Guendouzi for Torreira and Ceballos for Ozil Says It All About Emery

84 thoughts on “Guendouzi for Torreira and Ceballos for Ozil Says It All About Emery”

• Spot on mate!

• Doesn’t believe in midfield football.
  Thats up there with the daftest of comments. You clearly didnt watch PSG and his EL winning exploits. The midfield can have more creativity when the defending is improved by returning players.

• Nice 1 I prefer torrera to replace xhaka because he can hold the midfield stronGer than he him

• Hmmm what is that got to with it, Silent? He is managing my team now and we are talking about the here and now..

• the worst part is that their is no significant playing style. I dont have a problem with him benching Mesut if he doesnt fit his style We at arsenal have always had flair and style of play; even in the worst of the wenger era we did. he has been there for more than months but the team still seems like a constant work in progress without any real progress.
  the play stinks and if we look at the results in this calendar year then they have stunk too. Its getting boring to watch the arsenal play which saddens me the most.

• Sh, I prefer them together in the ‘DM pivot’ but agreed that Torreira is important for holding the midfield together.

• That’s it Akash, we are deprived of style these days (despite having the players).

• Hey Total, I’m finally gonna drop the ‘talking frankly’ thing.
  I’m actually in shock that ANYONE thinks Ozil is worthy of another start in an Arsenal shirt, let anyone who’s opinion I’ve respected and valued in the past.

  He walked a youthful team out vs Forest in the Carabao Cup, then proceeded to walk thru the entire game. When subbed, he left the pitch with the demeanour of a wet lettuce, with barely an ounce of encouragement given to the player replacing him. Even if we could bring him on just for killer passes, I’m not sure he has the desire or energy to make them anymore.

  I’m actually surprised hat he got any more chances after last seasons warnings and continued poor showings, culminating in that truly embarrasing display from him in the EL final.

  Its one thing to not play well, its another to not even bother to try. Technically he’s in Bergkamp’s class, but his poor attitude and total lack of fight simply cannot be overlooked.

  He’s history at Arsenal now, and he has no one but himself to blame.

• Ozil doesn’t deserve a place in the team, his attitude and team ethic stinks. He is robbing this club blind. What an awful poor assessment of this team by the editor about the manager and his opinion of the way the team is set up. We are 3rd, only lost to unbeaten Liverpool and starting to produce really good young players into the team. We have nearly a whole new defence to come back. What an awful thing to make out you know better, when we are in 3rd. When we are in 10th, then you might be have a case but fans like you aren’t good for this club. Support us when we are doing well and complain when we aren’t, otherwise you just get looked on as a joke.

• Sharky, good to hear from you and I respect your views very much too. 🙂

  I reckon that Mesut is a player who needs to be loved and encouraged, respected and used properly and that is not happening under Emery. Mesut was never like that before so what has changed? It can only be that Emery is badly managing Mesut and it will all end up in tears, most possibly for both of them. It looks like it has become a battle of wills (or willies! 🙂 ), and I am not saying Mesut has not got any guilt in this… but a manager is paid to get the best out of their players and motivate them with 21 century man-management skills…. I am not seeing that my friend..

• Sorry. Below is copied and pasted from my comment on previous post that I made just as the New Post was coming out. It has a slight relevance to this post which I would still comment on.

  October 7, 2019 at 14:00
  N5 … I wrote a post here in the Wenger era in which I stated plainly that i was never comfortable winning ugly. I went as far as saying that winning ugly to me means winning lucky. I kind of live in the future so am always projecting the now into the future. If the now is poor, the future is already tormenting me.

  Strangely am fairly well relaxed and fairly hopeful in our modest top 4 ambition. Why? Possibly because of:
  1) the miserable form of United and the Tots
  2) our returning players (Tierney, Holding and Bellerin) whom I see as going to add quite positively to the team
  3) the growing stature of players like Chambers, Willock, Saka, Martinelli
  4) my hope that Pepe would soon hit form
  5) the return of the indomitable Lacazette
  6) the new spirit of the club’s management
  7) the fact that I have come to terms with myself to give Emery room till about the Xmas period ( half way into the season)
  8) last but not the least, that in spite of our wobble which from the aboves promises to only get better, we are third on the table.

  I have also rationalized winning ugly (lucky) and found that it is less ugly than losing pretty. I remember clearly that Wenger was vilified by many for losing pretty. Then winning ugly was defined as the mark of champions.

• Cheers Sharkey 🙂 I respect your views a lot but cannot agree with your assessment.

  Ozil never was like that and I ‘know’ him a lot longer than Emery, so guess who gets the benefit of the doubt? Mesut is the sort of person who thrives when being respected and loved, included and given proper responsibilities. Emery is not doing that by all accounts… and that is not good enough. And we the fans are suffering from this inability to include and remotivate one of the greatest players ever donning the Arsenal shirt..

• ‘Enjoy’ it while it lasts, Doghouse.

• Emery is simply a dumb manager like Ole. How we struggled at home to Bournemouth of all the teams surprises me. Lampard is managing kids but has installed an identity for the team while we are still playing like Stoke City

• I totally believe in this post. For the love of God how can Emery treat Ozil the way he is. Its a absolute disgrace from the coach to say that one of our best players is not good enough to make a match day squad. A shit Ozil is still better and more creative than any other player in this Arsenal side. If Ozil was playing then I bet you Pepe would have had more goals aswell.

• Worst part in all this TA? Is the waiting.
  Hoping the next PL match will be the one where it all comes together. That somehow I’ve gotten Emery all wrong. He’s a freaking genius– and … *sigh* — perhaps not.

  The worst part? Maybe then isn’t the waiting.
  It’s Emery already thinking he’s ‘got it right’. Believing he is a freaking genius. Unbeaten in eight. That we can play mediocre for 45– then sickly for 45– and still take all three points.

  The Unaibomber. Convinced in his ways.

• Good one TA! 👍😀 The very fact that we are having a discussion on this is indicative of problems. Hope I am wrong, but I feel that us being 3rd is the result of an easy schedule so far; we were expected to win against all with ‘Pool, Spurs, and ManU being the question marks. Spurs and ManU are having their own struggles so I am not sure that drawing against them can be viewed in a super positive light, I feel. Waiting to see how we do after the break and before NY. Regardless of what happens, I don’t think that Emery warrants the optional year extension. We can do better surely? Am I mistaken or are there a lot of empty seats at the Emirates these days? That more than anything is likely to grab the attention of management.

• Thank you StH, and agreed. 🙂

  Even if the seats are taken it doesn’t mean the fans are present! 😉

  I do believe that the work rate is appreciated by the fans, and I also love that. But moving the chess pieces frantically over the board doesn’t necessarily lead to a winning chess game, and we can do much better. Yes we are third but we all know we have been playing Sammy Allerdici midtable football… 38 games is a long time for the truth to overtake Emery.

• Hahaha JW, you have a fine way of putting it, and I love the ‘Unaibomber’ 😀

• I have watched Arsenal under Wenger quick passing and style. Now we have this slow not structured football. 1 nill we were useless no game plan. The sooner Emery leaves the better. I have stopped watcjing arsebal until this clown is gown.

• No offence to anyone, but I just can’t be debating the Ozil issue anymore. I’ve said my piece and that’s me dome on the topic.

  I’ll continue to back players who are willing to fight for the team, and maximise their input to our common cause. Eg, I’m never too hard on Mustafi, simply cos I know he’s trying his hardest.

• Sharkey respect mate. You are in finance and I am in HR and there is no surprise we look different at this human issue! 😉

  Hope you and family are fine. Still based in London?

• From my point of view, I think emery is trying to freeze Ozil out of the team because of his huge salary
  Ozil was probably the reason Ramsey was gunning for a huge salary too.
  After withdrawing Ramsey’s contract they have to freeze Ozil out for balance sake.
  If they want huge salaries they should be indispensable.
  I heard one time Ozil had a back injury because he sits and play video game always
  The club is not paying him to play video game and get injured right
  #mycandid opinion

• Ha ha ha that’s so true TA.

  Yup, still living in SE London, currently working in Canary Wharf

• I used to work at the periphery of CW (vague memory I may have told you this years ago), not as centrally settled in as you, no doubt, and I have still sweet memories of it. 🙂

• To those here accusing Özil for his attitude when substituted against Nottingham, i wonder how you’d react when your boss shows your back to you after you’ve created 6 chances and played well 70′ with the youngters? UE was miles away from him not caring one second for him, not having one look. Özil shook hands with Ceballos when he left and what more was he supposed to do? Singing his song? Giving him a standing ovation?
  When the second sub left the pitch, UE went to him to shake hands. He hadn’t moved for Özil. And this was not the first time. This is disrespectful and this is not what we should expect from a coach who is supposed to lead by example.
  Ben Arfa… check what UE did to Ben Arfa… Now the player is suing PSG after not playing for 15 months under UE. This coach is toxic.

• Ozil is not a cheerleader ffs. He is your enigmatic artist type and I’m not saying he should be given carte blanche walk into starting 11 every game. For me football is about embracing diversity and presenting a team to be greater than the sum of its parts not about 11 robots pressing and keeping possession and scoring at will.
  For Emery dropping Ozil like that is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. A good manager, like a good doctor or any skilled tradesman, knows the right tools to use in different situations and it’s always useful to have a wide array of tools in your box. Emery doesn’t have a clue how to use his players.

• Good comments, David T and Alex. Appreciated. 🙂

• Ozil is definitely a part of this discussion as IMLTHO I feel Emery does not want Super stars on his teams – either because he does not know how to manage them – or he only wants a team full of subservient boot lickers.

• David T said it all imagine in the whole game our no 14 was supplied with one chance.

• I can empathise with you Totes on this semi hatred of Emery and understand that someone who sleeps in a coffin at night is not to be trusted.
  So it`s no surprise that The Prince of Darkness dislikes Mesut van Helsing.
  I always preferred Mikel Arteta for the appointment for two reasons….1) for his knowledge of both Arsenal and Pep`s innner tactical secrets and …..2) because he looks like Captain Black of The Mysterons and that is a massive plus and could only have got better if he was more like Troy Tempest from StingRay ! …which had The greatest opening musical score of any action series and the most gorgeous woman ever in Aqua Marina …………who I fantasized about to have no strings attached sex with for many years…………up to last week actually, plus she was dumb and could never scream for help !
  It`s a funny season in where I can only get excited about Carabao Cup and EL games where we play with much more freedom with the fringe and young players who have a point to prove and the only time I feel any movement in my loins is when I watch highlights of The Spuds and Manshafter losing…………………..weird !

• emery has had an agenda against ozil since last season. his pathetic attempt to get suarez to replace ozil – which didn’t work out.

  the most miserable element of emery is – he has no style of play. the games goes from one end to the other- individual talent is winning games not his tactics.

  he shouldn’t be able to have all these young players come through at his disposal he won’t know what to do with them

• TA … I appreciate. Yours is the pain of one in love with our team. Our performance so far has not filled anybody with confidence, irrespective of our cosy 3rd position on the table. Maybe we are simply lucky to be there, but luck never holds for ever. But there again is there something Emery is offering that is not easy to appreciate? Am always extending my benefit of doubt.

  What ever the real situation might be, I try to relate to it all technically. Emery has a contract with a lot of clauses including a sack clause. One of the clauses gives him the powers to call the shots as far as the footballing side of the team is concerned. Am of the school that is saying that he should be given a little more time to prove or hang himself. After one year with us there can’t be any further excuses. This team is his team (the prunings and the investments both in personnels and philosophies). He is piloting the aircraft mid flight. As a passenger or even as the man who hired him, I’d be fully entitled to my opinions which will be very well made known to him at our first touch down. Either a pat on the back or a sack letter. Mid flight I’d have my opinions alright but the terms of the contract wouldn’t allow me to tell him the buttons to press or the levers to pull.

  Ozil is a wonderful player. I love him. He brings intelligence to our play. But Emery, as at this moment, is the boss. By the 19th game of the season (11 matches away) the plane wouldave touched down, I believe.

• Nothing much to add to the post, the comments of the regulars and some of the new participants…but it all adds up to suggest that I don’t need to watch the final hour of yesterday’s game. New comment writer “Paul” puts it aul so waul: It’s aufully hard “watcjing arsebal until this clown is gown.”

  Also, I really (truly…) LOVE the different ways fans can interpret something like Ozil being subbed (in another match I didn’t actually watch)… Well done, Sharkey and Alex…

  It’s all in the eye of the beholder and PE probably puts it best about winning ugly trumping losing pretty…except that I’d argue that we actually won (3 FA Cups in AW’s final 5 years)…Emery’s gonna not win anything–except promotion back to the CL, maybe…

  What I think it’s really about is how people (fans) will adjust to football now that it’s increasingly watched on screens. We have other “entertainment” options and it’s morphing away from a population of working class viewers trudging down to the stadium (and/or pub) and watching/bantering/fighting with their mates about what they see. Now it’s on-screen and on-line and a whole new culture. It’s got to engender hope (for BIG things) or else, plus fun, moment over moment….

  In the meantime,keep blogging, TA–and keep putting up that contest–and I’ll keep coming around–even if I might not be watcjing arsebal (much) until this clown is gown… Who wrote about “cure for insomnia?” Also, spot on…at least yesterday morning for me…

  Finally, re: the contest. Pbarany, I think, might have a time-warp tool (crystal ball?)… 6 for 6 is TOO good… Disqualify him please… 😀

• Le Coq, great to see that you have not lost your sense of humour!
  Your last paragraph is also applies to me I love watching Man U and Spurs lose, it’s almost cathartic.

• Hahaha, you are a breath of fresh air, CockieM. It is indeed weird that the second string games are more enjoyable. It looks like Emery and the team are less tense when the games are less important/risky, and as a result the footie is much better to watch.

• Emery is so shit.. Worse he is that cowardly leader who bullies his men when they have no option to answer.
  Ozil is good enough to play for a world champion German team and Madrid but can’t make Emery’s team full of youngsters??

  Get Emery out of Arsenal.. PLEASE!

• Hahaha 17HT, yes Pb had foresight no doubt. 6/6 is pretty genius – hope you put a bet on it, Pb?! 🙂

• Ozil has lost his acceleration and his shots seems to be getting weaker than before.
  Its extremely frustrating to see him choosing to pass when he could simply take a shot. These days we all know he is not going to shoot, because he does not have the power to strike the ball hard from outside the box.

  No doubt he has amazing vision to spot a pass, but he has this tendency to slow the game down when the team needs to up the tempo. He doesn’t press hard enough.
  BPL players are getting stronger and fitter than ever before, how many times have he lost the ball when he is trying to shield it from another opp player. Saka could give him a lesson how to improve.

  When Emery subs him out in the 2nd half, he sulked very badly. Its a conundrum managing such a player on match day. If you put him on the bench and not start him, he will sulk . And if Emery wants to increase the intensity , you don’t play him he will show attitude to Emery after the game. Having him on disrupts the whole team’s concentration. Might as well leave him out totally, soEmery can finally have some peace during the game.

  No doubt arsenal has lost some of its sexy football vibes recently, but the team now have a stronger winning mentality, there is fighting spirit even when the odds were down.

  I am still a huge Ozil fan, however he just not the player arsenal need at this phase of the team rebuilding. Until the day Arsenal starts winning and have players that can dominate the midfield with ease, its better for Ozil to stay away.

• PE, you and Sharky would get on really well in a bar, I have no doubt. Thanks for your positive, alternative angle and keep it up. To try and see the good in things against many odds is pretty much divine! It must be that wonderful Nigerian sunshine! 😀 ⭐

• Thanks Nick F, I don’t agree with you but you have explained yourself well.. and we like that here. It is clear the relationship between the two is pretty much fecked and we can differ on who is to blame for it.

• Nick F, it’s pretty obvious that Ozil does not fit Emery’s plans and it’s his right as the manager to omit him from the team. However it is completely inappropriate to treat him in this demeaning manner – it appears that he is being treated like a novice player who is out of line – and not a world Cup winner.

  Respect always matters and this treatment by Emery is totally disrespectful.

• It was great to another win even if it was just by a 1-0 win, but slowly but surely Emery is driving the
  history of the Arsenal in to the ground, playing this so called Emery ball system we are now slow, yet when we were under Arsene Wenger’s reign we were slick and fast, okay we did lose our slickness in his later years, but going back to Emery what he is doing keep on freezing out Mesut Ozil who is one of the best Midfielder’s that this country has ever seen, so although it would mean having to start all over again l am afraid that the sooner we see the back of Unai Emery will be the better for our Great Club!!!!!!!!!!⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

• I know we are talking a lot about Ozil but the Lucas T situation is also worthy of discussion. Lucas is also a player who simply has to play, he is that good and important in our midfield. But Emery is not starting him often and uses him more as an extra man in midfield/ sub whenever he feels he needs him. To me that is almost equally as bad as side-lining MO10..

• Paul, agreed. There is still a bit of hope that he will enter Arsenal into a new phase and it will all start to look much better, but it is highly doubtful.

• Total Lucas T is yet another great player who is being “remade” to suit Emery and the remake is nowhere near as good as the original model………..

• Agreed GN5, you are very succinct. 🙂

• I do not agree the view that MO should start for arsenal until his fitness and attitude at pitch is good enough for it. you may review the performance of MO all along before, how many chances he created you can remember in recent year, Maybe one or two. However, what you remember most for his performance was weak in defence. it seemed only ten palyers in arsenal team when he was in pitch. Don’t you all know full-team defence is the most important job that the winning team should require in this most competive league in the world. I reckon some Arsenal Fans moaned lack of creativity in arsenal team after the game with Bournemouth, but did they remember what we had complained in the era of AW who wanted to play for beautiful performance more than winning the game. I also have queries for Emery’s decison especially for insisting Xhaka to be one of the starting XI, however, I appreciate him have gut to play a youngster before MO who have better performance. We can see the performance of the young players deserve for it. Why not support Emery for the continued change to achieve the goals that we want- TROPHY and TITLES

• I think Lucas T is another who it seems is in The Prince of Darknesses bad book, is it because he turns up at London Colney wearing a garlic aftershave or his penis is shaped like a crucifix or just because he is of small stature ?……………………..well listen here Vlad, most of the best players in the world are or were diminitive !………………….having small midfielders is the Trojan Horse tactic, where you hide these highly skillfull and intelligent players amongst the brute savage ones…………think of Cazorla, Cesc etc`…………..you could probably hide them all in the knob of a well hung Trojan Horse and no one would know untill it`s too late !……………….have no idea what that means, but it sounds ok in my mind ! hahaha

• Having watched the game twice now, Let us Call a Spade a Spade and Not “paper over” and skirt round what is glaringly obvious; Unai Emery is the “malignant tumour” thaty NEEDS to be “eviscerated” from the “Body Arsenal” and Stan & Josh Kroenke, Vinai Venkatesham, Raul Sanllehi and the Board MUST execute “Cojones & Chuitzpah” and SACK Unai Emery.

  Unai Emery is no more than a “Tinker Man, much like any “Gypsy Traveller”; lets forget the embellished CV of Emery 2013 – 2016 with Sevilla or even the bitter end when Emery was “Booted Out” from PSG; Let us examine Emery’s dire record at Arsenal.

  1) Nearly 50 games and Emery yet does not know the “First Team”
  2) Emery does not know which individual player is best suited in
  which position.
  3) Emery does not know how to extract the best from any or each
  and every player.
  4) Emery, changed players, their positions and formation 23 times
  in 15 games last Season.
  5) Emery dictated & demanded that each and every player must
  exercise “High Energy & High Press” in every game.
  6) Emery insisted that Arsenal always “Play from the

  Unai Emery single handedly LOST Arsenal “Top 4” in EPL last season. It was Emery playing the wrong players against Palace and Brighton that lost Arsenal “5 points”. The points above from 1) – 6) collectively caused Emery to lose the “Changing Room” during the Aston Villa game; When the boys openly chatted and decided, to hell with the Boss, No More “Playing from the Back” every time, given how Sokratis gifted the ball to Cleverley in the Box for him to tal in against Arsenal.

  Unai Emery has Not trained/coached players effectively when to play from the back and when to play ball long and over the top for the attackers to exploit, specially when “Long Ball” specialist David Luiz is CB. Leagues if Not all of Europes Deadliest and Most Destructive “Gang of Three” “Attack Force” of Aubameyang, Lacazette and Pepe are used as Nothing more than a “Nuclear Detterent” Only, as the “Delivery Systems” to Ignite “The Attack Force”, namely a “Kosher Dedicated” No. 10, such as Mesuit Ozil is ostracised by Emery and instead plays Ceballos out of position as a No. 10 when Ceballos is most effective as a No.8 where he plays a more defensive minded but able to cut through Midfield and spray the ball but Not as effectively and Consistently as Mesuit Ozil. Unai Emery plays Torreira as a No. 10 when he was bought as a No.6, to stand and defend in the Midfield infront of the Back Line, which he does admirably Like N’Golo Kante of Chelse with physical gymnastics and huge energy. Unai Emery in his diabolical wisdom, plays “The Sloth” Granit Xhaka in the No. 6 where a “dead rabbit” will do a better job.

  Let meend this here but suffice to say Unai Emery is the “Malignant Tumour” and MUST be eviscerated from the Arsenal Body.

• Cheers CM, there will be no titles or silverware under Emery unless there are drastic changes. The footie we play is midtable football and that is why a number of midtable teams are right below us. However, I prefer to watch good football and it that then leads to silverware it is sheer happiness. If it doesn’t I will have still enjoyed the ride. Emery out – football in.

• Cockie, you are in fine form – not lost it!

• Would go as far as calling Emery that, Omar, but I get your drift.

• Off topic, but what about Corbin wanting to nationise football if he becomes PM !……………..have a read and if he can make his beloved Arsenal a force again I`m for it !………….especially if his manifesto highlights the compolsary demolition and annihilation of any thing Spud, like the removal of N17 from Britain to a leper colony……………………….

  https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/fans-reckon-jeremy-corbyn-wants-20532341

• CM, Özil shouldn’t be an automatic starter. NOBODY should be an automatic starter even a Messi or a Ronaldo. But Özil created the most chances last season despite playing half of the games and he is still this season our best creator per minutes played. This is what he is paid for and what he was brought for. He has improved a lot his defensive work for which he has anyway never been trained since his childhood anyway. But there are others supposed to do the defensive work in this team, no? I don’t want Laca or Auba or Özil or Pepe wasting their time in defense. I want them for the fireworks not for the wars.

• The BK Prediction League is evening out:
  1. 17HT and ErikTR with each 15 points
  2. PE and Pb with each ten points
  3. The rest are doing really well with no points….

  Max 10 points per round, so all to play for.

  I will do one this week for the international games, just so we have something to keep us going.

• You know you are crap at predictions when you are a part of the “rest”………..

• I think we should get a point for every correct prediction – that way I would know just how useless I am.

• Believe me GN5, that is much more admin and it would not look good for both you and me (and I whisper it… a few other are just as bad…)

• The difference Emery introduced this season is to have our strikers and attacking midfielders to press upfield causing opposition defence to make mistakes near their box helping us to score ‘cheap goals’ that is what is leaving large part of central midfield to the opposition. And it’s working

• Some fine and varied comments today. Thank you all for an entertaining read following a somewhat controversial post.

  I don’t believe Ozil should be in the team but he should certainly be on the bench. Ozil is a shadow of the player he was 2 or 3 seasons ago. The German national manager realised that and so does UE. However, a once great player still has it in his head if not his legs and Ozil is a creator who can still make a difference against a tiring defence.

• Steve, that has led to 1.6 goals per game for us and we concede about 1.4 goals… is it really working?

• Cheers Erik, you may remember that Ozil redrew from the German national team due to racial tensions (not because Joachim Lowe did not want him anymore). I don’t think there is any reason to think that he is a shadow of the player he was three seasons ago, but we will only know once he is played regularly again..

• EMERY OUT!!!!!
  Case closed.

  I’m 100% certain that when Arsene Wenger talks about the desire to manage again, he simply means ARSENAL.. He is obviously in pains watching Unai Emery damage Arsenal History.
  Its only a matter of time before fans start asking for Wenger again.
  Even the spuds told us we would cry if Wenger left but we didn’t listen.
  No other manager can ever understand Arsenal like Wenger.
  Granted, he started making some blunders in his final years but that in my opinion was because he needed a break from football to refresh his perspective, especially since he had some additional responsibilities besides basic team management as at the time.

  I think a refreshed Wenger is the perfect fit for a club that has his fingerprints all over.

  GIVE US BACK OUR WENGER!!!!
  GIVE US BACK OUR FOOTIE!!!
  GIVE US BACK OUR ARSENAL!!!

• WengerBall will forever trump Emery ball. Plus Wenger will never treat a player like Emery does Ozil.

• Oh dear Tam you used that evil word – Trump!!

• We’re currently sitting in 3rd place, 1 point behind Man shitty and are close to getting some decent defenders back. We’re well on track for a top 4 finish which is what we all want right? Emery is doing his job.
  This article is utterly stupid attention seaking nonsense.

• Jason you are welcome to your opinion – but so are we…………………..

• I believe managing is getting the most out of your players, in any way possible. Some need a kick in the rear, some need encouragement or an arm around the shoulder. I’m glad to hear more and more people echoing what I’ve been saying about Torreira. I also believe as someone said here the other day, that a player like Ozil could really help release the huge talent of Pepe. I still think Xhaka has a role to play, but I’d be mixing the midfield more rather than locking him in every week.
  I also don’t want us to completely give up on Reiss Nelson, because I believe he deserves more chances than he’s been given, and his talent has a really high ceiling. Twice the player Iwobi was, and did well in Germany last year. We don’t need him to become the next Gnabry or Reine Adelaide disaster, just because Emery likes to make snap judgements on players.

• Agree Emery has his faults and is probably not a long term manager for Arsenal FC. But, read my lips, Ozil is f i n i s h e d. Forget about him. He has been poor from 2018 onwards. Wake up people.

  Also this Ozil freeze out is clearly happening with the approval of the board. One man does not have the power to discard a high value asset (high value as viewed in term of wage expenditure)

• I still can’t get to know Unai. I listen to him carefully. I watch his eyes as he speaks. Sometimes I stare at his still pictures (meditation) willing he reveals himself to me. All my efforts have been in vain. I can’t still place him. But I don’t want to conclude negatively simply because I haven’t found him.

  I have my prejudices about him. I think he over coaches. I feel he is so welded to his vision that there is no room for compromise. But I remind myself that these are my prejudices, that I could be a thousand miles off the mark.

  As a matter of fact I sometimes find myself wondering if Unai is the uncompromising mustached sergeant major who drills the hell out of you to become a deadly fighting machine. I am like T S Elliot with a thousand revisions before the taking of a tea.

  What next for me? To simply give Unai some more time to reveal himself, not through his speeches but through his works.

  We (the fans) should tone down our critisism of him. We are 3rd and a point behind the exquisite Man city (atm Liv is incomparable). Severe criticism of Unai at this moment would confuse the boys because by extension it is also a critisism of them. Yet they are 3rd on the table with the injured coming back.

  I could see returning intensity in our last 2 or 3 EPL matches. The boys and Emery also are as fragile as ourselves. They do bleed and they do need our support particularly now that all the objectives are looking promising.

  Ozil and Emery could be like water and oil. Each great on its own but the two can’t mix. Emery free to exercising his mandate as the coach. It is his prerogative. The boys don’t seem to be grumbling. They are in a position to know the details. The club’s hierarchy don’t seem to be grumbling either. In our minds we should reach a closure on Ozil’s matter. The club/team towers above every individual, Kronke inclusive. With respect to any one person, let what would be be.

  I am excited that there is a revolution on going in the club. Our great Wenger retired and is fondly remembered. Cech. Koscielny, Ramsey, Ospina, Welbeck, Iwobi, Monreal are off our stage. Tierney, Pepe, Matinelli, Ceballos, Saliba, Saka, Willock, Nelson, ESR on stage with the promises of a fresh morning dew. The sum must be on the rise.

  Let us pull together and support the team in this transitional stage. COYRRG!!!

• Hey JNYC, don’t think anybody has given up on Nelson, at least not here on BK. Agreed re different approach to motivating the players.

• yes tony, unless Emery gets the sack before 1 February, Ozil is a gonner. Nobody will put up with this treatment and Emery is (perhaps reluctantly) supported by BoD, and therefore also guilty.

• Yeah that table position is giving a lot of people hope and justification for continued support for Emery, PE. But it is early days in the league and many of us prefer to judge the quality of the football we play in order to determine how good we really are. We are on course to concede around 52 goals and score not much more, about 62. Let’s also not forget how many chances we give away, with eye watering number of shots on goals against us. And what happens if Auba gets injured?

  No player may be above the club, but also no manager is above the values of treating people properly and getting the best out of our talents. Ozil is a superb talent and somebody with pride and need for trust and appreciation – quite a complex person but somebody who can lift our football to the highest level. Torreira also seems to be in the ‘you don’t do what I tell you, so you are sidelined club’… how many more to follow?

• I do agree, though, there are positives with regard to the quality of the squad and the work rate, so overall it is justified to be positive. If we take both Ozil and Emery out of the equation during the interlull, we could focus on some of the green shoots instead.. 🙂

• Um TA, can we turn down the Anti-Emery level? It seems higher than usual. Or are you guys welcoming me to UK? I hope that is true. And it seems that it is getting quite cold over there.

  Ok. Jokes aside, we need the team to play with handbrakes off. I watched the last half an hour of our last match and we were extremely sloppy in every department. They could have passed into our goal with extreme ease.

  Why are we so scared? Why are we not passing well enough? It boils down to the 2 players you mentioned TA, Ozil and Torreira.

  Emery likes inferior players, whom he can control. Explosive players are difficult to control. But this boils down to the lack of tactics and incisiveness. What we need is to finish our opponents with ease, which we see in Europa league. Why don’t they play like this?

• 84, your Singapore sense of humour intrigues me! 😀

• they is no Arsenal without Ozil, weather he is slow lazy or what, we can call him all the names but the bottom line is that guy knows what to when he gets to the football pitch

• TA, that topic generated quite the reaction from a cross section of the Fan-dom, with varied opinions too, quite rightly.
  I’ve been a bit tentative in sharing my view on the subject of Emery’s Man (Player ?) management, especially with regards to Mesut Ozil, because the executive management of the club have failed to take a stand. What this means is either that: 1. They have opted to give Emery the free hand on football matters, as is in his contract (swim or sink with your own decisions, then); or 2. His treatment of Ozil has the tacit backing of the Executive management and owner. Both scenarios seem likely, to varied degrees and for me, both are just a shame.

  Ozil has stalled and shafted his way into getting Gazidis to offer him a huge contract from the club. That wasn’t down to just him or greed; it was (close to) the going rate then, for the expectations from a player at his level. Was he worth it? Your guess is as good as mine, even though I have always felt such inordinate sums are undeserved by any player, unless you’re pulling up trees for the club (read Messi-esque or CR7 proportions of performance). Ozil won’t pull down trees but is a Rolls Royce amongst our “Toyota models” and is the one player who makes the whole team play enjoyable football. Clearly, this style of play that keeps everyone and everything ticking over doesn’t fit with Emery’s way, which is a team that isn’t reliant on linked play. Notice how he has preference for David Luiz, Xhaka and Guendouzi? It is for their ability to make raking passes to the forwards, foregoing a link-up play, from back to middle to front. That’s my view. And that’s why our play lacks need for much creativity, thus restricting even our creative players from showing what they can do for fear of losing the ball and having to track back hard.

  As for his infrequent use of Torreira with a preference for Guendouzi, it is part explained above. Torreira is not given to too many long passing and is more concerned with winning back balls and playing the short pass to the nearest player, usually in anticipation of a return pass into space. Not what Emery wants, I guess.

  I feel the club owner(s) need to step in and make for peace or make their stand clear! That’s no way to treat a player who has brought joy to most fans with goals, assists and key passes, over the last 5 seasons. Ozil is a player who thrives on trust and the use of the right words on him. He is also a patient man but a good counter-puncher; I do hope he doesn’t have something nasty in store for Emery, assuming this whole situation is causing him great displeasure, as we all feel. Sort it out, gaffer!

• TA, I will be jetting in to London for a 2-week holiday.

  How’s the weather there?

• Njk,

  Re: How’s the weather there?

  Nobody knows – it’s all up in the air.

• Well I think we can fairly say there is still a hell of a lot of support out there for Mesut, and I somehow hope he gets to read it (and Arsenal’s BoD, and Emery of course).

  Eris, that is fine and balanced comment and all agreed.

  84, it is the autumn here and is windy and a bit wet and a bit sunny, but you will love London around this time of year: very atmospheric and plenty of places to go. When are flying and are you going to travel through the UK or just stay in and around London?

  GN5 🙂

• New Post New Post 🙂

• PE. 06.40. What a comment. One does not expect to see the name T S Elliot on a football blog!

  My take is that Emery is halfway through a process which will reap future rewards.

  I question why we paid so much for Pepe but could that have something to do with season ticket sales? Given the dissatisfaction amongst the fans following our weak finish to the season it is likely a high profile signing was high on the agenda. Would the Corporate S/T holders have paid to see the emergence of 18 y-o’s? I think not

  We are on a journey over which we have no control whatsoever, so let’s just try and enjoy it.