Morning all.
I suggested the other day that our players would be better off keeping quiet about the past and focus on the future. Perhaps if they’d focused on the past at the time it was the present, the club wouldn’t be in the position it is now.
Not one person in the squad has had something positive to say about the eighteen months of Unai Emery’s reign. Ozil, Lacazette, Mustafi, Leno, Luiz – they’ve all had something to say, yet if you ask yourself who the really poor performers were, you’ll find the same names in there. I don’t suppose many of us enjoyed watching Arsenal during that eighteen month period but I think some of the players should have taken a look in the mirror before knocking the guy they downed tools for.
Unai Emery has struck back as Sky Sports quote him as saying the following via France Football:
Arsenal was a club on a downward slope for two years before I arrived. We stopped this fall and even began to rebuild the club with the Europa League final and fifth place in the league, only one point off Tottenham despite the fact that we took just one point in our final five matches.
We had Champions League qualification in our grasp and it went wrong in the end. But it was a good season and we had this notion of continuing to improve. But we lost our four captains: [Laurent] Koscielny, [Petr] Cech, [Aaron] Ramsey and [Nacho] Monreal. They were personalities that we missed this season to stay on the right track, and some stars did not have a good attitude and asked for more than what they were giving back.
Taking all of that into account, we needed time to succeed with our transition to a new Arsenal, which is what I wanted.
I’m not defending Unai Emery here but he’s right about how close we were to securing top four during his first season but the manner in which we crumbled during the last couple of months was reminiscent of the mid-season collapse under Arsene Wenger. Whereas Arsene could so often rally his troops for a final push to secure top four, Emery couldn’t. Just one extra victory that season and Emery might still be the head coach. That’s how close it was. But of course, to think that we’d been improving throughout that first season would have been wrong. We hadn’t.
Emery is right, Arsenal had been in decline before he took over but for more than just the previous two years. The football we were playing was boring, disorganised, weak and disjointed long before he joined the club. He simply couldn’t turn it around despite being given time and money.
Yes, everything in the Arsenal garden looks bright and colourful right now, the players are looking happy and seemingly in a good place under Mikel Arteta. Not one bad word has been said about Emery’s successor but then nothing was said about Emery whilst he was at Arsenal either. At least not by the players as far as I can recall.
Footballers are a fickle lot. One minute they can be out there on the pitch giving everything, the next it’s down tools and before you know it, another manager has paid the price.
A season isn’t about 7/8 weeks, it’s about eleven months of hard work, application, dedication and consistency. For this group of Arsenal players it’s about the next three and a half months. Fourteen weeks of nothing short of 100% focus and commitment in every game and from start to finish.
Stop whingeing on about the past and focus on the future because that’s the only thing they can do something about.
On a lighter note, the official website has been covering the winter training in Dubai and there’s a video clip of our three keepers being put through their paces. It’s worth watching I think, although I did go a bit cross eyed at one stage…..
I bet the players/coaches are not looking forward to returning to the English weather, poor Mesut will have to dig out his thermals…
See you in the comments guys.
Morning all.
Rico, as we know, managers and players have a mic shoved in their face, and a loaded question aimed at getting a certain response is thrown at them.
It was pretty clear the squad wasn’t a happy one under Emery, and as much players must always try their best, it’s hard to actually perform at their peak then they’re not happy.
Emery is just deflecting attention from the fact he was dismissed as a new season, and potentially a new job for him are just around the corner.
Scott, they are but I always used to say the same about Arsenal Wenger, just be polite and decline commenting on what’s irrelevant.
Re Emery, I’d imagine most English clubs would swerve appointing him because the language barrier was a huge part in the problems he had imo. I admired him for dropping Ozil, not though for bringing him back into the team as it was never going to work.
Funny enough, the one player who might hold a massive grudge with Emery is Xhaka, yet as far as I know, he’s said nothing.
Rico, I agree to a certain extent, but then they are labelled aloof or arrogant so can’t win really 🙂
Xhaka-agreed.
I said at the time he was thrown under the bus by Emery which was very poorr form, imo.
Anyway, Emery is gone and really, he’s doing himself no favours atm.
Not at all Scott, talk to the microphone just be smarter.
Thanks for the post Rico…
I think that Emery will get a job in Spain, although I’ve heard that even Spanish speakers don’t know what he’s on about half the time!
Did anyone see that video of Luiz pinching players noses when they were asleep. I noticed that he only did it to the English lads…
Hi Rico well put Yes the players did not like Emery but at the end of the day its not the coaches fault when the players miss easy goals or kick the ball to the other team these players need to have a bloody good look at them self we give the players far to much say
Say plenty while saying little, Rico.
They need political lessons hahahaha
I didn’t see that Kev..
Hi Rico, my view is the players tried to do what Emery asked for but maybe didn’t understand it – I certainly couldn’t understand and eventually gave up watching him and like most lost contact with Arsenal as a result. If he’d focussed on the league just that bit more we’d have been there still but attention was obviously shifted to his hat trick of EL
If we as supporters give up then it’s hardly surprising that the players did. Were the board guys approachable/bothered enough to attend the odd session to be able to pick up the clarity issue or squad issues?
From Mikel’s first words my interest was back and all is going well and likewise the squad feels the same way. He has connection, purpose, method and in a limited finance situation as I see it is preparing for a summer overhaul. In the meantime we can all see much progress unless we’re blind!
Kev, it’s bloody funny, that video.
Pepe didn’t look too happy though lol
Good afternoon one and all.
To an extent I agree with Emery, Arsenal was in a state of decline when he arrived and had been for a while. Much of the problem was down to the previous manager obviously, but the attitude of some of the squad left much to be desired.
Emery failed to get his message across and the squad lost interest in listening to him, with the obvious consequence that the situation just got worse and he paid the ultimate price.
In a way I’m grateful to Emery, he showed that there was a serious problem and eventually the squad came to realise that they were a big part of that problem and so were much more receptive to Arteta’s ideas and methods when he arrived.
Pehaps we fans should say a big thankyou Unai Emery.
I see Ozil has been talking to the media. He has made it clear that he will not be looking to move on before his contract expires in July 2021, but also says that his future beyond that date will probably be somewhere other than at Arsenal. He went on to say that he was again enjoying his football, under Arteta, and would do all in his power to help the team.
Hi Geoff, I think the problems under Emery ran deeper than that, as a team we were dreadfully disorganised.
Mari just got Luiz with the nose pull, Kev 🙂
Hi Pat, the same Pat of eight years ago here?
I agree with your view, communication was a big issue. I too got bored with listening to him mostly because I hadn’t a clue what he was on about so I get why the players struggled.
The very same Rico! I still read each day…. :-).
So many problems to resolve after AW let alone Emery, give the guy time! He’s obviously done his homework prior to coming in, realised it’s was the whole set-up, not just the manager and has piece by piece addressed it as best he can at this stage. Can’t wait to see what he’s concocted in Dubai for our attack and with the recruits and coaching what that brings to the rest of the team.
We’ve been crying out for a defence and it’s there in such a short space of time along with organisation, spirit and accountability.
. I noticed that he only did it to the English lads…
Not supised he didn’t do it to Kolasinac.
Good read, Rico. I thought he’d have moved on by now 😄 All I can say is I’m glad it’s over…the last 6 months or so of his time with us definitely won’t live long in the memory!
That video of Luiz was funny… what cracked me up was how arsey Willock was!! I’m surprised he wasn’t smacked by any of them!!
5 days to go 🙂 Have they left Dubai now?
Good to see you back Pat.
Must admit I’ve been surprised by how quick Arteta seems to have sorted the defending out, the energy too has certainly gone up a few gears.
Ditto re the next step as it’s the first time they’ve all had time together without a fixture every couple/three days. The new signings too, looking forward to seeing them.
Thanks Sue. I’ve not seen the video, is it on YouTube or afc.com?
I watched it on Luiz’s instagram, but it is on YouTube, Rico 🙂
Just seen it Sue. Willock’s reaction was priceless.
It was!! 😄 I’d have been exactly the same haha!
Nice one Rico.
Yes !…stop the whingeing and do the work on the pitch, no slackers!
They could do no worse than follow my example at home. I`m a fair man , but I cant accept slacking around the home by the wife whilst I`m hard at work driving around all the beauty spots in Cornwall and having to put up with the constant flirting from mesmerised females!
I have had to bring in OPTA to analyse the wife`s performances around the house and it`s not good news!
She knocked on my study door, I welcomed her in and even let her sit down as I went over her 6 month appraisal! She had all the usual excuses……recovering from life threatening illness…..being unwell etc, but I then produced a domestic duty heat map of her and could see that she spent most of her time in the living room watching Loose Women and catch up Love Island……………..and not doing anything in the garage like servicing the car etc, you can see from my heat map I have produced
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/5565c85de4b0605469529225/1457389280289-Y3UK222TKML0GVXJDWPK/home-wifi-heatmap?content-type=image%2Fpng
But as I have said, I am a fair man and even though she started to whinge and moan at me I still managed to show compassion and offered to cryogenically freeze her until medical science could find a cure for her moaning!………………….amaazing how quickly she completely forgot about Love Island catch up and found a new energy to get to the garage for some tools!
🤣🤣🤣🤣 hilarious, as.always, Le Coq!! (Your poor wife!!) I bet you took her place on the sofa watching Love Island 😉
HI Sue, on Sunday night with the winds we had a power cut just as Love Island started and lasted just over an hour, honestly the profanity`s that came out of her mouth! hahaha………………….luckily I became her hero by reminding her we could watch ITV2+1.
😄😂 a case of the calm after the storm!! 😄
Sue, you do realise you’re only the second female on the planet to be mesmerised by LC’s charms.
His wife will never recover from her mistake Hahahahahaha
Morning all.
Didn’t Luiz pull Pepe’s Nose?
Serious topic of discussion here with obvious long term effects on the wellbeing of the squad 🙂 🙂
He cracks me up, Scott – I’ve never known humour like it 😂 I do feel for his wife!!
Yeah he pulled Pepe’s nose…. I guess it’s lucky Giroud is no longer with us – that would’ve taken some pulling 😂
If he goes on MOTD he could pull Lineker’s ears
Sue, LC and I have a special bond-long term Arteta fans.
Great mains thinking alike, or fools seldom differing-I do wonder hahahahaha
Potter, or just slap him silly!!
True, Scott, I`m sure our constant bromance gushing over the marvelous Mikel influenced the Arsenal board!…………………..you would think as a thank you they would give us an executive box for 12 at the Ems, we would invite well behaved HHers!…………………….as long as there is a cage for my Parrott and a mirror for VCC to talk to!
I have to say, Scott… I do prefer him as our coach than our player…. so far he has really impressed me and has brought back my excitement on match days!! Something I’m really thankful for! 😀
So have you got a shrine for him too? Haha!!
The parrot 😂😂😂
Sue, I met one of the other bloggers VCC at a Pie&Mash shop in Bethnal Green before we went to a game, it was a cold day and his glasses steamed up in the shop and as he sat down I went and got the Pie&Mash, but he didn`t see me go and he was chatting away with his reflection in the mirror and when I came back I said who`s your mate? hahaha
Hahahaha!!! I bet that was brilliant! 😎
Yes, but then we met up with some others from AA at the Arsenal Tavern and he went to the toilet and was gone for a while, so I went and looked for him and found him chatting to a hat and coat stand in a darkened corner! hahaha
Explain to me please Women of HH………………………….Luke M is the best looking man in the Love Island villa, but cant pull a girl, he has a nice personallity aswell !…………………….I dont understand!……………….It has put me off going in the villa! hahaha
🤣🤣👍 I can’t stop laughing!
Luke isn’t no Tommy… ha, remember him?!
Sue, did you see the programme where Tommy did the ballroom dancing and Curtis did the boxing ?…………………..Curtis took to the boxing better imo!
No I didn’t… I can’t imagine Tommy dancing with those puny legs!!
Crikey, I thought I’d just stepped into ‘After Sun’…
Sue, I always thought Mikel was under rated as a player.
During his time, our win percentage was massively better when he played compared to when he didn’t.
Just a calm, intelligent and technical player but enough of that, he’s doing superbly as manager, imo and LC, no doubt the board took heed of our calls 🙂
Rico.. 🤣
Well Scott, I wish the board had listened to you and Le Coq 18 months ago!! Oh well, better late than never, hey?!
Arteta wouldn’t have been ready 18 months ago imo Sue. Too early. Even now it might be too early for him despite the improvements. That’s not me being negative but the honeymoon period is still in full flow. Where we are in May will tell us more I think.
The signs are good though..
New post up now