Arsenal Banter Archive January 13 2019

13 Jan 2019 22:28:36
Just watched a betis game. Quique Setién is a superb manager brings about the memories of lucien favre at Dortmund. still kick myself why we never went for him but as Klopp once said, the premier league loves "hollywood" managers.

14 Jan 2019 07:57:04
We already have a decent manager. The problem is that he inherited a weak squad and has lost 2 players for the season to injury, one player out with a long term injury and 2 players on their way out: Ramsey as his contract isn't being renewed and Ozil because he doesn't fit Emery's requirements, In addition their are some players who simply are not good enough.
Emery did a decent job when he brought in 5 players for £70m in the summer. He has his hands tied due to the poor financial decisions made during the Gazidis/ Wenger era and reportedly has to what until the summer to make permanent signings, when income comes in from new commercial deals and funds to pay the wages of new players will be freed up as players going out of contract and/ or being moved on are made available. It'stelling that the highest earner, Ozil, appears surplus to requirements and Ramsey who reportedly demanded high wages are being moved on. Both players, Ozil in particular add little to the team defensively. The attcking midfeild lacks any players that can help defensively and in the modern game, particularly in the PL, defensive ability throughout the team is essenatial. No longer can teams accommodate players that fail to contribute defensively. It seems that we may well sign Denis Suarez, a player I know little about and if we can get Ozil off the books, perhaps Ever Banega may join. There is talk of a swop involving Ramsey and Benatia, but thsi would surprise me as another defender in his 30's makes little sense. Indeed, I believe Emery would prefer to sign midfielders that can help defensively and will play his favoured 4-2-3-1, with 4 fit CB's and Holding to return next season, we have sufficient cover.

13 Jan 2019 19:58:16
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Brighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool - A Liverpool Perspective

13 Jan 2019 17:59:20
I have to say as long as the yanks are at the helm nothing will change IMO

A UK trophy and top four finish will be our prizes .

No matter who is our manager, that person will have to be a Del Boy in the market, it could be many many years before we win a top prize.

13 Jan 2019 18:32:16
Been bashing that dthe um for ages but the Wenger outs thought it was an excuse - it wasn’t. Wenger had lost his way but the board had not done anything to address it for 10 years. The board continue to run a poor self-sustainable model that’s out of date and not competitive in today’s world.

13 Jan 2019 18:52:19
I agree we are not going to simply spend our way out of this downturn we are going to have scout and produce much much better than we have done over recent years.
Also we need to buy players who increase in value during their Arsenal career who like Liverpool with Suarez and Coutinho we. cash in on and add 2 or 3 quality signings generated from those sales.
There is no quick fix but with better scouting coaching development spending along with better organisation and tactics on the pitch it's not impossible.

13 Jan 2019 19:26:00
It is in the fashion you’ve described mate, Liverpool spend now, City and Utd do too. We got lucky during the French Revolution, gems aren’t out there and if they are we don’t dangle a big enough carrot.

13 Jan 2019 19:59:31
Absolutely mate, they talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. We have for an eternity been two players away from winning the title but the truth now is actually far more than that.

The idea is to build your best squad so adding to it only requires 1 or 2 additions each season. Under Kroenke we will never achieve that.

I accepted that a long time ago and held a hope Usmanov would prevail but he clearly never really had any intent.

As for the Emery discussion, personally I’m a long long way from impressed. Everything pretty much remains exactly the same.

Ranieri turned relegation fodder into title winners, a team who couldn’t defend into one that could. You cannot blame players you inherited if you can’t motivate, train and organise them to be better.

I’m not saying he should be winning the league but jeez we’ve been watching this same drivel for years and here we go again.

13 Jan 2019 21:07:26
Sy, it was and is pretty obvious the light had/ has gone out on wenger. One of the problems was we are two years further behind because everyone knows in their hearts, he should have gone after the FA cup win. The Board is a completely different issue on its own. The club i think though now is in a better place as far as structure and network than it was but it will all take time to show.

14 Jan 2019 10:28:06
It was time for Wenger to go, but it is kronke we desperately need to get rid off, this club will not move forward if that man is still at this club.

13 Jan 2019 12:49:23
Punani, you have some front coming on here slagging our manager.

Where was you when we was on our 22 match unbeaten run?

In EMERY I trust!

13 Jan 2019 13:15:51
Spot on Malaga.

13 Jan 2019 14:19:21
Slagging "our manager"? Crikey Mala, you've got some front saying that with a straight face. All you've done ever since I can remember is slag "our manager".

Don't bother responding mate, you'll just say something idiotic and insult my sensibilities. You're a great lad, but your level of tolerance for someone else's opinion, when it doesn't jive with yours, needs kicked up a few notches.

13 Jan 2019 14:25:58
Agree Malaga, a bit rich.

13 Jan 2019 14:34:49
Ha ha, Sharpe, pot and kettle.

13 Jan 2019 14:55:06
Steve, your pot kettle would make sense - if it were true. You see, my issue with you is not your opinion. No sir! It is the fact that you are entirely hypocritical.

When we had a run of 22 games unbeaten with Emery, you waxed lyrical about his abilities. As soon as we lost 2 games, you were blaming everything on "Wenger's dreggs [sic]". What changed? Nothing.

This isn't a pot kettle scenario. If you have an opinion, then you stick with it. Don't flip flop around it at the first sign of trouble.

13 Jan 2019 15:04:48
Don't worry sharpie, I wasn't going to reply to your steroid induced post.

13 Jan 2019 15:18:30
Sharpe, i have no problem with your opinion, its great, its your personal insults you give to people who you don't agree with. The way you have targeted people in the past and forced them off the site, with your verbal attack. Your opinion is your opinion, not a problem. Opinion is not a problem.

13 Jan 2019 15:24:00
Facts matter Mala. I'm all about the herb and nothing but the herb. But when have facts ever come between you and a good yarn. I'd go so far as to say you have the nose for it, but that's probably crumbled by now.

13 Jan 2019 15:29:55
Verbal attacks? Personal insults? Forced people off the site? Are you sure this was me? Please tell me more.

13 Jan 2019 15:35:09
Surely to be able to see other people's points and be open to changing your own previous held opinion based on looking at things from a different perspective is what debate and dialog is all about Sharpie?
Sticking to your original opinion despite hearing an alternative opinion that rings true to you is surely not a strength but a weakness.
There is no shame in being wrong the only shame is being to proud to admit it even when you know you are.
I got carried away by the wave of optimism that comes with change but after considering your post asking what was different from Arsenal under Arsene to Arsenal under Dick I began to see through the special Emery glasses I had been wearing.
Hopefully I will change my opinion once again and start thinking Dick is brilliant again but at the moment I'm not anywhere near as certain as I was with those glasses on.

13 Jan 2019 15:57:28
Absolutely G62, I am in full agreement with you. My issue in this case is very specifically that the opinion itself didn't change, but rather a scapegoat was sought out.

I see your posts on here and can relate to them because I too have found myself buying into something so completely and then being proven wrong. It is indeed a strength to admit you were wrong and for you to seek positives or alternatives. I'd be behind that.

But that's not what is happening here, unfortunately.

13 Jan 2019 17:28:14
For me I wanted change badly But when it came it was a mixture of excitement for the future and sadness that things had got so bad for our greatest ever manager who as a person I've always liked very much, does that make me hypocritical? In some people's eyes I guess yes but for some people there is only black and white where your either for or against someone or something with no other options available.
I'm very much still behind Emery and if there was a vote tomorrow I'd vote for him to stay but I do have serious doubts about him the longer he is in charge and appears to be either not willing to or not capable of doing something to sort out our defence which even in the 22 game run was always extremely suspect, I'm sure for some people if you back Emery you can't also question him and his decisions but unfortunately I do both back him carrying on but also have serious
concerns about his capabilities that will be either dispelled or prove to be founded by this time next year I'm sure.
I'm not sure if it's allowed by some people to both back and question Dick but that's me and how I see things.

13 Jan 2019 17:50:25
Sharpe 100% apologies for the earlier comment. It was a 100% mistaken identity. SORRY.

13 Jan 2019 18:00:01
G62, at the end, I fear we all wanted something to change; even me. There, I admitted it. However, I am unable to stand idly by while our "greatest ever manager" (your own words) is vilified. You can't, in one breath shout from the roof tops about what an amazing manager Emery is because of an, albeit largely lucky, run of 22 unbeaten games and then proceed to slag off "greatest ever manager" when things go wrong. If Emery is lauded for our good games, then he should rightly be taken to task when things go wrong.

I haven't yet formed an opinion of our current manager. I'd prefer to see where we are in a couple of seasons. If I was pressed for an opinion, I'd have to say no better and no worse than we had. What I will not do is say, "Great game Emery", when we win and, "Thanks for the dregs Wenger", when we lose. That, in my very humble opinion, is hypocritical.

13 Jan 2019 18:19:08
Steve, you mean there's another hole out there that reminds you of me mate?

It's all good bud; no apologies required. I've been blamed for lots worse 🙂.

13 Jan 2019 18:29:30
Agree 62 - I was very disappointed to see the #emeryout as he needs time and I am happy to give him time BUT he has not set my world alight if anything given me concerns he’s not up to the job. If he was sacked tomorrow - I would not cry about it. If he goes on to win the league - I would be ecstatic and scream his name from the stands.
I don’t agree with setting the standard as last season ( the one that got Wenger fired) as that sucks. We should demand a good standard and apply the pressure to get it.
We are no better organised, no better tactics, no better pressing, no better at giving stupid goals away and no better to watch except the we start with a new hope.
I am behind my club and expect us to do better than apply zero pressure on West Ham. In one attack there player was still getting bloody dressed we are such a push over.

13 Jan 2019 18:41:19
Loool you guys are funny, everyone calm down!

13 Jan 2019 18:45:39
Same players virtually same results and performances, to me SY that means that currently Dick is no more capable than Arsene at getting the best out of the same group of players.
It's irrelevant who chose these players as tactics and motivation can and do make a difference even with exactly the same players, United 100% since Mourinho left with the same players so a different manager can make a big difference even with the same players as the previous manager struggled with, United are just an example as we've all seen new managers at lots of clubs come in and make a huge difference with the same players and others come in and make absolutely no difference at all and currently Dick is firmly in the no difference group.
It not what I or any of us want but it really is the way it is rigjt now unfortunately.

13 Jan 2019 19:32:11
I think you can see I am in the same camp 62 and still want Emery to succeed because he’s OUR manager.

13 Jan 2019 19:55:42
Haha sharpie,

If you don't nose me by now.

13 Jan 2019 20:36:12
Absolutely SY mate we all want Emery to be the man that delivers for us but he has to show us he's got the ability we can't just accept more endless jam tomorrow talk, we're not expecting Salmon and caviar sarnies from day one but we do need to be thrown more than the same old stale old crumbs and regular thrashing we've grown so tired of long long long ago.

13 Jan 2019 20:45:03
Sharpe, i'm really sorry, we have been in this shiz together long enough and i was thinking of a couple of things a while ago and I've checked, I've got it right round my arse. Thanks for accepting my bad mistake.

13 Jan 2019 21:11:52
Top man Steve mate, we all get things wrong sometimes mate and it takes a man to admit it and huge shout for you too Sharpie mate because it also takes man to genuinely accept an apology.

13 Jan 2019 22:08:41
I am not sure if you read my posts malaga mate but i haven't been slagging emery all the time. Infact i have been praising him more than bashing him since he took over but i'll admit he wasn't my first choice.

My coach of choice was tuchel. Everyone had his choice. Majority wanted allegri i remember. I don't even remember anyone mentioning unai but when he was selected i said i will get behind the team and i wasn't even posting on this forum much i was busy so i don't know what slagging you are talking about.

Since Emery took over, i have constantly been saying that our problem, our biggest problem is to do with ownership and the so called self sustaining model rather than the coach. My opinions, whether you agree with them or not, have been consistent. You have every right to disagree with them but i also have every right to form them in the first place.

14 Jan 2019 10:36:25
I can’t take nothing serious from a grown man who asked for his thumbs to be removed because people didn’t agree and he didn’t like it, no names mentioned 😂😂.

13 Jan 2019 07:55:44
Yesterday was not good but I can't believe some of the doom and gloom by some posters. Unai is still very early on in his job and so far in my opinion has not done to bad. We had 9yrs under Arsene not winning anything and in the end the 3 cup wins though
we're great only papered over the cracks. Let's be a bit more positive and see where we are in 18 maths time
People going on about Klopp but he has been there 4 seasons spent a fortune and as yet still not won anything. Poch is a good coach but after 4 seasons is yet to win anything. Let's be a bit more positive and give the new set up TIME.

13 Jan 2019 09:58:27
Agree, Dicks got a massive rebuilding job, our house was crumbling down. This season for me (and it isn't finished yet, so nobody knows how we will actually finish) was allways going to be about actually finding out what's good that's been left and what's bad. It hasn't been a total disaster yet either, we are two points better off than last season at this time and things are being learnt every week. Give the guy some slack, its not a patch up job, its a whole renovation.

13 Jan 2019 19:02:00
Hi guys, I often visit this site and read the comments. This is my first post. There may be some grammer mistakes as I am not a fluent in English, I say we should be giving Emery the time he surely needed. The next summer transfer window defines how our future. will the owners spend or will the youngsters will be promoted.

Thank you.

13 Jan 2019 00:52:04
Just a point of view on our defensive issues; the Liverpool FC players scored plenty of goals in Klopp's first few seasons, but there was always a question about their defending. It was always a case of outscoring their opponent. They subsequently went out and spent big on van dijk and now the best defensive record in the league. To my knowledge there was no overhaul on there defensive coaching staff, van dijk himself made them a very solid defensive unit. A top quality player can make this difference. I don’t think it’s all emery’s fault like a few here have stated.

Anyone any thoughts on this?

13 Jan 2019 08:20:37
We need a similar rebuild. Defensively, we are poor and despite encouraging fellow Gooners to be patient whilst Emery's coaching methods began influencing his performances, Xhaka hasn't impressed.
We need to bring in a RB that can defend as well as attack and a strong, fast, young CB. Another DM to play alongside the excellent Torreira is a must and some width.
Players to go or leaving over the next 3 windows:
Cech and Martinez - Out of contract and at 26 gives no impression of being a top keeper
Lichtsteiner - Out of contract
Jenkinson - Utterly useless. It was criminal to renew his deal
Koscielny - 34 in Sept and not the same after a serious injury
Mustafi - not good enough
Elneny - very average
Xhaka - not good enough
Ozil - not consistent enough and given an absurd contract
Mkhitaryan - paceless
Welbeck - out of contract and recovering from a serious injury
Ramsey - out of contract

The scale of the job is huge and funds from the above being moved on will bring little in.

13 Jan 2019 10:52:16
3 windows? Why didn’t we rip the team apart this season and accept top 10 was the target. We will never finish the rebuild and always be 3 bloody players away from top 3 finish.

13 Jan 2019 12:17:09
So the “excellent” Xhaka is now not good enough. 🙄😏.

13 Jan 2019 12:38:49
Stoner, the one negative for me with Dick is xhaka but at the beginning he hooked him off and then he relied on him in all sorts of places. But yesterday he hooked him off again. I think there lies his problem, he knows xhaka ( and others ) aren't good enough but at the moment he has to use and rely on them, knowing they aren't his type of player. I will be flabbergasted and very surprised if xhaka and others like him are relied upon and in his plans next season.