As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
The reality is, it does not matter who played last night at the back for us, we would still have shipped 5. Had Liverpool played their first choice back four it's unlikely we would have scored at all. We would have left there as 5-1 or 5-0 losers
The defence has been poor for many seasons now. Can't remember the exact quote but when Emery joined he said something about winning games 4 - 3. This is the same as the last manager, neglecting the defence.
Until we get decent defenders AND organise them properly nothing is really going to change. It is kind of looking like Emery is going to be another Rioch, treading water until a better manager comes in.
Yeah the old I'd rather win 4 - 3 than 1 - 0 quote that has worried me since he came to the club. I don't know exactly when he came away with that pearl of a comment but it's not the ideal thing to be saying before you find yourself at the Arsenal
We really are going to find ourselves in a mess again unless the club get their finger out and act which is unlikely. Ornstein revealed the 7 managers who were on the short list and Allegri was on it so how do you go to a guy of his pedigree and say sorry we over looked you last time and that we've spent all our money and you'll really only be the coach not manager but hey how about it. Maureen wouldn't come to us because we wouldn't commit to even half the money he would demand to try and sort out the mess. I reckon the club will wait until the end of the season before they do anything by which time Auba will have 1 year left on his contract and Laca 2 ( I don't believe either have signed extensions yet)
The reality is, it does not matter who played last night at the back for us, we would still have shipped 5. Had Liverpool played their first choice back four it's unlikely we would have scored at all. We would have left there as 5-1 or 5-0 losers
The defence has been poor for many seasons now. Can't remember the exact quote but when Emery joined he said something about winning games 4 - 3. This is the same as the last manager, neglecting the defence.
Until we get decent defenders AND organise them properly nothing is really going to change. It is kind of looking like Emery is going to be another Rioch, treading water until a better manager comes in.
As for Xhaka apology, personally I don't think it is necessary, he acted like an idiot in the heat of the moment. Unfortunately I would imagine we haven't seen the last of him. He is certainly part of the problem but he definitely isn't THE problem.
There is a line that you don't cross as a player, and telling your own fans to fcuk off is way, way beyond that line. I get the "heat of the moment" thing, but when four days have passed since and you still aint apologized, then you have sealed your own fate and should just fcuk off
Mourinho would be a short term appointment 3 years at most but he is what we need now. Bringing in an Arteta or Lungberg and it will be Emery mark 2 with the players controlling the dressing room.We need a manager who is not afraid of the players.Like George Graham in 1986.George was called Gadaffi for a reason reputations counted for nothing.The whole club needs a bomb put under it and Mourinho is that bomb. I dont care if he plays boring football and tells the likes of Mustafi Xhaka and Ozil to fuck off.Are you telling me losing a cup final 4-1 and losing 2-0 leads to Watford Palace and Liverpool under 18's is fucking fun. This club has for a decade sleepwalked through every season.Its got to change and the change has be be drastic.So if you want more of the same the Wenger dead years and Clueless Emery appoint another weak yes man as manager.
Last edited by Ernie71 on Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:46 am, edited 2 times in total.
The reality is, it does not matter who played last night at the back for us, we would still have shipped 5. Had Liverpool played their first choice back four it's unlikely we would have scored at all. We would have left there as 5-1 or 5-0 losers
The defence has been poor for many seasons now. Can't remember the exact quote but when Emery joined he said something about winning games 4 - 3. This is the same as the last manager, neglecting the defence.
Until we get decent defenders AND organise them properly nothing is really going to change. It is kind of looking like Emery is going to be another Rioch, treading water until a better manager comes in.
As for Xhaka apology, personally I don't think it is necessary, he acted like an idiot in the heat of the moment. Unfortunately I would imagine we haven't seen the last of him. He is certainly part of the problem but he definitely isn't THE problem.
There is a line that you don't cross as a player, and telling your own fans to fcuk off is way, way beyond that line. I get the "heat of the moment" thing, but when four days have passed since and you still aint apologized, then you have sealed your own fate and should just fcuk off
I couldn't really care less if he apologizes or if he told some fans to f-off. They were probably giving him worse abuse!
As someone said above, would you accept it even if he did apologise?
Everyone on here turned their nose up at Brenda (me more than anyone) when he was linked with us after Wenger was sacked but fuck me we would have been 1000 times better off with him than Emery.
He has Leicester playing a high tempo, super brand of football this season compared to our lethargic snail paced drivel and they are going to be a serious threat for top 4 this year.
Going second tonight.
I was saying exactly this to people last week. I didn't want him at the time either, but neither was I excited by Emery when he was appointed. With the benefit of hindsight, Rodgers would have been a far better option. I hear what Augie and SteveO have to say, but it's unfair on Rodgers to say the least.
Early days for him, but I'm surprised at how well he's doing with a pretty disjointed unit that he inherited from Claude Puel. I don't think anyone can seriously argue that he has a better squad of players than Dick has at his disposal this season (even the squad Dick actually inherited), but Rodgers has reinvigorated the team very quickly, set a pattern for them and got them playing his way. They look enthusiastic and that's a huge advantage, regardless of inherent ability. It's not just this season either....Rodgers had an immediate effect when he took over last March. I suspect that he's one of those managers that has a good couple of seasons, then it goes off the boil, but I'd have taken that, given that Dick can't get us even simmering, let alone boiling !
Our lot are all over the place and Emery looks entirely fucking lost and out of his depth. I'm as surprised as anyone that I'm lauding Rodgers, but credit where it's due.
I'm not sure I agree with that. For starters Emery inherited an absolute dope in goal (and a retiring one at that), versus a title winning keeper in Schmeichel in his peak years. Brenda also picked up Maguire who whilst overrated, managed to land them an absolute mega deal from which to fund the likes of Tielemans.....where as Shit for Brains of course allowed every half decent players from the last 5 years to wind down their contracts, or load them up on the sort of Ozil type deal which took ridiculous chunks of money out of the coffers. The midfield Emery inherited was a shambles without a single holding player in it (unless you include that Swiss dollop and look where that has got us).
Most people on here who slated Wenger acknowledged that he left us with a couple of decent strikers and a load of shit outside of that.....so even though Emery is disappointing some people now, we should remember this was no walk in the park when he joined. Brenda inherited a core of players who were around when Leicester won the league, and the funds that went with selling those that moved on
By the way I acknowledged that Rodgers had done a good job so far so not sure what I've said that's unfair. I'm just challenging the fact that 10 games makes him a genius. If they end up where they are now, or anywhere in the top 4, at the end of the season then undoubtedly I would say he has done a great job. As things stand 4 points separate the two teams
Let's face it you don't get to the point where you are telling fans to fu.ck off if you are a roaring success.
If somebody who usually produces had a bit of a moment and gave some to the fans then it wouldn't bother me at all but this is Xhaka and he has nothing in the bank as far as goodwill is concerned. In fact he's overdrawn in a big way and the fans gave notice on Sunday so it's just a case of Dick serving the final demand on the useless cu.nt and we all move on.
SteveO that’s a pretty balanced view, and I think that a lot of the people who were banging on about what a huge job and long-term project it would be to turn this mess around have completely forgotten that.
I think that Emery has done some pretty good things, and he is a very likeable bloke. But I just can’t my head around how a serious manager can pick Xhaka every week and make him captain. And I can’t see any improvement in our defence, or any sort of strategy or identity. The Ozil situation is also a farce - if he has decided that he isn’t any good for the team (and I defend his right to do that) then he should have ensured he was flogged and publicly hung him out to dry if needed. Just staying silent and refusing to answer questions about it is a poor strategy and has had the inevitable result of people pining for Ozil and remembering him as being far better than he was over the last 2 years.
Let him see out the season and appoint somebody else. Truth be told, we will go nowhere until we seriously improve defensively and discipline-wise - a short-term appointment like an Ancelotti could set a really decent foundation over 2 years or so.
right I am going to hold my hands up here and say I was wrong about Emery.
I have been one of the few on here to defend him, despite growing evidence that he is not up to the job.
last night I finally realised that he hasn't got a clue. For me it comes to down to the defence. He just does not know how to set a team up to defend.
I have probably only been patient with him this long, because Wenger's teams were so bad at defending, I had got used to watching such rubbish!
But last night was just unbelievable. To let academy players just run through and score FIVE times against our more experienced team was embarrassing. Emery has managed to make our already crap defence even worse than before!
I was previously thinking that maybe Emery should be given until Christmas to sort things out, this morning I think he should be given until the next international break. 2 league games where we need a minimum of 4 points, if he doesnt get them then he should go. Mourinho has said he is available. I say get him in and get him to sort out the defence. For those that dont want him well he never stays anywhere for long anyway, so I would think he will only be here 2 years, but that will be time for him to sort the defence out and get us competing again.
If this c.unt comes in as manager of AFC then you can automatically dispense of auba, ozil, smith-rowe, Willock, saka and a few more into the bargain. Look at the type of football moaninho teams play and the type of players he likes, and you will see that talented ballers is not really his thing We would have a team full of matic type players, and if you think that emery has lost the dressing room, wait and see how long it will take to have 75% of the squad against him
I really, really don't want this c.unt anywhere near my club, and I don't care how bad things have got, they aint got bad enough to justify appointing that wa.nker
Absolutely disagree with this. He's an impact manager and we need a manager who will have an impact. In his first season at utd he got Lukaku scoring and won both the league cup and europa league. In his second season he finished in second place behind an outstanding man city team. That was with defenders like smalling, jones at his disposal. It is absolute rubbish to say we'd have a team of matic's. He never settled in manchester which was a massive issue. He lived in the lowry for the 2 years he was there. At least in London he is settled. He'd also work twice as hard to prove that he's as good as wenger and would be desperate to land a league title and champions league.
At this moment in time I believe we have a top 3 squad. If we had a manager who could set up the defence and leave the attack we'd be challengining for the title. Scroing isn't the problem, keeping hold of a lead is. He went to inter milan, won the league and champions league, went to real madrid and won the league returned to chelski, won the league. The guy is serial title winner. Whether he could do it for us who knows? Emery certainly cannot, mourinho will at least give us a fighting chance with this current squad of players.
When he has the players he can deliver a decent football playing team.
You know what? There aren't many 'good' owners around these days full stop. If Kranky went, who comes in? Some Arab billionaire who wants us as a plaything? Firing managers left right and centre regardless of how good they are? Creating fraudulent sponsorship deals to increase our cash pot? Or maybe someone like Mike Ashley who owns the club but REALLY doesn't give a damn about it? The Glazers? Taking money out of the club left right and centre? Yes they spend money but only because they make a shitload. There's no easy way out, what we have is a long long way from perfect and I'd rather he wasn't the owner but he's not as bad as many others.
Well said. Ideally you get owners who are more like FSG at the Victims, but as you said under Kroenke it isn't as bad as it's made out to be. At least under Josh Kroenke anyway
