From what's been in the media recently, they certainly seem to be getting on with bringing new players in - which can only be a good thing - if we can believe some of these reports. Need to get Ramsey sorted though. Unlike others on here, I don't really mind if they sign some in their early 30's as long as they're fit and willing to put a shift in every week. Plus, the experience they bring in for younger ones should be invaluable - even better if they get someone who's prepared to kick the opposition occasionally. Sick and tired of defenders that look like they'd prefer to be doing flower-arranging.
Everyone seems very quiet on our new man... Any thoughts early doors? Personally for me, I think the signs are fairly positive.
I'm hoping he's learning and adapting to what he has at his disposal instead of forcing the players into playing in a way that doesn't suit them. By all means, demand more effort but don't expect players to change their mannerisms at the age they are at. Cech is 36 years old. Now is not the time to change him as a player. Mkhitaryan and Ozil are both 29. They don't have reputations as 'runners', they won't develop them now. Aubameyang made his name as a lethal penalty box striker, don't play him on the left wing. These are problems. And I don't want to see a stubbornness from the manager that sees the positive aspects of these players being diminished.
Emery implements a style and philosophy that is proven to work. He deserves the time, even if results don't come right away. Neville made a good point about Emery never changing his philosophy.
Do you not think he is actually giving the current crop a chance to see what they are capable of? I believe he has a certain style and this year should be seen as a free hit. We were never going to completely overhaul the squad that was left by Wenger, but it gives the new manager a chance to see who's in and who's out in terms of the style he wants to implement. I disagree to a point when you say he has to adapt to what is at his disposal, I think it's important that the players adapt and buy into what he wants, and if they can't... goodbye. Guardiola did that exact thing and got rid of players that weren't going to work for him. I actually disagree with you about Aubameyang, I thought he was far more effective playing off the left against Cardiff as oppose to his previous games up top. I reckon Lacazette offers far much more in that position because he is a willing runner and presses well from the front. I feel positive about the manager and I like what I see from the training sessions and I also think he is very proactive during games, earlier substitutions, barking orders. It's certainly a change from what we are use to, so I'm right behind him. It will take time and probably a good 3 or 4 transfer windows before we really see a major improvement. That's what Klopp was afforded and it's paying dividends for Liverpool now.
Perhaps. But you have to have a bit of intelligence of prior events. Mkhitaryan is a prime example. He was shipped out of United for a lack of application when his team was out of possession. It's just who he is as a player and I'd rather us exploit a player's strengths than improve a weakness. And then went and spent over £200m on 3 full-backs, a centre-back and goalkeeper. We're not in a position to do that. We have to be cuter with our money so if we invest £20m on a goalkeeper, it's not a smart idea to have him on the bench. If he's just going to sit on the bench, why waste £20m on him? When he was moved up front at Dortmund, Aubameyang scored 100 goals in 119 games. We paid £56m because of the goal record. We should be paying him up front. We should be playing Lacazette with him as well up front. We've got an £100m strike force who already seem to have great chemistry and a good working relationship. That should be exploited to the maximum, not curbed because the manager wishes to play HIS system. That's what I mean by adapting to his players. Not necessarily style of play but shape and structure. We've got TWO very good strikers. We've got one very good #10, we've got at least two good central midfielders, we've got NO wingers.....those points alone should tell you, don't play with a 4-3-3. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on Emery. Far from it. I just want to see the players we've spent a lot of money on playing in their best positions. Whilst it's petrifying watching it, I get why we're trying to play out from the back. There's already been examples of some very good attacking moves from doing it. It also half solves the problem of teams who park the bus. By playing out from the back and being slightly erroneous with it, it's encourages teams to come press us. Which frees up space to attack. I'm just weary of having a manager who could prove to be too stubborn with his system and we end up having some very expensive mistakes in our squad. But, I'm with you. This season IS a free hit. Mourinho got a free hit, Klopp got one, Pochettino got one, even Guardiola to an extent.
Agree with most of this - especially last para... even if it's already testing my patience with certain team selections!! Good point re Pepsi having the cash (unlike us) to make changes he thought necessary. However, I think it creates a dangerous precedent suggesting the coach should adapt to the players... they are all well-paid professionals who ought to be quite capable of making reasonable adjustments. Felt we should have tried for Martial in the Sanchez deal, especially with all the issues between him & Maureen - thought he would have given us far more, and would have facilitated our 56M striker moving to where he's more effective.
So we're in February and we're coming up to the crunch part of the season now. My opinion of Emery? He's not an identity manager. We're in a world where the the top managers get their teams playing to a style and image they want. Guardiola, Klopp, Sarri, Tuchel, Simeone, Allegri....they have a set style that you come to expect to see from their teams whereas you don't really see that with Emery. What he does do is work and set his team up to get results against different opposition. And I think that side of his managerial skill set has come to fore since the opportunity to break back into the top 4 became a bigger possibility. At the start of the season, I think there was every intention by the club and Emery to build something up because not many of us in the fan base thought we could finish top 4. And through injuries and being in a better position than we thought we would be, that plan has been put back and we've shifted towards getting results. Whether we do make top 4 or not, I know there is going to be a LOT of turnover of playing staff in the summer and it'll be good to see what Emery can do with a full squad of players he wants and rates. We know Ramsey, Cech and Welbeck will definitely be gone and we alos know the club will try and shift Ozil.
Good point on the circumstances, I definitely think the unbeaten run we had changed the circumstances a lot, the general expectation I think was that the transition was going to be rough and perhaps the rebound in terms of points after the back-to-back City/Chelsea games. If anything perhaps it fooled Emery and the fans that there was a lot to of work to be done, but the realistic and probable chance of top 4 without the risk of a Europa win and probably given Emery the incentive to be more pragmatic and focus on the opposition and set up his team based around that, the start of the season we saw a lot of 4-2-3-1 and a lot of wide play which from what I understand is Emery's preference. I do think it has been a mistake in some circumstances, although we have to add the pretext that injuries and hurt a lot (3 key players out for the season is rough, Bellerin was one of our best performers) the short-term changes to play 3 at the back have led to mixed results, the Southampton loss stings, but the West Ham one was worse in that the team really looked devoid of any idea what to do on the pitch which speaks to Emery's pragmatism and that maybe he's not the most comfortable using it, indeed I believe he said himself he switched to it due to a lack of options at CB, so he tried to add more players to the back line to solidify it, which really didn't work but I do admire his willingness to adapt and change things up. On an Arsenal forum, after the streak ended I was interested in how Emery was going to handle adversity because it's important in crunch time that the manager doesn't fall apart never mind the players, there has been some wonky performances, but stuff like the Chelsea game is inspiring. I think everything has been alright all things considered, the quality of football on display can be questioned, although that isn't my primary concern right now, some revelations throughout the season has also played a part, like Lichtsteiner being COMPLETELY past it, Kolasinac's ability to play in a back 4 as a LB is questionable, the Ozil situation, Ramsey contract (Although he's been a complete pro about it on the pitch), Holding's injury meaning we had to force Koscielny back, also that Mustafi is just completely rubbish. Summer is definitely going to be a outlook in how Emery has assessed the squad, I believe the reports out there we are going after Monchi who Emery has worked with before, I'm sure Emery will have an input on the outlook of the squad in the transfer window, it is a tricky bind we're in, I know some fans want us to go back down the talent/youth project route, but we have the dilemma of where all our core players are in their 30's or approaching it, a strikeforce of Aubameyang and Lacazette (of which we invested a huge amount of £ into) is certainly enough for the club to achieve more than top 4 if it can build a squad capable of making it so.
The summer rebuild is going to be absolutely mammoth. I'm about to delve into some hardcore fan economics We know the following players are leaving for sure: Cech, Welbeck, Ramsey, Ospina, Lichtstiener....that's £400k a week freed up. Then you have the uncertainty around the likes of Ozil, Mustafi and Elneny. Ignoring Ozil, if we are successful in moving on Mustafi and Elneny, that's another £140k off the wage bill. That's over half a million a week to play with for new signings. And that's before we get to the new sponsorship deals kicking in in the summer. The new Emirates deal will give an extra £10m a year and our long awaited reunion with Adidas will supposedly be double what Puma currently give us (£30m to £60m a year). We were crippled by our wage bill in January. Come the summer, we most certainly won't be. And that freedom will hopefully see more funds freed up for transfer fees. And we've already replaced some players we will lose. Cech and Ospina leaving will see Emi Martinez become the #2. Welbeck's departure opens up a route for Reiss Nelson. Lichtsteiner is already in my eyes our 3rd choice right-back. AMN is ahead of him. Central defence is one of the two areas that will see a lot of work. Mustafi is apparently on the transfer list and Koscielny is not getting any younger. Sokratis should be ok for another couple of years, Holding will be back in the summer and Mavropanos will be slowly developed. I think we need 2 centre-backs. One of very high quality and a 'squad' type. I also think we need a left-back. Monreal will be 33 come the summer and Kolasinac is a wing-back, not a full-back. So should we move on Elneny along with Ramsey, we'll need two midfielders. I think we have 3 to move into the future with (Xhaka, Guendouzi and Torreira) and we'll need another 'destroyer' type like Torreira and one that can carry the ball forward as opposed to passing forward like Xhaka and Guendouzi can do. A box to box as it were. Now, should Ozil leave, we must take this opportunity to move away from the dying breed that is the #10. Emery needs wide players and I think we'll need two. I have no idea where to even begin. I would have loved Nicolas Pepe but the season he's having is seeing him move from strength to strength and bigger and richer clubs will be keen. Leno, Martinez Bellerin, AMN Sokratis, Holding, Mavropanos, CB, CB Kolasinac, Monreal, LB Xhaka, Guendouzi, Torreira, CM, CM Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Nelson, Smith-Rowe, winger, winger Lacazette, Aubameyang, Nketiah We're going to need 7 new signings come the summer and hopefully get good fees for Elneny, Mustafi and Koscielny (and possibly Monreal). As for Ozil, I have no idea what we'd get for him. Because of his wages, we're going to have to subsidise something. That could be his wages or we could even waive off a transfer fee. It's going to be a very complicated thing to get through. I would rather keep him but if he's not going to be utilised, it's just a massive waste of resources. Our apparent budget for the summer is £45m. I think that's utter bollocks and a very weak effort from the club to downplay the financial power they have. I'm expecting the club to spend over £100m this summer and I think two of said signings will be 'big'. One winger and one centre-back. We just have to sit back and trust those in charge of it all. Emery, Sanllehi and hopefully Monchi. But it's going to be an exciting summer. It's going to be a really big turnover of players, which in itself presents a challenge too.
