Woeful
I watched most of Spurs match against Borussia Dortmund and it was hard to take the disparity between their performance and that disaster last night. The stadium is bouncing and the fans are belting out their songs when their team is playing.
In contrast, we had a decent amount of proper fans who made the journey to Belarus to support our team, but their cheers and songs became muffled by the dross served up by the team. This was an abject surrender to a team, which would struggle to survive three divisions below us in England. If the presence of those fans who waved the Red & White and sung the songs were not enough to inspire the players, what exactly would it take? Don`t they think they owe a performance to the fans?
Why can Emery not raise the confidence of the team, which is clearly fading match by match? Why did we go there without Ozil or Ramsey? The selection by Emery did not contain a single play-maker who could pierce a packed defence and he left Aubamayang out until the 68th minute even though, it is patently clear that he and Lacazette play better together.
I have said repeatedly that the Wengerball has crept back into our game so that we play at walking speed and pass sideways and backwards even when we are behind. We cannot hope to pierce packed defences like that and it is almost certain that lack of goals up front means that we are no longer able to score more than we concede.
No play-maker
What has happened to Emery? Is he playing such hardball with his players that he is determined that those he does not like, such as Ozil will have to accept that he knows best. If he does actually know what`s best, I would love him to demonstrate to the fans that his plans are progressing. To date, I am unable to visualise even the trace of a plan. We have decent players all over the pitch but they are all playing as individuals. There are no settled combinations on the pitch, going right back to the CB,s. Kos and Mustafi rarely speak to each other and they both carry on with their own ideas of defensive play. The full backs are chopped and changed and Maitland-Niles has no idea what he is required to do when he charges up field. There is no cohesion between the midfielders or links made by them between attack and defence. Xhaka was a flop when tried as a defensive player and last night he was slow and not helped by the state of the pitch that eliminated long passes. It was obvious early on, that he was not equipped for the conditions we found there.
Slow
In short, less talented teams such as Bate are able to stick to their own simple tactics of blocking our advances and pressurising our forwards in the knowledge that the ball will eventually be given to them by a misplaced pass. When that happens all that is needed is two wingers to spring the trap and charge at our non-existent defence. That happens in game after game, so what is Emery`s solution to that? If he has one, I haven`t seen it utilised yet. I have compared many of the blogs written by Gunners Town`s writers and all of the matters referred to above have been mentioned at some time by most of them. I`m sorry, I was determined to give Emery a season to settle in without condemning him but it is increasingly hard not to say that he is not the man for us.
We don`t have the quality of players required for top 4 but we should be able to squash teams like Bate, Bournemouth, Brighton, West Ham, Crystal Palace etc.
I am not optimistic
A sophisticated, articulate Arsenal Man of Mystery. Aged 70 and a bit.
Now Arsenal realize what a gem Arsene Wenger was to the club, he had given you such stability and that you can only dream of having now
Thanks for your interest. You are right, Wenger was a Gem for 10 years during which Spurs had a revolving door for managers going in and out. You have finally found one who really understands Spurs and is concentrating on improving them. He has instilled camaraderie in his teams similar to Fergie and there is an optimistic confidence from how they play. That is a product of wise selection and hard work with good tactics.
I have recommended that the next statue at The Emirates should be of Wenger because of his first 10 years. It was widely agreed that he lost the plot around 2008/9 and became bereft of ideas and stuck to rigid plans which were obsolete by then. Unfortunately, he admitted himself that he had stayed too long and the legacy he left was a bunch of sub standard players with no discipline in the way they played and no enthusiasm for the game. Any manager coming in has a hard job to resurrect the old Arsenal because the players who were in his great sides are long gone. Newcomers have no standard to aspire to and no examples to inspire them.
Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle of all when we are in a tight corner is that the owner, Kroenke will not spend money whilst all around us teams are doing so. I believe that more of the profits he gets from Arsenal are going to the USA and are benefitting his American Football teams.
Look, as tough as it is let’s look at utd. Are they even close to getting it right and how long has it been? I feel for emery. He’s come to us while we’re still cancerous and if he’s here when the cells have gone I’ll eat all our hats.
We need a decisive summer. Losing Ramsey is beyond a joke. How many times will kronke disregard the long term future of the playing squad. It beggars belief. The worst thing is the lot down the road are smashing it on zero budget.
I’m seriously concerned that by the time my son is old enough to get to school we will just be what spurs used to be and I remember the shit I used to give them. Pure punishment.
I don’t know the answer not suspect anyone here to either. If emery is given license to do it how he wants then he’s going to need at least 2 more years.
We’re fucked.
Thank you `Cazorla for life` I share your anxieties and disappointment, as stated above. You are the type of fan we can not afford to lose. Your ambitions are for yourself and your son in later years A fan believes that his heart and soul is in the club and that somehow he has invested a part of himself into supporting it and its`s welfare, We hope that in the bars and cofee houses we canshare the Arsenal culture and have something to hand on to your children.
It has taken generations like you to produce the loyalty Arsenal has from it`s fans and Kroeke has none of that heart and soul in him. If he is not careful and he continues to restrict the actual input the fans have to the club other than being milk cows to his USA failures, the source of that loyalty will melt like snow.
What Spurs do is immaterial. They won’t win the Champins League, and will be like us in it. Flatter to deceive, and get outdone by a better team. We lorded it over them for Thursday nights, and it’s essentially role-reversal vis a vis 4 or 5 years ago.
I believe we’ll win the second leg vs. BATE.
bloody dracula emery is sucking the life out of the team im sad to say hes as clueless as the old fossil
Thank you for your comment Marble Halls, believe it or not I too believe that we will win the secong leg against Bate. Anything else would be beyond belief. As for Spurs, I am not concerned with them either but it is Illogical not to compare the two clubs at present.
Spurs are improving as a club and we have got used to being “the one on the hill” as Jimmy Grieves once described us. He was always aware that good as Spurs may play, he always looked up to a better club at the top of The Seven Sisters.
If Kroenke does not open the purse strings and actually support the club, the roles are going to be refersed. The only way that we will be loking down on them is geographical..
im out of patience with emery im sad to say he is no better than the old fossil wenger imho the negative football we play is turgid