Morning folks. It’s a super early one from me so don’t expect anything other than delirious and incoherent blog babble today, as I’ve had about four hours sleep having run a 10k last night in central London and followed that up by an inability to actually drift off to sleep.
Marvellous stuff.
But what is on my mind, as always, is The Arsenal and specifically the fact that in the online and social media word of Arsenal, there’s a turning against Unai Emery that seems to have happened in the wake of the Watford debacle.
Make no mistake it was a debacle and the manager was massively culpable for team selection, set up, as well as substitutions. He got all wrong and as I said on the blog on Monday morning there needs to be serious questions asked. Some of the players appear to also be asking that and yesterday i saw a couple of different articles from Bernd Leno about the inquest that appears to have taken place in the wake of the draw, as well as the trouble the team are having adapting to the new rule from goal kicks.
It’s frustrating that its cost us two additional points but as fans we just have to pray that the outcome from the result is that we see a little more intelligence from our back line.
But back to my original thought stream today, which is the sharpening of pitchforks for Unai Emery and the talk that some want him gone already, which I have to say I’m not there yet by any stretch of the imagination.
Yes, Emery has got things wrong.
Yes, his selection decisions sometimes baffle is.
Yes, he’s hardly the most charismatic of characters when you hear him speak in front of the press.
But to be wanting him out the door already seems a little strange to me. Mainly because I just don’t think we’ve seen enough of what this team can do this season. Last season was a fact finding exercise for Emery and many people appear to have been willing to see how the season unfolded. It pretty much imploded on him towards the end and that’s on the manager and his staff. He has to take that one on the chin and because of the Europa League result many of us feel like he hasn’t exactly been able to extend the goodwill into this season.
But what appears to be happening from my untrained eyes is a clamour online, a ‘race to the finish line’ approach if you will, to be one of the first “I told you so” with regards to wanting the manager out.
Farcical. It’s this hipster approach to being a little different and having some kind of ‘edge’ over other people that I just can’t stand. Do you know why? Because whether you as a fan turn on Emery now, in six months, or you did it last season, is an irrelevance because what it means is that Arsenal aren’t successful. You being one of the first people to say “i wanted him gone long ago” just reflects on you and your desire to have a different angle online and for me that is sad. If you are one of those people then go beyond your social media persona and think about the reality of what it means. It means you’ve gone through a season of toil and pain. Does the fact you were one of the first to say “#EmeryOut” make that pain of seeing Arsenal underperform any better?
There’s also those who were such disciples of Wenger who turned the second something didn’t work out with Emery. These people are the ultimate hypocrites and if you spend your time on social media you’ll know the type of people I’m talking about (Meercats, et al). These people will never find happiness because nobody will ever be the same as Wenger and as a result they will turn on the first sign of trouble.
Thankfully the stadium hasn’t turned, yet, because that’s when it really starts to get a little messy. I spoke to Charlie about the fans in the ground at Watford and he said the sentiment wasn’t against the manager just yet. From my perspective I’m glad. I think Emery has got a few things wrong since he joined the club and he’s certainly got some questions to answer, but I’ll be dammed if my ire is going to go to the extreme of shouting online and on the radio for him to be turfed out.
Of course football is a results business, as the cliché goes, so if we don’t pick up wins in the next three or four matches then my view may change. Maybe it will become obvious that the players aren’t quite buying in to his philosophy like they did a year ago but at this moment in time we just can’t tell. That Man United game in a couple of weeks might tell us a little more.
I certainly hope it does and I hope it does so for the better.
Catch you all tomorrow
Emery is a middle table team coach….he cant handle arsenal.
Sorry but he’s had enough opportunities to drop Xhaka, who has become a complete liability for perhaps 88 mins of every game. One or perhaps two average – good passes a game are not worthy of a guaranteed starting berth which is what he seems to have. The clowns at centre back need ditching and replacing with our youth players who wouldn’t commit such atrocities in defence as the two so called professionals we have at present. IF the ridiculous idea of trying to pass a ball 5 or 10 yards inside our own box from goal kicks whilst being closed down is the brain child of the manager, it’s another reason he has to stand down. The world can see we have these poor players, he for some inane reason can’t. He needs to grow a pair and drop the consistently poor players, get the team to push up at goal kicks and actually learn how to win it when it comes down. Surely the man and his team watch replays of the games and take note of who is letting the team downand where we are being constantly raped by other sides. Its embarrassing to watch and after 55 years I don’t see why I should have to stop watching the team I support because of 1 or 2 incompetent performers.
If Emery fails to get top 4 he will be gone, simple as. There is a group of fans ( you mention one above) who for some reason were pissed that Arteta didn’t get the gig. The same Arteta who has managed 0 games and who was offered the chance to coach at Arsenal and turned it down to go to City. The same fans who slagged Fabregas off mercilessly for being disloyal have elevated Arteta into some sort of Arsenal legend when in reality he was a symbol of the start of Wengers decline. Tell me what decent manager would come to Arsenal with a fanbase who throw their toys out at every opportunity? They seem to want us to lose to prove a point. Well the further we fall the less chance there is of getting an elite manager so you have to question their professed love of the club. It took S***s years to find a good coach; i don’t believe United have found one yet and its been 6 years since Fergie left. I don’t believe Emery IS the man for us but FFS i doubt the club will move until the end of the season so, as we were repeatedly told during the last knockings of big Weng, support the players and the manager . I fucking hate hypocrites!!!
Emery is not going to be sacked because some fans are asking for it. But those damn ugly stats and the poor results would. Making all these noise against him might just wake him from his dreams of a thousand theories. All he need do with this group of talented players is get the basics right.