Mysterons and that is a massive plus and could only get better if he was more like Troy Tempest from StingRay ! …which had The greatest opening musical score of any action series and the most gorgeous woman ever in Aqua Marina who I fantasized about have no strings attached sex with for many years…………up to last week actually, plus she was dumb and could never be able to scream for help !
Emery ………….. I think he will carry on with his contract and depending on how this all turns out will either get an extention or be let go after the two years, however I would not be disappointed if Raul acts like the executioner now as Emery is starting to become like Manuel from Faulty Towers although his Enlish is a bit better !
Anyway it`s been a swelltering day in Cornwall where I have been delivering coast to coast and keeping an eye out for Aquaphibians .
I love the line…………..”Anything can happen in the next half hour!”…………………………….I still use it today whether watching Arsenal or chatting to the ladies ! 😆
Yes to be fair I`m not too worried about Luiz. As you say rico he has a bit of common sense and can play football. Sokratis is an accident waiting to happen, I like his commitment but Holy Mary he has been lucky so far .He is clumsy and always has his hands on people.
Why isn`t the manager having a word?
Le Coq Monster…………. Can`t top that! Really made me chuckle.
Thanks Lc.
Yep, just five games to go from optimism to near despair. Crazy eh.
I’d have had a word ages ago Mike, although he’s old enough and wise enough to know better. Especially now technology is in the game.
I like the thought of Chambers and Holding in time but a bit of a risk right now perhaps. Luiz into midfield certainly lessens the danger in the box.
I was being serious, Mike !…………………….. 😆
😆 😆
As you and others have said, Rico…………………………….not starting The Terrier………………………..The “too hot” comment and Xhaka letting it out that our were scared has left me scratching my head and that`s just a few off the top of my flaky head, we are really making it easy for others to laugh at us……………..yet miraculously we are joint third with teams who are not as funny !……………………..it`s like a real life Tales of the Unexpected !
Being joint third makes it worse Lc. Those four dropped points against Toots and Watford might make a difference.
Good afternoon Rico,
An interesting perspective. I think we should give Emery until Xmas. I can’t believe he’d coach as mindlessly as the team played on Sunday. It took the first goal before Leno went long. Every time we played out from the back my heart was in my mouth. For that first goal Watford had four against two. We work hard offensively to get a one overload. It got to be the players responsibility to adapt. They are on the field in the game. To be fair Emery hasn’t been able play what we know is our top defense. Bellerin and Holding are known quantities and we bought Tierney t for a good reason. I don’t rate Xhaka as leader. He’s comments at the post match interview are dressing room comments. To put them into the mouths of the press and our opponents is really too much. The midfield really does need strengthening but we knew couldn’t do it all at once. There was euphoria with what we did accomplish this transfer window. While worrying this capitulation is only this game this season. I think we should take a step back and lets see how Emery and the team responds. If we don’t see dramatic changes when we all our first team back, then by Xmas I think E should go. Btw I think Laca should be Captain.
Borussia Monchengladbach fans are hoping Granit Xhaka’s tough time at Arsenal could see the midfielder return to Germany……………………………………….and I`m feeling …………….gladbach all over ! ……………………………………….people of a certain age may get that satire!
Scott @7:51, Southgate made Holding and Chambers worked. They were a very good pair for England and won championships. I really don’t know why we don’t give them a chance when both are healthy. Heck, they can be any worst than what we have. And I will play Luiz and Torreira in the middle, Dave Luiz is a good footballer but not a good defender and he can actually pass the ball well.
Obi, it’s worth a try at least.