I saw a stat somewhere saying City - who normally rotate quite a lot - were the least rotated starting 11 in December.
This may come back to bite them.
Pep doesn’t trust his bench as much this season and is banking on his best players staying fit and winning it for him. That got them good results in December but now with two draws in a row and a very busy and difficult Jan, he’s running the risk of picking up injuries to his best players now and will have to depend on a bench he doesn’t trust even more.
For Arsenal I think we should be using a pretty settled league 11 throughout Jan and have a similarly settled (but mostly different) cup 11 in this period.
This should let the league performances avoid burnout whilst also giving the bench and squaddies quite a lot of minutes given Jan has FA Cup, CL and league cup
Semenyo is a very good player - but overrated. He won’t be a world class player even at city. He will not be a level changer for them
There I said it. Expecting a lot of hate for it but I also got derided for saying Liverpool would describe the 300m the splurged in their forwards as the worst value for money triple deal in a single window ever and that’s looking fairly accurate so far. I also said Cunha wouldn’t be a game changer for us - and he’s been tame at Utd. Said the same if Sesko. Obviously Gyok hasn’t *yet* done enough for us to call him a success
Every year we have some really good players who turn heads and excite people - but when push comes to shove they don’t go on to do what everyone assumed.
Players who look great at a middling or small club will often only go on to be squad players (or underwhelm as starters) in a huge club.
Everyone was losing their mind about wilf zaha, Ivan Toney, Grealish, Maddison, wan bissaka, neves etc etc etc. all good PL level players but none were game changers at big clubs and some didn’t even get a big move
Ofc some go on to be roaring successes - but those are a minority overall.
But for this reason all of you worrying about semenyo and co - you needn’t. Odds are he doesn’t dramatically change things for city even tho he is a good player.
Even Eze - a player who I love btw, can’t get league starts at the moment since Ode has started to return to his best form. Tho I do believe Eze will have a very important role to play over the course of the season
TLDR - there’s levels to this game. And looking like a king at a small or average club is not at all equivalent to looking the part at a big club. For every 1 lion that roars, there are 3 large pussy cats pretending
You're one of the few who's been right on this. The comparisons to cunha, mbuemo are good ones.
The difference with Arsenal buying premier league proven players as well as international players is that our manager makes almost every new player better. This includes our home grown youth.
It's time we start talking about that more. Its why we've been so good the past three years.
Re Semenyo, very few players make it at top clubs. That's just statistically what happens. It's why scouts make the money they do. Picking an outstanding player from a mid to lower tier club from the same division is about as good a bet as any. Or as Peg said in Married with Children when talking about choosing a husband, it's all a crap shoot anyway
Apparently Gvardiol has a tibial fracture to his right leg and is going to have surgery. And some experts are saying they are looking at 3 or 4 months for his return.
City are accelerating talks to sign Guehi because of that. And they have recalled a young kid who plays CB from Watford to cover Dias too. Guehi is good at defending but Gvardiol is one of the most gifted CBs in world football when it comes to build up and ability on the ball.
They are still in this race. But we need to take advantage these coming 2 game weeks. I expect them to drop points again against Brighton or away to Man United.
Looks like Palace played a blinder not selling Guehi in the summer. Of course, Guehi has been a bit moody but he's still performed well for them and now that City are in the mix, it looks like they'll get more than the 35m that they had agreed with Liverpool before the deal fell through. Even better, Igor Julio, the player they wanted to replace Guehi with chose West Ham over Palace and he's been a flop in the Premier League (although it's questionable whether that just applies to most WHU signings).
If Guehi wanted to go in the summer, he'll still want to go in January. He can still negotiate a bumper deal and it accelerates participation in the Champions League etc.
I agree with you about Gvardiol, Habesha. He's a strong defender but also an offensive threat for City at set pieces, breaking forward etc.
I don't think Guehi is going to city this January. He is set to depart on a free this summer and that transfer is going to be between more than 3 major clubs
Why would he leave the opportunity for crazy sign on bonus on a free transfer in the summer, just to join city, with a soon to depart Guardiola, in January?
He's not even guaranteed to start for city when Gvardiol returns.
The days of city just ringing up a plyer and getting their way is over.
His issue is getting the big club that he chooses; he will have his pick of the best clubs on a free transfer. Going to city now is going to be a 6 month solution.
One other reason why he won't leave now is Palace; he won't give them that satisfaction after how the summer transpired.
If he had to leave in January, then it's surely Liverpool who have shown interest the longest and he would be a starter and long term lynchpin of their defense.
This is the case of a player who's fully in control of his own destiny.
Dissenter-Guehi will leave for numerous reasons. If City and Liverpool want him that badly, his agent will turn the screws on them regardless. Starting for the next few months at a club in the Champions League will only enhance his World Cup starting chances too. He's already in the squad but performing for a big club deep in the Champions League will likely have him as a nailed on starter. Plus if Stones comes back soon, they could be the starting CB pair for both club and country.
City's defenders have been relatively shite for some time though, even Dias was considered the best CB a while ago, but that stint was so short. Gvardiol has been great but had probably better games at LB than at CB. Same goes for Ake, who's currently a squadie.
Guehi is a top CB, he'll be a guaranteed first choice imo, although I agree joining City isn't the no-brainer it once was.
I think I have seen one of the next best strikers... 19 - year old Kofane of Leverkusen, currently playing for Cameroon at Afcon. Has more tools already than Osimhen, needs game time. Can be our 3rd choice striker if Jesus leaves in the summer. You heard it here 1st, just like Kudus, Semenyo, Olise, Ekitike.
Channel 4 is showing Afcon free to air in the UK. Lots of good matches. The atmosphere can be better. Though it usually picks up from the quarters which start on Thursday
haha Aaron. I have a hot take too. The phrase 'Hot Take' is at 11.59pm on the Phrase Doomsday Clock and Pedro needs to pivot quickly on the Arsenal Opinion blog!
I think he didn’t do any favors by reverting to type with the failing formations after making progress when he changed - but ultimately Utd are a total car crash. You look at the list of managers they had and money they’ve spent since Fergie left and they’re such a damp squib of a team. Their current squad looks distinctly mid table if I’m honest - I think top 4 would be an over achievement with them.
I think by the end Amorim was just tired of being at Utd and sabotaged himself to get the pay off and get out of that hell hole club
Incredibly few top players in their whole squad and a whole lot of meh. Really hope I don’t le grove curse our match against them now - let me rephrase it that they’re amazing and favourites to destroy us
"Having finally showed a willingness to adapt his trusted back-three system and embrace the expansive football the United hierarchy wanted in a 4-4 draw with Bournemouth and the Boxing Day win over Newcastle, Amorim had prepared for Wolves in a similar way.
The squad had trained in the last two sessions at Carrington with a back four and were expecting to line up in that formation and attack a team adrift at the foot of the Premier League with just two points from their first 18 games and 11 defeats in a row.
However, there was a palpable sense of surprise and confusion among the players when he called the squad together beforehand and told them there was a change of plan. United were reverting to a back three.
‘He was mumbling as he tried to explain to them,’ a dressing-room source tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘The players got the impression he didn’t have everything under control. He seemed full of self-doubt and quite insecure.’
United fans booed as the game finished in a tame 1-1 draw. Three days later, Amorim appeared with a face like thunder for his weekly press conference at Carrington, and the cracks in his relationship with the board and director of football Jason Wilcox ..."
Mokbel says City are exploring a move for Guehi. If it's both Semenyo and Guehi, they are back right at it.
It still won't matter if we finally get to play our best players together for an extended period of time. If we don't, then it's anyone's game.
As I said below, we can pretty much fail to win every third game and we'll still reach 90 points, which is imo a guaranteed title. If we have our best players available, we'll beyond a doubt achieve that tally.
See Ferdinand is back on the wacky backy.Seems to think if Manure came calling Tets would drop everything & come running 😂 The sheer ignorance,stupidity & arrogance of the man know no bounds it appears….
I used to be an Arteta out until I saw definite progress. I didn't have information on how he was behind the scenes and the actual impact he was slowly but methodically enforcing at the club. The people who had the pleasure of working with him stood by him during the really tough times because he made them believe the process, because when you come in contact with a person like him, you realize you're talking to a future legendary manager and a historic figure.
That's why he wasn't sacked and that's why other managers don't enjoy such patience and support. The knowledge, the charisma, the attention to detail and the god given ability to be innovative and revolutionary. They are not the same. Not everyone is Mikel Arteta. Not everyone is a genius destined for greatness.
As good as Mikel is, I think he wildly overestimated his own ability, clearly seen by his "I plan to win the CL in three years" statement.
But he has been adapting and evolving and slowly learning about his weaknesses. Some habits die hard, like the ones where his favorites are over played and his ability to alienate players again and again (atm its Nwaneri)
But he's been good for Arsenal at the end of the day and the only question left is "can he see us over the line?"
It's not about winning the odd trophy though. That's what Manure and Chavs have been doing for a while. The idea is we're building a dynasty. We'll see if it goes as planned.
Mikel was lucky to be the coach of Arsenal who have a history of preserving with managers. Arteta would have been sacked in any other "top" club within 2 seasons with the results he got at Arsenal.
Wenger was a safe choice securing the absolute minimum year in, year out during the problematic years after our move to the Emirates. Then he failed to qualify for the CL and was axed.
I did not see much patience with Emery. Makes you wonder why the Kroenkes were willing to tolerate 8th places but with Don Unai, they were swift and resolute in their decision to sack him. They sacked a winner of probably over 10 trophies at the time, for someone with 0 days as a manager. A huge, huge risk. Imagine the impression Arteta made on everyone when he interviewed for the job.
Arsenal did not just sack Emery, they sacked everybody in the management positions and publicly talked about returning to the old ways, "the Arsenal way". That would tell you that everything that happened after Wenger was an anomaly.
For the period Unai was in charge, he got better results compared to Arteta. But the man was spared and given all the time in the world.
Did Arteta have Potential? Sure, but he did fail hard and would have been sacked at every other club bar Arsenal
A period of suffering is fine as long as there's a medium and long term super upside.
The worst a club can do is support and give everything to a manager who won't repay them. That's digging a deeper hole and it's the opposite of progress.
If Arsenal wanted a more manager oriented club than a DoF one, after the failed regime of Don Raul, can we blame them? The manager worthy of such responsibility has to be an exceptional one.
I believe Ten Hag was supported, they bought him all of his ex players for ridiculous fees and kept him in a job when everyone knew where it was heading.
I believe Amorim was supported, they picked him even though he was going to play a different formation and with that, they needed different type of players.
It's not as simple as, yeah, Arteta was given everything so that's why he has succeeded.
Never known a top club build progressively with the same manager for 6 years without winning any trophies no matter the marginal upside achieved year on year. At Arsenal there's no pressure of winning, it's rooted in our DNA. We haven't exactly dominated any eras, just won in spurts here and there.
So with Arteta, it's easier to say that the club culture is holding sway rather than his genius been too good to be sacked after 6 years of winning nothing
It's a long ass preparation for something monumental. If the winning things, and winning a lot of things, doesn't follow, the journey wouldn't be as planned. The plan is to build up to dominate Europe. We'll see if it works.
One eye on Villa still.despite us spanking them.They could do a Leicester if we slip up anywhere unforeseen.We tanked Leicester twice,only side to do it,in their championship season & then threw it away.Every game now is a challenge.And I mean every game.
I should think we have a fair shot at the title, becuse our defence doesnt really have a total collapse in it, and because we are top without playing beyond our potential, in fact we are still playing short of our very best.
Aston Villa does not have the squad depth to maintain a title push. Also, the Emery factor of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by some of his actions looms large.
People calling Rap a spurs fan is funny. He is annoying and obsessed about certain players and he won't shut up about it. But he is Arsenal through and through. No one will post essay after essay about a team they despise so much 😂😂😂. He has been on legrove annoying us for years.
He is obsessed with Arteta, Saka and Kai as much as he despises Gyokeres and Odegaard.
Thought that was a witty response about City losing their lead cause they don't have someone like Gyokeres threatening the opposition from investing too many bodies in attack but some folks are too fragile.
It stopped me from posting about Igor Thiago's hat-trick from open play, equaling Gyokeres' tally for the season. In one game. A player with half a knee who managed one start in the entire last season and was playing for the Bulgarian side Ludogorets 2.5 years ago.
Also Delap I thought did a fine job for Chavs when he came on. A hooligan, probably not the brightest fella and needs someone to raise him properly as I question if they did that well enough at home, but he was an obvious thorn in City's defence and was showing qualities that were supposed to be Gyok's trademarks like being a threat in transition, outrunning and outpowering CBs, finding the space to shoot at the end of such runs.
Actually, Delap is a much younger and better Gyokeres, who moved for half the fee and is on half the salary of what we paid and are paying for/to Gyokeres. I don't like his profile to begin with and I'd take Nico Jackson ahead of him any day of the week, but if we wanted that type, Delap made much more sense than you know who. Both are not the brightest fellas, and one is a walking card but Arteta would have taken him under his wing and showed him the way.
I saw a stat somewhere saying City - who normally rotate quite a lot - were the least rotated starting 11 in December.
This may come back to bite them.
Pep doesn’t trust his bench as much this season and is banking on his best players staying fit and winning it for him. That got them good results in December but now with two draws in a row and a very busy and difficult Jan, he’s running the risk of picking up injuries to his best players now and will have to depend on a bench he doesn’t trust even more.
For Arsenal I think we should be using a pretty settled league 11 throughout Jan and have a similarly settled (but mostly different) cup 11 in this period.
This should let the league performances avoid burnout whilst also giving the bench and squaddies quite a lot of minutes given Jan has FA Cup, CL and league cup
Semenyo is a very good player - but overrated. He won’t be a world class player even at city. He will not be a level changer for them
There I said it. Expecting a lot of hate for it but I also got derided for saying Liverpool would describe the 300m the splurged in their forwards as the worst value for money triple deal in a single window ever and that’s looking fairly accurate so far. I also said Cunha wouldn’t be a game changer for us - and he’s been tame at Utd. Said the same if Sesko. Obviously Gyok hasn’t *yet* done enough for us to call him a success
Every year we have some really good players who turn heads and excite people - but when push comes to shove they don’t go on to do what everyone assumed.
Players who look great at a middling or small club will often only go on to be squad players (or underwhelm as starters) in a huge club.
Everyone was losing their mind about wilf zaha, Ivan Toney, Grealish, Maddison, wan bissaka, neves etc etc etc. all good PL level players but none were game changers at big clubs and some didn’t even get a big move
Ofc some go on to be roaring successes - but those are a minority overall.
But for this reason all of you worrying about semenyo and co - you needn’t. Odds are he doesn’t dramatically change things for city even tho he is a good player.
Even Eze - a player who I love btw, can’t get league starts at the moment since Ode has started to return to his best form. Tho I do believe Eze will have a very important role to play over the course of the season
TLDR - there’s levels to this game. And looking like a king at a small or average club is not at all equivalent to looking the part at a big club. For every 1 lion that roars, there are 3 large pussy cats pretending
You're one of the few who's been right on this. The comparisons to cunha, mbuemo are good ones.
The difference with Arsenal buying premier league proven players as well as international players is that our manager makes almost every new player better. This includes our home grown youth.
It's time we start talking about that more. Its why we've been so good the past three years.
Re Semenyo, very few players make it at top clubs. That's just statistically what happens. It's why scouts make the money they do. Picking an outstanding player from a mid to lower tier club from the same division is about as good a bet as any. Or as Peg said in Married with Children when talking about choosing a husband, it's all a crap shoot anyway
Did you see 'Al' as 'Jay' in Modern Family?
He made out OK getting Sophie Vergara as his 'next wife'. 😁
Yes, I did. Al did very well indeed.
Al knocked it out the park twice 😁😁
According to reports, a one-year contract extension [no pay change] is on the table for Kai Havertz.
Seems like a decent call. When would his new contract end?
Apparently Gvardiol has a tibial fracture to his right leg and is going to have surgery. And some experts are saying they are looking at 3 or 4 months for his return.
City are accelerating talks to sign Guehi because of that. And they have recalled a young kid who plays CB from Watford to cover Dias too. Guehi is good at defending but Gvardiol is one of the most gifted CBs in world football when it comes to build up and ability on the ball.
They are still in this race. But we need to take advantage these coming 2 game weeks. I expect them to drop points again against Brighton or away to Man United.
Looks like Palace played a blinder not selling Guehi in the summer. Of course, Guehi has been a bit moody but he's still performed well for them and now that City are in the mix, it looks like they'll get more than the 35m that they had agreed with Liverpool before the deal fell through. Even better, Igor Julio, the player they wanted to replace Guehi with chose West Ham over Palace and he's been a flop in the Premier League (although it's questionable whether that just applies to most WHU signings).
If Guehi wanted to go in the summer, he'll still want to go in January. He can still negotiate a bumper deal and it accelerates participation in the Champions League etc.
I agree with you about Gvardiol, Habesha. He's a strong defender but also an offensive threat for City at set pieces, breaking forward etc.
He also scored a lot of important goals for them, great news he needs surgery, fuck the saudis
Brain dead comment, celebrating a broken leg & what the ? have the Saudis to do with it!
I wouldn't wish that on a player and wouldn't call it "great news". He is probably out of the world cup too.
Injuries happen and might give us an advantage like City got when we lost players. But we don't need to celebrate it.
I don't think Guehi is going to city this January. He is set to depart on a free this summer and that transfer is going to be between more than 3 major clubs
Why would he leave the opportunity for crazy sign on bonus on a free transfer in the summer, just to join city, with a soon to depart Guardiola, in January?
He's not even guaranteed to start for city when Gvardiol returns.
The days of city just ringing up a plyer and getting their way is over.
Nah they will get him if they press hard. Guehi wasn't looking for a pay day. He wants to move to a bigger club. He wanted to leave in the summer.
Apparently Liverpool, City and Bayern are his options in Jan. And City still in a title race might entice him.
You're not getting me though
His problem is not getting to a big club
His issue is getting the big club that he chooses; he will have his pick of the best clubs on a free transfer. Going to city now is going to be a 6 month solution.
One other reason why he won't leave now is Palace; he won't give them that satisfaction after how the summer transpired.
If he had to leave in January, then it's surely Liverpool who have shown interest the longest and he would be a starter and long term lynchpin of their defense.
This is the case of a player who's fully in control of his own destiny.
Let's see then. I think he goes to them imo. Guardiola will convince him.
You can see a long term future at Liverpool, Van Dyke is an oldie
At city, they just need a band aid.
Dissenter-Guehi will leave for numerous reasons. If City and Liverpool want him that badly, his agent will turn the screws on them regardless. Starting for the next few months at a club in the Champions League will only enhance his World Cup starting chances too. He's already in the squad but performing for a big club deep in the Champions League will likely have him as a nailed on starter. Plus if Stones comes back soon, they could be the starting CB pair for both club and country.
City's defenders have been relatively shite for some time though, even Dias was considered the best CB a while ago, but that stint was so short. Gvardiol has been great but had probably better games at LB than at CB. Same goes for Ake, who's currently a squadie.
Guehi is a top CB, he'll be a guaranteed first choice imo, although I agree joining City isn't the no-brainer it once was.
Ake can't play every game (per Pep).
Reports City aren't recalling Akanji from loan (at Inter).
Both expected to depart in Summer.
Even if City reload with Guehi this month-- the rest of that backline is not that solid.
I think I have seen one of the next best strikers... 19 - year old Kofane of Leverkusen, currently playing for Cameroon at Afcon. Has more tools already than Osimhen, needs game time. Can be our 3rd choice striker if Jesus leaves in the summer. You heard it here 1st, just like Kudus, Semenyo, Olise, Ekitike.
Channel 4 is showing Afcon free to air in the UK. Lots of good matches. The atmosphere can be better. Though it usually picks up from the quarters which start on Thursday
More tools than Osimhen is a very wild take lol.
"Hottest of takes" mate, "hottest of takes."
haha Aaron. I have a hot take too. The phrase 'Hot Take' is at 11.59pm on the Phrase Doomsday Clock and Pedro needs to pivot quickly on the Arsenal Opinion blog!
I'm not English so not familiar with the lingo lol
No worries,
This was directed at Olusegun,
It is from Pedro's AOP podcast he and his crew do on here, and they start the show with that phrase.
And it is a spicy take!
It's not. The lad stood out.
There's a young Ivorian midfielder too who destined for the very top.
It is. Vic is top 5/6 striker in the world currently
You have to appreciate the defiance of Amorim, he held out till the end.
He became a freedom fighter for himself, created his own sword and did the seppuku, just to be able to walk away with £10 million
Anyone making fun of a departing premier league manager is the fool.
All the leaks and press briefings, after his firing wont change a damn thing
His profile is unchanged. He will still get top jobs in Europe. United is the basket case.
It looked like he was finally turning things around so this will plunge Manure back into upheaval #heartbroken
His case is definitely an interesting one
I think he didn’t do any favors by reverting to type with the failing formations after making progress when he changed - but ultimately Utd are a total car crash. You look at the list of managers they had and money they’ve spent since Fergie left and they’re such a damp squib of a team. Their current squad looks distinctly mid table if I’m honest - I think top 4 would be an over achievement with them.
I think by the end Amorim was just tired of being at Utd and sabotaged himself to get the pay off and get out of that hell hole club
Incredibly few top players in their whole squad and a whole lot of meh. Really hope I don’t le grove curse our match against them now - let me rephrase it that they’re amazing and favourites to destroy us
"Having finally showed a willingness to adapt his trusted back-three system and embrace the expansive football the United hierarchy wanted in a 4-4 draw with Bournemouth and the Boxing Day win over Newcastle, Amorim had prepared for Wolves in a similar way.
The squad had trained in the last two sessions at Carrington with a back four and were expecting to line up in that formation and attack a team adrift at the foot of the Premier League with just two points from their first 18 games and 11 defeats in a row.
However, there was a palpable sense of surprise and confusion among the players when he called the squad together beforehand and told them there was a change of plan. United were reverting to a back three.
‘He was mumbling as he tried to explain to them,’ a dressing-room source tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘The players got the impression he didn’t have everything under control. He seemed full of self-doubt and quite insecure.’
United fans booed as the game finished in a tame 1-1 draw. Three days later, Amorim appeared with a face like thunder for his weekly press conference at Carrington, and the cracks in his relationship with the board and director of football Jason Wilcox ..."
https://archive.ph/RfvSZ
Portugal ain't the PL.
Mourinho won the premier league from Portugal
With the sacking on Celtic's Wilfried Nancy, 2026 is shaping up to be a hair-trigger year for managers.
Mokbel says City are exploring a move for Guehi. If it's both Semenyo and Guehi, they are back right at it.
It still won't matter if we finally get to play our best players together for an extended period of time. If we don't, then it's anyone's game.
As I said below, we can pretty much fail to win every third game and we'll still reach 90 points, which is imo a guaranteed title. If we have our best players available, we'll beyond a doubt achieve that tally.
'City are exploring a move for Guehi.'
Why I'd mentioned a few days back-- we should sign Guehi this window.
If we're trying to ensure the title-- it covers us through injury-- and keeps City from improving.
Madrid also sniffing about.Just as likely to go there.
Sign him & loan back to palace for remainder of season?
That might satisfy all parties.
I like that option - but I truly feel that Arsenal won't [and shouldn't] buy anyone this January.
See Ferdinand is back on the wacky backy.Seems to think if Manure came calling Tets would drop everything & come running 😂 The sheer ignorance,stupidity & arrogance of the man know no bounds it appears….
I used to be an Arteta out until I saw definite progress. I didn't have information on how he was behind the scenes and the actual impact he was slowly but methodically enforcing at the club. The people who had the pleasure of working with him stood by him during the really tough times because he made them believe the process, because when you come in contact with a person like him, you realize you're talking to a future legendary manager and a historic figure.
That's why he wasn't sacked and that's why other managers don't enjoy such patience and support. The knowledge, the charisma, the attention to detail and the god given ability to be innovative and revolutionary. They are not the same. Not everyone is Mikel Arteta. Not everyone is a genius destined for greatness.
As good as Mikel is, I think he wildly overestimated his own ability, clearly seen by his "I plan to win the CL in three years" statement.
But he has been adapting and evolving and slowly learning about his weaknesses. Some habits die hard, like the ones where his favorites are over played and his ability to alienate players again and again (atm its Nwaneri)
But he's been good for Arsenal at the end of the day and the only question left is "can he see us over the line?"
I rate Arteta but he's lucky he is at Arsenal. I daresay Maresca would have won something at Arsenal if given the same time Arteta has had
It's not about winning the odd trophy though. That's what Manure and Chavs have been doing for a while. The idea is we're building a dynasty. We'll see if it goes as planned.
Mikel was lucky to be the coach of Arsenal who have a history of preserving with managers. Arteta would have been sacked in any other "top" club within 2 seasons with the results he got at Arsenal.
Wenger was a safe choice securing the absolute minimum year in, year out during the problematic years after our move to the Emirates. Then he failed to qualify for the CL and was axed.
I did not see much patience with Emery. Makes you wonder why the Kroenkes were willing to tolerate 8th places but with Don Unai, they were swift and resolute in their decision to sack him. They sacked a winner of probably over 10 trophies at the time, for someone with 0 days as a manager. A huge, huge risk. Imagine the impression Arteta made on everyone when he interviewed for the job.
Arsenal did not just sack Emery, they sacked everybody in the management positions and publicly talked about returning to the old ways, "the Arsenal way". That would tell you that everything that happened after Wenger was an anomaly.
For the period Unai was in charge, he got better results compared to Arteta. But the man was spared and given all the time in the world.
Did Arteta have Potential? Sure, but he did fail hard and would have been sacked at every other club bar Arsenal
Fail hard? Playing fast and loose with words and narrative there. This is his first managerial job and he hasn't failed.
A period of suffering is fine as long as there's a medium and long term super upside.
The worst a club can do is support and give everything to a manager who won't repay them. That's digging a deeper hole and it's the opposite of progress.
If Arsenal wanted a more manager oriented club than a DoF one, after the failed regime of Don Raul, can we blame them? The manager worthy of such responsibility has to be an exceptional one.
I believe Ten Hag was supported, they bought him all of his ex players for ridiculous fees and kept him in a job when everyone knew where it was heading.
I believe Amorim was supported, they picked him even though he was going to play a different formation and with that, they needed different type of players.
It's not as simple as, yeah, Arteta was given everything so that's why he has succeeded.
Never known a top club build progressively with the same manager for 6 years without winning any trophies no matter the marginal upside achieved year on year. At Arsenal there's no pressure of winning, it's rooted in our DNA. We haven't exactly dominated any eras, just won in spurts here and there.
So with Arteta, it's easier to say that the club culture is holding sway rather than his genius been too good to be sacked after 6 years of winning nothing
It's a long ass preparation for something monumental. If the winning things, and winning a lot of things, doesn't follow, the journey wouldn't be as planned. The plan is to build up to dominate Europe. We'll see if it works.
One eye on Villa still.despite us spanking them.They could do a Leicester if we slip up anywhere unforeseen.We tanked Leicester twice,only side to do it,in their championship season & then threw it away.Every game now is a challenge.And I mean every game.
I should think we have a fair shot at the title, becuse our defence doesnt really have a total collapse in it, and because we are top without playing beyond our potential, in fact we are still playing short of our very best.
Aston Villa does not have the squad depth to maintain a title push. Also, the Emery factor of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by some of his actions looms large.
Where and when did Emery snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
(Spuds beat Leicester as well that season.)
They didn't do the double
Villa are not in the race.
We are racing with ourselves pretty much. Reach 90 pts, or thereabouts, and it's ours.
We were on 45 points after round 19 with 2 draws and 3 losses, so we can slip up 5 times in the next 18 games and we should still triumph in May.
A recent injury table puts us TOP ie least # of injuries at 4 (Calafiori, Rice, Mosquera, Dowman); now 3 with Rice ok.
Arteta better seriously rotates to keep it that way, to sustain and GRAB our best title chance in over 2 decades.
City, our likely only legit contender, had 7 per injury table, and added 3 yesterday ie now 10 ...
We really ought to take advantage of this lead, and make the 6 point gap count. Let's start with spanking Liverpool on Thursday...
People calling Rap a spurs fan is funny. He is annoying and obsessed about certain players and he won't shut up about it. But he is Arsenal through and through. No one will post essay after essay about a team they despise so much 😂😂😂. He has been on legrove annoying us for years.
He is obsessed with Arteta, Saka and Kai as much as he despises Gyokeres and Odegaard.
Thought that was a witty response about City losing their lead cause they don't have someone like Gyokeres threatening the opposition from investing too many bodies in attack but some folks are too fragile.
It stopped me from posting about Igor Thiago's hat-trick from open play, equaling Gyokeres' tally for the season. In one game. A player with half a knee who managed one start in the entire last season and was playing for the Bulgarian side Ludogorets 2.5 years ago.
Also Delap I thought did a fine job for Chavs when he came on. A hooligan, probably not the brightest fella and needs someone to raise him properly as I question if they did that well enough at home, but he was an obvious thorn in City's defence and was showing qualities that were supposed to be Gyok's trademarks like being a threat in transition, outrunning and outpowering CBs, finding the space to shoot at the end of such runs.
Actually, Delap is a much younger and better Gyokeres, who moved for half the fee and is on half the salary of what we paid and are paying for/to Gyokeres. I don't like his profile to begin with and I'd take Nico Jackson ahead of him any day of the week, but if we wanted that type, Delap made much more sense than you know who. Both are not the brightest fellas, and one is a walking card but Arteta would have taken him under his wing and showed him the way.
Looking good.
Options galore.
Favourites comin back.
Competition is good.
We are winning, beautifully, ugly and with a little help from 'Lady Lucky'
But winning there, the way we did and subsequent results, mean Thursday is a game to look forward to.
Now is our time.
COYGs
I just don't see an effective challenge coming from the teams around arsenal this season.
Villa seem the most dangerous but we just beat them 4-1.
City are flimsy, Liverpool and chelsea are too far behind and Arsenal's strength in depth looks formidable.
Also, let's not forget the CL. Look how close the team got lost season and we're significantly better this season.
No club in Europe will want to face arsenal.