Riou
In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over
Country: Northern Ireland
Player:Gabriel
Propose good football to who? The soccer experts known as the Kroenkes? In your scenario (which I do not necessarily subscribe to) Emery was actually the ideal fit once they decided to ditch Wenger. Ambitious, but not too ambitious ie keep the plebs happy with a trophy while disguising the lack of investment necessary for the club to really be amongst the world elite. I may have been an Arsenal fan but we do not figure in the average punter's list of all-time top teams and it's only in the early part of the Wenger era that we flirted (briefly) with the idea of joining the big boys.He's a watered down version of Mourinho (pre-2012-13 Madrid, when he wasn't yet **** and past it), in that sense I haven't given him enough credit.
In the league or a large sample size he's **** and basically a poor manager, but in a tournament scenario where he can play as the underdog without having to propose football or anything other than good discipline, structure, and motivation within those conditions of underdog and tournament conditions, he flourishes.
Basically, like Mourinho, he shouldn't ever manage clubs like Arsenal or Madrid or PSG where he needs to propose actual football, or where the expectation of being the favourite or 'overdog' is usually there, but he is a good fit for Sevillas and Villarreals if they are willing to sacrifice league results for tournament results, and this is something I haven't recognised sufficiently, just as I didn't with Mourinho at times*, putting it down simply to the variance and short sample sizes of cup competitions. But now with this Bayern performance and another success last season in Europe even if it came at the expense of poor oppositions like us and United, there is enough sample and evidence that it seems this is something that must be recognised and is hard to put down to other factors other than this.
*I say watered down version of Mourinho in Emery's case because Mourinho's league results far surpass Em*ry's in his (Mou's) good period, Em*ry quite simply has never been a good manager in a league context, whereas Mourinho has more or less met expectations at Madrid--2 out of 3 good seasons, albeit with perhaps the best squad of this century after Guardiola's Barça--and met or surpassed them at Inter, Chelsea in his first stint, and Porto in the league.
Yeah, sorry, late at night when I posted this and a bit of spanglish came out: by propose football I mean be forced to offer some form of front-foot football, plan matches where your team is the protagonist and will be forced to carry the initiative; basically train players for a positive form of football, with coherent plans in possession and for controlling the game with the ball.Propose good football to who? The soccer experts known as the Kroenkes? In your scenario (which I do not necessarily subscribe to) Emery was actually the ideal fit once they decided to ditch Wenger. Ambitious, but not too ambitious ie keep the plebs happy with a trophy while disguising the lack of investment necessary for the club to really be amongst the world elite. I may have been an Arsenal fan but we do not figure in the average punter's list of all-time top teams and it's only in the early part of the Wenger era that we flirted (briefly) with the idea of joining the big boys.
The Kroenkes will always find someone to throw to the wolves. Might be Emery, Ljungberg, Aubameyang or whoever... one day it will be Arteta's turn. And the fans will leap up and down with excitement braying their delight that the new millennium is finally arriving. Fooled again.
Yeah I got you on the spanglish! I mean Emery was an ideal fit for the Kroenkes needs. But I still insist if he'd won the Europa League - we didn't win any European trophies with Wenger - he would have stayed and it might have been a success. It was close, even if the final wasn't.Yeah, sorry, late at night when I posted this and a bit of spanglish came out: by propose football I mean be forced to offer some form of front-foot football, plan matches where your team is the protagonist and will be forced to carry the initiative; basically train players for a positive form of football, with coherent plans in possession and for controlling the game with the ball.
Re: the points about Arsenal and where we figure in the world's elite I don't disagree completely, I put us in that comment with Madrid and PSG more because of our identity / philosophy as a club... I said when we hired Em*ry that perhaps more important than Wenger's legacy in terms of what he did for the club for results (which in the end is somewhat checkered--European football failure and lack of overall titles in the 20+ years-- though obviously on the whole quite positive), was the legacy he left and identity and philosophy and perception of the club as a sort of English Barça, and that hiring Em*ry was bad business for that reason too (aside from him being a poor hire), because he put that legacy, probably Wenger's greatest achievement at Arsenal, at serious risk.
Re: Em*ry being the ideal fit in my scenario when we decided to ditch Wenger, well, I couldn't agree less...it was a disastrous hire, and the way he consequently set the club back and accelerated our decline as our competitors continued to make up ground and surpass us confirms that.
I could not agree more. I was completely disappointed when he was chosen for Arsenal. Besides, I'm French and I saw his work in Paris. Very poor to me as his squad was really promising with gifted players.Yeah, sorry, late at night when I posted this and a bit of spanglish came out: by propose football I mean be forced to offer some form of front-foot football, plan matches where your team is the protagonist and will be forced to carry the initiative; basically train players for a positive form of football, with coherent plans in possession and for controlling the game with the ball.
Re: the points about Arsenal and where we figure in the world's elite I don't disagree completely, I put us in that comment with Madrid and PSG more because of our identity / philosophy as a club... I said when we hired Em*ry that perhaps more important than Wenger's legacy in terms of what he did for the club for results (which in the end is somewhat checkered--European football failure and lack of overall titles in the 20+ years-- though obviously on the whole quite positive), was the legacy he left and identity and philosophy and perception of the club as a sort of English Barça, and that hiring Em*ry was bad business for that reason too (aside from him being a poor hire), because he put that legacy, probably Wenger's greatest achievement at Arsenal, at serious risk.
Re: Em*ry being the ideal fit in my scenario when we decided to ditch Wenger, well, I couldn't agree less...it was a disastrous hire, and the way he consequently set the club back and accelerated our decline as our competitors continued to make up ground and surpass us confirms that.
Aged well tbf.
His biggest issue was not getting the players he wanted the summer before he was sacked. Openly said in an interview Arsenal have no money.Aged well tbf.
Inherited a squad without natural leaders, Özil and Kolasinac were bums, Pepe wasn’t ready / the player we hoped he’d be..
Think once my Arteta apology box is full I’m going to open an Unai Emery one.
Yep, and genuinely think it was a poisoned chalice to take over the club after Wenger. The language barrier was also a huge issue.His biggest issue was not getting the players he wanted the summer before he was sacked. Openly said in an interview Arsenal have no money.
I’m sure there were other difficulties with players and characters, but that’s top club football.
His biggest issue was not getting the players he wanted the summer before he was sacked. Openly said in an interview Arsenal have no money.
I’m sure there were other difficulties with players and characters, but that’s top club football.
Weren’t the Sven signings mainly free, small fees and kids?No. We had money, we spent it on the wrong players. We had that nerd Sven Mislintat bringing in Bumdesliga players. I remember lots crying and throwing up when he left.
Pepe was the only big signing we made under Sven and he wanted Ismail Sarr.No. We had money, we spent it on the wrong players. We had that nerd Sven Mislintat bringing in Bumdesliga players. I remember lots crying and throwing up when he left.