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Wanted to let the dust settle before I really spoke about Emery.
I am delighted he& #39;s gone, buzzing Freddie is there, but I wanted to take a moment to recognise some things.
I am delighted he& #39;s gone, buzzing Freddie is there, but I wanted to take a moment to recognise some things.
Firstly, our approach to the market. Under Emery we signed a variety of talent from a variety of nationalities, including some fantastic young players. I& #39;m sure Emery had a say one way or another.
When Emery joined it was the first time in a long time that I actually looked forward to the transfer market and last summer especially was one of the most exciting we& #39;ve had in years. From the lowly position of being a Europa side as well.
We finally took a look at the south American market after what feels like centurions away. (Don& #39;t talk to me about André Santos)
We& #39;re bringing talent in from Spain, from France. We started to notice players again and actually fight for them.
We& #39;re bringing talent in from Spain, from France. We started to notice players again and actually fight for them.
Until Emery came, we were languishing in the market, really only going for players that virtually nobody was competing for, or the ones left over once the richest clubs had ordered off the transfer menu first.
Even though this season has been shit, I& #39;ve not been so excited for one.
And although it wasn& #39;t due to the football, it was due to the fact that our signings were so much more exciting than in previous years, and Emery was giving young players a real shot.
And although it wasn& #39;t due to the football, it was due to the fact that our signings were so much more exciting than in previous years, and Emery was giving young players a real shot.
He deserves a lot of credit for a few things and I don& #39;t want us to lose sight of that. He wasn& #39;t good enough in the long run and the club acted accordingly so let& #39;s just take a second to appreciate some things.
Firstly, unless you& #39;re Klopp or Pep, taking over from Wenger was always going to be a poisoned chalice.
Emery got the players working harder, we were unbeaten for a while (despite crap football) and Emery seemed a good fit in terms of his values and demeanour.
Emery got the players working harder, we were unbeaten for a while (despite crap football) and Emery seemed a good fit in terms of his values and demeanour.
He made the change from Wenger to something new pretty damn seamless. Compare to Moyes at United and how badly that went from the start, Emery deserves credit. He was calm, positive and eager to make an impression. He bought into Arsenal big time.
So to me he deserves credit for the way he came in and went about his first season.
He also deserves credit for his part in any transfers like I& #39;ve said already. I haven& #39;t seen the fans that excited about transfers for years, honestly. There were questions around UE but still.
He also deserves credit for his part in any transfers like I& #39;ve said already. I haven& #39;t seen the fans that excited about transfers for years, honestly. There were questions around UE but still.
We felt good. On top of the transfers, our academy finally got the attention it deserves. Emery brought back a balance of youth and experience to Arsenal but with players who the fans love. Saka, Willock, Martinelli, ESR, Nelson, Guendouzi. The future is bright.
Emery has a huge amount to do with that. Bear in mind Wenger& #39;s Project Youth failed miserably so Wenger gave up on it then went awol in the transfer market and had no strategy but also wasn& #39;t getting anything from the academy. Except Iwobi (shudders). Now look at us.
We have a fantastic blend of youth and experience. Sure we& #39;re not perfect but our squad is much better off than it was. And I& #39;m grateful for whatever role Emery played in that, and for taking notice of the academy.
Unfortunately as is seemingly pretty common in the game, Emery probably over-thought literally everything when it came to subs and tactics and I have to say is hard to be sympathetic when you just don& #39;t need to be so complicated. We went backwards trying to go forwards badly.
Ultimately Emery made far too many mistakes to the point where it actually just got unbearable to watch every week. He frustrated. His constant tinkering of formations made him go from a man full of ideas to a man who actually just had no idea.
Last season should have been about finding out what his best team was, then figuring out who needs to be replaced, then going it and pushing on. But he failed with all of the above. And it& #39;s hard to be sympathetic.
Yes the players need to be looked at too, they aren& #39;t blameless, but this season especially, Emery should have known what his best defence was, midfield and attack, but more importantly, he should have known what formation and style he wanted to implement. That& #39;s your foundation.
Then you look at the squad and figure out the best players for that. Emery clearly has no idea what his best team is at Arsenal. He& #39;s made everyone look fairly shit when they& #39;re just not.
Instead, players never played in the right combinations or in the right areas. He misused our midfield weekly. Pushing Torreira up the pitch is a crime. Xhaka at DM is a crime. Not playing either with the right partner is a crime. He committed all of them.
Bear in mind as well, Chelsea tried pushing their world class defensive mid up the pitch, all it did was distort the team balance and lessen the impact of Kante in the majority of games. Play your defensive mid at defensive mid. You don& #39;t play strikers at centre mid do you.
So if it wasn& #39;t going to work with a world class dm in a better team than ours, it& #39;s not going to work for Torreira. That should have been a one or two game experiment that was instantly canned.
What Emery has done really is totally jumble up and confuse what is on a paper a pretty exciting squad. I& #39;m absolutely not at all surprised the players gave up, and I& #39;m not surprised some weren& #39;t talking about contracts until Emery was sacked. Absolutely right. Why should they?
Regrettably this season is likely a write off although I would say we& #39;re now instantly favourites to win the Europa League.
But if we go on the premise that top 4 isn& #39;t in each (although I still have hope!) then all I want is to see some IDENTITY, confidence and fast football.
But if we go on the premise that top 4 isn& #39;t in each (although I still have hope!) then all I want is to see some IDENTITY, confidence and fast football.
Anyone who watched Spurs the other day will have seen how fast they were moving the ball and how much space they had in attack. It was almost unfair. I want us to start playing positively like that with pace.
