Match Reaction v Watford (away).

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Eurgh, grim.

[Letters]

Off you pop, Emery :wave:

[Chippy]

Eurgh, grim.
Had enough already. We were lucky not to lose this one.
Emery needs to fuck off tbf.

[Mac76]

i refer you to my new signature...

awful display - even though we have some pretty big duds in defence, you just know that team could do better with proper managment and direction

[Master Splinter]

Unprofessional, mindlessly sloppy and failing to do basics to an acceptable level. Deservedly punished.

One of the best strikers in the world and barely anything created for him. It's so dispiriting to see such talent wasted.

[Letters]

Emery got a free pass last season but everyone, literally everyone, can see that our defence needed major work.
We scored more goals than anyone bar the top 2 last season but conceded 50 goals! 50!
The defence hasn’t been addressed despite it clearly being our major area of weakness.
If Emery can’t or won’t sort out that out then fuck off and let’s find someone who can.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Time for Allegri tbf.

[Marc Overmars]

Unforgivable really. Totally threw it away.

Bored shitless of Emery and his nothing tactics now.

[Gooner23]

If we're miles of the pace by Christmas I think Raul has it in him to be pretty ruthless.

There needs to be some form of progression this season and that hasnt happened yet, despite the fact he has better players to work with.

[dostoy]

Diabolical mistake from Sokratis, then Watford turned into Liverpool and should have won it.

Callum Chambers lost his place for no reason and with Holding coming back its time for them to be given a chance.

Nelson looked so weak as well.

[Marc Overmars]

Is it just me or is Nelson a bit shit?

Willock and ESR seem far more polished.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Is there anything worth analysing about the game??

It's crystal clear that this manager won't be able to take this club any further than where he met us at.

The earlier we get rid the better for all parties.

[Marc Overmars]

Watford had 31 attempts to our 7.

Fucking shite.

[Unai Tea]

Fuck this team. If they can't be arsed, neither can I.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Is it just me or is Nelson a bit shit?

Willock and ESR seem far more polished.

Never been especially enamoured with him....and my feeling that he would have been better off on loan before the season remains. Frankly, IF Saka and Martinelli can't do better, then they may as well be on loan too.

[Dial Square Old Boy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/49210190?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5d7e7ae9909dd0067b21d1df%26%27We%20wer e%20scared%27%262019-09-15T17%3A57%3A04.472Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:2f0d2267-c422-4bbe-9d03-1b8f7b6d937f&pinned_post_asset_id=5d7e7ae9909dd0067b21d1df&pinned_post_type=share

And you think you’re worthy of being Captain, you steaming pile of crap?

[Marc Overmars]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/49210190?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5d7e7ae9909dd0067b21d1df%26%27We%20wer e%20scared%27%262019-09-15T17%3A57%3A04.472Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:2f0d2267-c422-4bbe-9d03-1b8f7b6d937f&pinned_post_asset_id=5d7e7ae9909dd0067b21d1df&pinned_post_type=share

And you think you’re worthy of being Captain, you steaming pile of crap?

We were scared. :haha:

God this team is so unlikeable, bar an obvious few.

[Ralpheroo72]

Emery taking us nowhere. Our defence is worse under him, if that was even possible.

[Mac76]

Ridiculous statement by Xhaka - he and Emery can sod off

[Özim]

Pathetic to be honest.

Sokratis error for the 1st goal was amateurish, Luiz again showed he can't defend one on one and is a liability, it's no wonder Chelsea couldn't wait to get him out the door.

Guendouzi also was shocking, honestly this passing from the back nonsense is all very good if you have players who can pass and make clever use of the ball, but with mindless players like we have it's ridiculous. AMN again showing that he can't defend.

Emery is showing why he's a 2nd rate manager who was booted out of PSG, he doesn't learn, 2-0 at the bottom side in the PL and we made them look like the best side in the league, they absolutely destroyed us in the 2nd half, it was ridiculous and frankly embarrassing to be outclassed by Watford. Today he took our attacking midfielders off to go defensive (again!!!) and after that Watford totally dominated, it was utterly amateurish and embarassing.

For me Emery has made no difference, there's no real obvious style of play, poor tactics, this playing out from the back which is costing us time and time again, to me he's showing week after week how limited he is, even at the end he didn't seem to bothered about giving away a 2 goal lead to the bottom side and actually deserving to be well beaten.

So far this season it's been pretty pathetic to be honest, if not for our quality strikers we'd have next to no points, if anything it's as bad if not worse than last season.

It's prety disappointing to be honest, you look at Liverpool and what Klopp has done and how good they are, two consecutive finals and winning the CL, challenging for the league the last 2 seasons, a real obvious style of play and then you look at Emery where literally nothing has changed and the defence is worse than even and you wonder why on earth he was appointed, he had no proven record, had failed miserably at PSG, I just don't see this guy being able to turn it around.

As for Xhaka, it's pretty shocking when your captain says you're running scared of the bottom team in the league when you're 2-0 up.

Incidentally we've conceded the most shots in the league this season, 96 in all already and have also given away more errors than anyone since Emery arrived, included a stack load of penalties.

The only one that doesn't look too bothered is Emery.

[Marc Overmars]

Incidentally we've conceded the most shots in the league this season, 96 in all already and have also given away more errors than anyone since Emery arrived, included a stack load of penalties.

.

This is what has really been bugging me for a while. The defensive fuck ups are what they are, we’ve been seeing that for years but I don’t ever remember us being so completely incapable of shutting a game down. We just constantly invite pressure and allow our goal to be peppered, there’s no element of control and we’re totally reliant on the strikers being able to conjure up something out of nothing. If Auba/Laca have an off day we’re almost certain not to win because we get practically nothing elsewhere.

The team set up is a shambles and I’m sad to say my faith in Emery is rapidly deteriorating.

[AFC Leveller]

When your captain (who shouldn’t be starting games for Arsenal in the first place let alone captain them) comes on live TV and says we we’re scared of the bottom side of the premier league, you know things are bad.

Emery has got to go, simple. I thought he was meant to be this tactical master with all the inside on the opposition? He has taken us backwards and has done nothing to suggest he can be trusted.

Luiz, AMN, Sokratis, Guendouzi were shocking, really bad. We were outplayed and should have lost this by a big margin.

[selassie]

The sad thing is Emery has been given a ton of money to improve the team and we arguably look worse. How is this even possible?!

We are an absolute mess defensively, worse than we were under Wenger. Midfield is still a mess and Auba & Laca aside we don’t look particularly good offensively.

I’m done with Emery TBH, he’s not good enough for where we want to be. No style and no results.

[Bumble]

didn't watch the game but reading the comments and looking at the stats.... it sounds like it wasn't pretty. How do you concede a shot every 3 minutes?

where was the midfield stopping this. basically it appears we are going to have to rely on Auba, Laca when fit again and Pepe to get us out of trouble each week with goals.

There is no way we shouldn't be top 4 - United are still a mess under OGS, Chelsea have a totally novice manager who has been given a free pass this year and giving youth a chance. Also they cant strengthen and lost their best player in the summer so I don't think they will be able to stay at the level all year.

how can we have not improved defensively when it has been our Achilles heal for 10 years!!!

[Marc Overmars]

Why should we be top 4? It’s time we looked closer to home rather than draw encouragement from the state of our rivals. It’s the same every year, however shit they are you can bet we won’t be too far behind because of how flawed our team is.

Chelsea’s young players appear to be much better than ours too.

[Özim]

Why should we be top 4? It’s time we looked closer to home rather than draw encouragement from the state of our rivals. It’s the same every year, however shit they are you can bet we won’t be too far behind because of how flawed our team is.

Chelsea’s young players appear to be much better than ours too.

Our youth policy has been a shambles for year to be honest, we barely bring any decent talent through and when we do they either don't make any progress or end up going backwards or we sell them to succeed elsewhere (Gnabry was a shocker). The you look at Chelsea, Man City and few others and they seem to have soe top quality youngsters.

I agree with you though, every year it's the same our rivals aren't in a good state and every year they outperform us, to me that suggests we're not as good as soe believe, based on the start of the season we're not one of the favourites for top 4, the other teams so far look better if anything, we basically rely on Aubameyang and Laczette (now injured), take them out and we'd probably lost a lot more games.

The defence is shocking, but we all know that of course, to not have addressed that properly in the summer is terrible judgment, anyone who thought the error prone Luiz would fix that needs a wake up call, the guy has always been a very suspect defender, his best position is DM, he should be nowhere near defence because he will cost you games, as has been shown already this season.

For me the blame lies firmly on Emerys' door, right now I don't know what he's improved, our defence is as bad if not worse, we're making more mistakes if anything, the lineups are often wrong, his subs are dreadful and his blind faith in Xhaka is puzzling to say the least. The only thing he's done right so far is getting rid of the deadwood.

The lack of an obvious style of play (other than that shocking playing out of defence which a) we can't do properly and b) we shouldn't do when surrounded by 3/4 opposition players), him not knowing his best 11 and his lack of tactical nous is worrying to say the least, people compared him to Klopp and how it took him a bit of time to get it right, but Klopp implemented a clear style of play from the start and the improvement has been clear throughout his team, from season to season. He also identified his teams weaknesses quickly and did something about them, the way I see it Emery didn't the defence was the achilles heel, everyone could see that and all he did was sign an error pron CB and and injured full back with no experience in the PL who has played in a weaker league.

He's also chosen to rely on AMN and Kolasinac who are probably 2 of the worst defensive full backs in the PL.

[Özim]

This is what has really been bugging me for a while. The defensive fuck ups are what they are, we’ve been seeing that for years but I don’t ever remember us being so completely incapable of shutting a game down. We just constantly invite pressure and allow our goal to be peppered, there’s no element of control and we’re totally reliant on the strikers being able to conjure up something out of nothing. If Auba/Laca have an off day we’re almost certain not to win because we get practically nothing elsewhere.

The team set up is a shambles and I’m sad to say my faith in Emery is rapidly deteriorating.

The last 2 times we've played Watford now they've made us look like a pub side, last season their 10 men played us off the park and should have taken a point at least, today out of form and bottom of the league they totally outclassed us, how many top sides get outclassed by a club small club, who are bottom of the league and out of form, the amount of shots we gave away in the 2nd half was inexcusable, as was our captain coming out and saying we we "scared".

Emery though with his subs (taking off Ceballos) helped their cause as once he went off we got totally overrun, of course though he kept Xhaka on, the guy who not only does nothing, but also is liable to give away a goal, in the end even the one thing he was suppose to be good at (his passing) was awful, messing up a chance to attack with a poor pass.

[Mac76]

You'll be pleased to know Keown agrees with us:

"Arsenal have already suffered 20 away Premier League defeats in just over two seasons, which is simply not good enough for a team that wants to make the top four. Emery has only been in charge for one of those campaigns, but the worrying thing is his side still have huge issues defensively, and they do not appear to be improving. In fact they seem to be getting worse."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49710780

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

.........
Incidentally we've conceded the most shots in the league this season, 96 in all already and have also given away more errors than anyone since Emery arrived, included a stack load of penalties.

The only one that doesn't look too bothered is Emery.

It's like watching Manuel making the same mistake time and time again but no one to give him a sweet smack at the back of his head!

I didn't want to bother analysising the game but yours was really spot on. The 96 shots stat is just mind boggling, to think he's been more defensive this season and to end up with a stat like that shows he clearly doesn't know what he's doing.

I think the damage is already done and no opposition team in the EPL is going to take us seriously, we'll have to struggle for every single point we're going to get this season tilll the last minute. Expect many more "scared" days to come.

We simply need to get rid of this manager ASAP to limit the damage. I'm still hopeful we may be able to make top 4 but definitely not with this clown in charge.

[Letters]

Pathetic to be honest.

People who said that anyone would be better than Wenger :haha:


:ninja:

[Gooner23]

There seems to be a growing consensus that Emery isn't the man to take us forward. I really think we could see Raul and Edu being quite ruthless and give him the boot by Xmas.

[GP]

Wenger in

[Marc Overmars]

I don’t think the plug should be pulled yet because we still have a few players to come back, a fit and firing Bellerin and Tierney should give us a new dimension but it goes without saying if we don’t qualify for the CL this year we need to move on from Emery, he can’t hide behind the no money or not his players excuses now.

[Letters]

Wenger in

:gp:

Although no, not really. But :fingers: to all the people who went on and on about what a bumbling idiot he was and how anyone, literally anyone, would do better.
Well we've got literally anyone now and it's the same failings.

All that said, I agree with MO and will stick to my "judge him at the end of the season" stance. Top 4 or bust this year, we have the resources, Chelsea and Utd look like a mess so there's no reason we can't finish above them. I don't think there's much between us and Spurs.

[GP]

I think he needs to go now.

[Letters]

I'll admit that is my kneejerk reaction but I think any manager should be given a couple of seasons to work with a squad.
If 25 years of watching football has taught me one thing it's that every season has ups and downs and you can only properly assess it at the end.
Sacking him isn't going to make shit defenders stop being shit. And we do have players to come back.
Calm yourself, sir. Calm yourself! #bercow

[Mac76]

on the 'people said no-one would be worse than Wenger' point, it's true - even though i want Emery to go he did get us to 5th last season (one point off fourth) - we were 6th in Wenger's last effort... :)

and on 'give him a couple of seasons' - i don't think that approach holds true anymore, given the amount of games he's been in charge of - i can't be bothered to go back and check the actual number but it's around 43 PL games plus EL, Lge Cup and FAC, also you can count preseason up to a point - what's that, 80-90 games?

so he's had plenty of chances to put in place tactics that keep us more defensively sound and make the most of our abundant attacking resources.

he's patently failng to do that

any optimism about our new signings has quickly evaaporated as we see them left on the bench or misused while Xhaka gets a free pass every game

Ceballos looked really fucked off when he was subbed the other day so that's already damaged our hopes of him liking Arsenal enough to stay (if Barca were prepared to release him of course)

we're now probably facing Holding being kept out of the side while Luiz clowns around in a position that most of thought Holding had made his own

there's way too much evidence now that Emery's out of his depth and needs to go before we're struggling against relegation

[Marc Overmars]

I think he needs to go now.

If Allegri fancies it then yes, give him the boot now.

[GP]

If Allegri fancies it then yes, give him the boot now.

Yep. If Raul wants to earn his Jamon he needs to be on the phone to Allegri today.

[Letters]

on the 'people said no-one would be worse than Wenger' point, it's true - even though i want Emery to go he did get us to 5th last season (one point off fourth) - we were 6th in Wenger's last effort... :)

There was, at best, a tiny, tiny improvement last year. We got 7 more points than the previous season although that was Wenger's worst ever season by some distance, the season before that we got 75, 5 more than last season.
Many of the same failings were evident last year - collapsing when 3rd place was up for grabs, awful defence - we conceded the same number of goals as the previous season. No captain to speak of.
We got to the final of the Europa instead of the semi-final but lost it limply.

Now, fair enough, you have to give a new manager some time to work with a squad and I think while we were all a bit underwhelmed by his first season we were mostly of the opinion that it was only fair to give him more of a chance to sort things out.
But he had another summer to sort out the defence and signed Luiz who has been awful so far. The captain situation remains equally ridiculous. Ozil...God alone knows what's going on there, he's getting less out of Ozil than Wenger did.

The more extreme views towards the end of Wenger's reign were that he was so inept that anyone would immediately do significantly better. Well that hasn't happened.
It's early yet and we are on the same points as the 3rd place team, only 2 points behind City. Probably not sensible to be pressing panic buttons just yet. But losing a 2 goal lead at the bottom placed team which with such an inept 2nd half display...it's not great, is it?

[Mac76]

There was, at best, a tiny, tiny improvement last year. We got 7 more points than the previous season although that was Wenger's worst ever season by some distance, the season before that we got 75, 5 more than last season.
Many of the same failings were evident last year - collapsing when 3rd place was up for grabs, awful defence - we conceded the same number of goals as the previous season. No captain to speak of.
We got to the final of the Europa instead of the semi-final but lost it limply.

Now, fair enough, you have to give a new manager some time to work with a squad and I think while we were all a bit underwhelmed by his first season we were mostly of the opinion that it was only fair to give him more of a chance to sort things out.
But he had another summer to sort out the defence and signed Luiz who has been awful so far. The captain situation remains equally ridiculous. Ozil...God alone knows what's going on there, he's getting less out of Ozil than Wenger did.

The more extreme views towards the end of Wenger's reign were that he was so inept that anyone would immediately do significantly better. Well that hasn't happened.
It's early yet and we are on the same points as the 3rd place team, only 2 points behind City. Probably not sensible to be pressing panic buttons just yet. But losing a 2 goal lead at the bottom placed team which with such an inept 2nd half display...it's not great, is it?

no, but Wenger had to go if only to move him on and reinstate the principle that there was a price to pay for failure - and now we've done that it should be much easier to decide now that Emery has to pay that price too...

[Marc Overmars]

no, but Wenger had to go if only to move him on and reinstate the principle that there was a price to pay for failure - and now we've done that it should be much easier to decide now that Emery has to pay that price too...

Yep.

If no impact is made, then it is time to try again. Hire and fire until we get it right, like every club does.

[Özim]

Yep.

If no impact is made, then it is time to try again. Hire and fire until we get it right, like every club does.

Totally agree, I was never convinced Emery would be the answer given his record and so far it's proving to be the case.

If we don't qualify for the CL again we may struggle again as we've already allocated a fair amount of our budget for next summer signing players this summer by paying the transfer in installments, hence the reason we spent very little this summer.

I wouldn't be against getting rid now to be honest, the thing that bothers me a lot is the lack of a real system and the terrible decisions he's been making, I know Bellerin and Tierney are due to come back, but neither will be match fit and at the peak of their ability for quite a while and Tierney has never played at this level.

The issue isn't just the personnel though, it's the fact he can't seem to spot the fact there's massive gaps appearing during a match and change the tactics to close them, Watford and Spurs found so much room to run into, it shouldn't be too hard for a manager to address, unfortunately this seems to be beyond Emery.

Last season Watford played us of the park (we did beat them luckily in our only win in 8 at the tail end of last season) and to me it looks like Emery didn't learn a thing.

[Özim]

:gp:

Although no, not really. But :fingers: to all the people who went on and on about what a bumbling idiot he was and how anyone, literally anyone, would do better.
Well we've got literally anyone now and it's the same failings.

All that said, I agree with MO and will stick to my "judge him at the end of the season" stance. Top 4 or bust this year, we have the resources, Chelsea and Utd look like a mess so there's no reason we can't finish above them. I don't think there's much between us and Spurs.

Emery got rid of a lot of deadwood, Wenger would have never done that, so he's certainly an improvement in that respect.

[Letters]

Emery got rid of a lot of deadwood, Wenger would have never done that, so he's certainly an improvement in that respect.

In your previous post you say that's the only thing he's got right


For me the blame lies firmly on Emerys' door, right now I don't know what he's improved, our defence is as bad if not worse, we're making more mistakes if anything, the lineups are often wrong, his subs are dreadful and his blind faith in Xhaka is puzzling to say the least.

Doesn't sound like you think there's been much improvement...

[Letters]

no, but Wenger had to go if only to move him on and reinstate the principle that there was a price to pay for failure - and now we've done that it should be much easier to decide now that Emery has to pay that price too...

No argument there.
Wenger had become hard to get rid of because of his legacy, now that's gone it's easier.
I'd still give Emery this season, the glass half full way of looking things is we're 2 points off City, only Liverpool are doing significantly better so far. I suspect City and Liverpool will be the top 2 again, after that I don't think there's much between Spurs, Chelsea, Utd and us. It'll be the 2 least bad who end up in the top 4 but it's just as possible that will be us as them.

[Özim]

In your previous post you say that's the only thing he's got right



Doesn't sound like you think there's been much improvement...

Defensively no, but I think he's keener to play Aubameyang and Lacazette (Wenger never seem that keen of the latter). On the pitch I'm not going to lie it's not great, but he's done some things Wenger would have never done and perhaps signed and sold players Wenger would have never done so that's a positive.

I was never convinced he was the right choice as I thought we needed an elite manager to take us forward, but at least he's put some changes forward that have been good.

[Bumble]

Plus point Mustafi isn't playing however, we are still conceding sloppy goals and penalties.... Xhaka next to be axed.

I still think we should be getting 4th and anything less should get Emery fired. However, it was one point than City got this weekend and only 7 points off top which is closer than we finished last year.

[LDG]

I’d bin Emery now.

He doesn’t seem to have a clue what he’s doing.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I'm not pleased with what I've seen but think we should be waiting and reassessing at Christmas.

He's allowed too many error prone players to be a fundamental part of his plans to drop them all, so he's made a right pickle for himself.

[LDG]

Nah. Get a top quality manager in now.

With resources and quality we have, a decent manager can still get us CL football.

Emery had his chance last season and it was on a plate. We have had all summer to come up with a strategy of how to set his team up, and the first five games have shown there is no defined plan.

He’s just throwing stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks.

[Globalgunner]

Any manager that cant deduce after 18 months that Xhaka is a turd of Elephantine proportions needs sacking with prejudice.

[Marc Overmars]

The final 6 weeks of last season was unforgivable in itself.

It seems like we've picked up where we left off really.

I don't see anything to suggest that this team has changed or improved in any way, shape or form. If anything we've become more pragmatic but even that hasn't stopped pretty much every team in the league being able to have a go at us with ease. I would say Emery's style of play is shit but I don't even think there is a style or philosophy, I have no idea what he's trying to do with the team. We lack the guile to create chances consistently, the midfield doesn't provide anything and the defence always look like they've been run ragged before games have even got going.

It's quite telling that the longer his ideas have been filtering through to the team, the worse we've gradually got.

[Özim]

Any manager that cant deduce after 18 months that Xhaka is a turd of Elephantine proportions needs sacking with prejudice.

Got to agree, he's been consistently awful and has made a lot of mistakes costing us goals, to make him captain and thus play him regularly was a mystifying decision, what kind of captain comes out and tells everyone we were scared of Waftord!!!

Luis might turn out to be another one, hs cost us 3 goals so far, probably more to come, would move him into midfield now personally. Sokratis isn't covering himself in glory either having said that, but I'd tell him to forget trying to pass it out and belt the ball away.

[Özim]

The final 6 weeks of last season was unforgivable in itself.

It seems like we've picked up where we left off really.

I don't see anything to suggest that this team has changed or improved in any way, shape or form. If anything we've become more pragmatic but even that hasn't stopped pretty much every team in the league being able to have a go at us with ease. I would say Emery's style of play is shit but I don't even think there is a style or philosophy, I have no idea what he's trying to do with the team. We lack the guile to create chances consistently, the midfield doesn't provide anything and the defence always look like they've been run ragged before games have even got going.

It's quite telling that the longer his ideas have been filtering through to the team, the worse we've gradually got.

Truth is he's coming across like he hasn't got a clue to be honest, no wonder PSG got rid of him, Watford got rid of their manager and didn't waste any time doing so, if I'm honest I don't see why we couldn't as well, these poor performances go back 13 games now, if we could get a decent manager I'd jump at the chance, not some nobody or middle of road manager, but a top manager.

[Mac76]

Got to agree, he's been consistently awful and has made a lot of mistakes costing us goals, to make him captain and thus play him regularly was a mystifying decision, what kind of captain comes out and tells everyone we were scared of Waftord!!!

Luis might turn out to be another one, hs cost us 3 goals so far, probably more to come, would move him into midfield now personally. Sokratis isn't covering himself in glory either having said that, but I'd tell him to forget trying to pass it out and belt the ball away.

yeah Luiz is looking like a real mistake, not least because he's regarded as a 'senior player' and new signing so is going to be played ahead of Holding who I'd rather see there tbh - in fact i think i'd already rather see Mavropanos given another go

and by the way, another danger of letting Emery stay a full season - or even until January - is that the longer this shitshow goes on, our better players will be starting to think "this is bollocks, I'm off"...

[Letters]

and by the way, another danger of letting Emery stay a full season - or even until January - is that the longer this shitshow goes on, our better players will be starting to think "this is bollocks, I'm off"...

This is a danger.
I saw something from Auba saying we basically gave them the goals yesterday. All his efforts and we dropped 2 points because of the fuckwittery at the back. He must wonder why he bothers.

[Chippy]

This is a danger.
I saw something from Auba saying we basically gave them the goals yesterday. All his efforts and we dropped 2 points because of the fuckwittery at the back. He must wonder why he bothers.

He bothers because he earns about £130,000 a week and it's his job.:rolleyes:

[Letters]

Fine, but he'd earn that at any top club and it must be pretty galling to see other players on £shitloads a week making regular errors which you wouldn't expect in an amateur game and undo all his hard work and mean we drop points.
You can't fault his effort but neither could you blame him if he thought "well sod this" and upped sticks to a club where his efforts yielded more silverware because of competence in other areas of the team.

[fakeyank]

With our current players, what is our best choice CB pairing? Assuming we are going to be hell bent on playing from the back, then my 2 CB's in 4 man backline is Holding & Chambers/Papa. If we play 3 at the back, then its Holding, Luiz and Papa/Chambers.

Either way Holding needs to be in there right now!

[Maestro]

The biggest risk we take is keeping Ebening any second longer, whilst we watch an irreversable and terminal rot set in.

Sack him now, immediately. Let Freddy take over until we find a replacement. A ruthless signal must be sent to coaches and players, you fuck up and you're out. Patience at this point is now only for christians waitig for Jesus to return.

This manager has been here for just over a season and I have not come across anyone who thinks he knows what he's doing, apart from Ty on AFTV.

[GP]

Agreed.

Give it Freddie

[Bumble]

Agreed.

Give it Freddie

why not bring in Vieira - seems to be doing well at Nice.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

why not bring in Vieira - seems to be doing well at Nice.

I'd touted him a while back last season. Not really watched Nice but from everything I've read they've consistently been one of the best defensive sides in the ligue and its all down to him. Also he's pretty ruthless with the way he deals with star players not performing, Baloteli could testify to that.

Honestly, more important than picking the right coach ATM is ending this Emery saga as soon as possible. Why give him to Christmas when all evidence shows the longer he has with the team the worse they get ( MO got this spot on). We need to end this pathetic story and move on before the cancer gets terminal.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

...............
It's quite telling that the longer his ideas have been filtering through to the team, the worse we've gradually got.

Golden.

[Mac76]

With our current players, what is our best choice CB pairing? Assuming we are going to be hell bent on playing from the back, then my 2 CB's in 4 man backline is Holding & Chambers/Papa. If we play 3 at the back, then its Holding, Luiz and Papa/Chambers.

Either way Holding needs to be in there right now!

definitely Holding and i'd be up for Chambers too

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Don't see the big clamour to get Chambers back in...and think with enough games he will be as exposed as anyone else.

Holding needs to play as often as possible though straight away then I'd probably begrudgingly partner him with Louise.

[fakeyank]

Don't see the big clamour to get Chambers back in...and think with enough games he will be as exposed as anyone else.

Holding needs to play as often as possible though straight away then I'd probably begrudgingly partner him with Louise.

With Chambers, I think he will at least put in an effort because he knows his position is at risk. Papa and Luiz play like they know they are going to start no matter the shit they put out. Frankly, I agree with another poster who said "I am willing to bring Mustafi back"... I mean, I think he is absolutely horrible but how much worse can it get?!

I think other than the defenders, our biggest problem is that our midfield offers no protection to the back 4.. Xhaka is an absolute garbage player. He is no good defensively or offensively. I'd rather play Torreira and Guendozi as holding midfielders and use AMN as backup than have this fuck face anywhere near the pitch.

[Mac76]

Frankly, I agree with another poster who said "I am willing to bring Mustafi back"... I mean, I think he is absolutely horrible but how much worse can it get?!



NO

[Thierrymon]

The problem isnt just our centre backs. We have defended terribly from midfield as well recently. We really need Torrerira to get back to the form he was in when he joined us.

[Mac76]

The problem isnt just our centre backs. We have defended terribly from midfield as well recently. We really need Torrerira to get back to the form he was in when he joined us.

and get rid of Xhaka

and have some workable tactics

and drill the team properly so it knows what it's actually supposed to be doing...

apart from that it's all good :lol:

[Marc Overmars]

The problem isnt just our centre backs. We have defended terribly from midfield as well recently. We really need Torrerira to get back to the form he was in when he joined us.

Even a fit and firing Torreira won't be enough.

There is just something fundamentally wrong with how this team is set up. Porous all over the pitch, unable to deal with threats from all angles.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

You lost me at Mustafi dude.... (re: FakeYank)

[fakeyank]

You lost me at Mustafi dude.... (re: FakeYank)

I dont like Mustafi but how much better has Luiz been so far? They are both donkeys.. the only difference is that I can see Mustafi putting in an effort to get his place back, while Luiz has this air of "I aint getting dropped". Frankly they both shouldnt be anywhere near our club as defenders. I'd be a very happy man if they both just disappeared.. along with Xhaka of course.

[GP]

Even a fit and firing Torreira won't be enough.

There is just something fundamentally wrong with how this team is set up. Porous all over the pitch, unable to deal with threats from all angles.

Prime Vieira and Sol wouldn't sort this team out. It's far more serious than individual players.

[Chippy]

Eurgh, grim.

City beat this shit 8-0 today. Fucking says it all really. Emery out. Just saying.

[Letters]

City beat this shit 8-0 today. Fucking says it all really. Emery out. Just saying.

And lost to Norwich last week :shrug:

We are nowhere near City or Liverpool’s level.
That is not news.

[Özim]

And lost to Norwich last week :shrug:

We are nowhere near City or Liverpool’s level.
That is not news.

Thing is though, Watford played us off the park last week, they absolutely battered us and had a ridiculous number of shots on our goal, it wasn't just a tight draw.

[Letters]

Thing is though, Watford played us off the park last week, they absolutely battered us and had a ridiculous number of shots on our goal, it wasn't just a tight draw.

Absolutely not defending that result or performance. Not what you'd expect from a team with pretensions of top 4.
But, honestly, apart from the top 2 no-one is any good. We're pretty rubbish compared to them but are Chelsea, Utd or Spurs any better?

[Master Splinter]

Everyone in Europe seems to have dropped into utter mediocrity over the last season or so.

Some are understandably in transition but others like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico, Juventus and PSG continue to spend billions but are somehow getting worse.

Citeh and Liverpool are the only teams who have played at a consistently high standard.