It is right to be skeptical but also be a tad balanced here. I think anyone in our situation is going to struggle for the next ~2 years - the league is going to be tough and even top 4 unless Chelsea and/or Spurs fall a bit (which is possible, certainly for Chelski) may be a stretch. We have been falling down the relative pecking order of top 5/6 the last couple of years and while Auba and Micki helped last year, we still finished with tragic points total.
With better organization and some actual tactical direction - combined with what seem more serious coaching and training methods (we’ll see), it is reasonable to be somewhat optimistic.
To those that are slamming the appointment and anyone who says the slightest positive thing about it, step back a bit… nobody is really lauding this appointment as the savior - everyone is a bit worried even if we pretty much all believe this is at least an improvement on Wenger.
What I don’t understand with all the evidence is the idea that there is zero chance of this working out better than we expect - just strikes me as a bit extreme given how little information we have relative to the real football people - and I’ll also say just in terms of results at his clubs, Emery’s record isn’t so tragic lol… I think we are bit overly tainted by the capitulation to Barca (perhaps the most lethal attacking force ever that year). Stepping back and looking at the preponderance of data around Emery, it has areas of concern but also areas to be somewhat positive about. To his style, etc. - I can’t comment much b/c I haven’t watched enough of his teams; however, I would say that a first step of;
More serious training
Better tactics
Better organization and discipline
Is a very solid first step and very needed.
Aside from all that, I would say on balance our transfer business is heading the right direction - am I thrilled? Not really, but I think the signings are all intelligent and reasonable with the possible exception of Leno (and I think it is also reasonable to give him the chance if one of the best GK coaches thinks he can improve him). I believe we will clear out more dead wood and possibly get an attacking wing player and if that happens, I’d give this summer’s transfer business at least a B+.
Even with this though it has been said and verified that certain players (the brazillian contigent especially) refused to listen to Emerys tactics and also rubbed the likes of Cavani and Mbappe up the wrong way and then they got fragmented and started to play for themselves instead of the team and they wouldnt pass to each other it got to be they were trying to one up each other. Then the PSG board didnt back emery they backed the stars because of the fortunes paid for them. They got over confident thinking we have them beat already and basically acted like a bunch of fucking twats and just were playing fragmented football playing either for themselves or their clique, whats a manager to do when he is trying to get his tactics across and the players fuck him over then the people above him are on the sides of the players.
I know what Abou will now say ‘oh he is weak as a manager then he should control them’ but you try to control cunts like neymar and his twat of a buddy with their egos whilst warring against mbappe and cavani and they know that the board backs them and wont give a fuck about backing the manager after spending fortunes on said players.
Yeah this I can’t comment much on b/c player politics and players who speak out on those matters tends to get blown out of proportion and the signal:noise ratio is pretty light overall. If players were trying to “one up” each other, that is truly a bizarre thing and at that level of football I am not even sure how you plan/legislate for such tragically selfish and unprofessional behavior. And as you said, if the owners don’t have the manager’s back (b/c players were purchased for 100 million plus), then you are left without the leverage you need.
Having said that, it is an area of concern, as I said. I am somewhat optimistic that our team doesn’t have an overall massive ego problem like PSG obviously did, and players like Auba seem like delightful characters, but we’ll have to see how it plays out.
PSG is such a toxic situation. Neymar basically runs that club and I can’t see it getting any better now that Mbappe has won a World Cup and they brought in Tuchel who isn’t supposed to be a cuddly character.
I think the Arsenal Board got nervous about appointing Arteta, and not without good reason. They wanted to get back into the Champions League and might have seen the Europa League as the best entry point. So they hired a manager with previous success in that competition.
Thing is, that doesn’t really hold weight, as the Ligue 1 loss and the Barca 6-1 happened before Neymar joined, and the domestic treble only occurred when Neymar arrived.
So in fact, Neymar helped PSG’s fortunes, didn’t affect them adversely.
Tuchel will last max 2 season at that shitty fake ass plastic club. Other than money i dont get why Tuchel took the job. Anything other than a CL trophy and you are done. He strikes me as a manager suited best for teams just under the elite teams in europe. He wont get Neymar to gegenpress and track runners, no way.
As things stand though we don’t have that wing player and we have options like Welbz, Perez and Iwobi… so what do you currently rate our window ? I personally give it a C.
Possibility Ozil plays wing. We have Micki on the other. It is possible Laca or Auba get deployed out there. It is a gap, but we have dealt with other major issues as well and we don’t have unlimited funds. We were never likely to handle all of them in one window. Iwobi is a gamble to rely on but still has room to grow. Perez may be better than we know b/c he has never had a chance. It isn’t ideal, but with Ozil, Auba, and Micki as our key attacking players, the pressure is a little less on finding another attacking wing revelation (even though I would prefer we do).
Anyway, I put the B+ under the assumption that we DO get an attacking wing player, so I think that is pretty reasonable.
I wonder what’s happening with Pavon. Surely this is the time to leave Boca and go to Europe. But I haven’t heard much since early summer, regarding Arsenal or any other destination.
I think it’s worth keeping one of Cech or Ospina and possibly Perez and Mustafa, just to see if they can perform better under him than they did with Wenger.
Perez always played ok for us but whatever reason, Wenger rarely played him.
All the others have had plenty of time to prove themselves here but just aren’t up to the level required.
The wages saved alone from all those players would be something like half a million a week but I think Mustafi, Cech and Perez will still be here, at least for this season, to see how they perform with a new system and new manager…
Asano and Akpom are already gone. One on loan to Hannover and the other is close to being sold to Sint-Truiden I believe. Why do you think he wants to get rid of Mustafi?
