Despite the manner in which Arsenal completely capitulated at the end of last season, Unai Emery appeared to have had the backing of many supporters at the start of this season. Notably from those who have been most vocal against Arsène Wenger at the back end of his tenure.
However, now it seems as if most have lost their patience.
The club has made a considerable investment in the squad over the summer and for a while there was genuine excitement going into season, putting on hold any threat of schism. On social-media the general mood was that in Raul Sanllehi Arsenal finally got their man, their Don, that will drag us into the 21st century after years of being “too stuck in our ways under the dinosaur”. Some fans even volunteered to go fetch the rock themselves of which to carve out a statue for the man.
The 2019/20 campaign started off well enough with back-to-back wins in our opening two league fixtures. Despite some fickle and largely uninspiring performances that ensued we were 3rd on the log after eight games, behind Liverpool and Manchester City, the Champions League and Premier League champions respectively, who are light-years ahead of other teams in the league.
We were ‘the best of the rest’ and to say “Arsenal is just one point off Man City”, one of the most talented teams in Europe, kept Emery in the good graces of those who chose to look beyond the obvious flaws in our play.
This past week though; the defeat at newly-promoted side Sheffield United, the narrow win over a far inferior Vitória Guimarães and the failure to see out a win against Crystal Palace after going two goals up appears to be the most damaging in Emery’s tenure. The proverbial straw that wrecked the camel’s back. It hypothesizes all the concerns there were about his management style;
• the lack of playing identity,
• the continued absence of Mesut Özil, despite the lack of creativity in our attack,
• lack of improvement in defense despite the summer signings, and
* the questionable starting line-ups, particularly in the midfield.
If you listen to any of Emery’s pressers, he always talk about the strength of the opposition and the importance to stop “their press”, it doesn’t matter whether they are top or at the bottom of the league standings, to him we are the underdogs. Which, of course, is a total contradiction of him supposedly being the “protagonist” he claimed to be.
If Arsenal have any hopes of a top-four finish, if Emery himself has any hopes of fulfilling Raul’s clear expectation, then we simply cannot plod along as we currently are. Not with Manchester United starting to show signs of life and neither Leicester nor Chelsea appearing to wane any time soon.
Nothing about him, even with only two wins in our last eight league games, gives me confidence that he has it in him to make the necessary adjustments.
Our next two league games are against Wolves and Leicester, unless our fortunes overturn and there’s drastic improvements in our performances, this next international break could be squeaky bum for the native from Hondarribia, España.
@LaboGoon
Positively Arsenal 
Thoughtful piece, Labo and hard to disagree with most of your well-made points.
I’m always reluctant to propagate negativity around the club but the club seems to be doing a pretty decent enough job on it’s own account without any help from me.
Top of the list of ‘gripes’ has to be a playing style that might be described, at best, as ‘squalid’, at least compared to the riches of the last two decades.
In that sense, it’s likely that any post-Wenger appointment might struggle, at least initially. For even when we weren’t ‘winning anything’ we were often failing to win anything in the grandest of styles. Heroic failures and classy defeats weren’t exactly watchwords, but at times, it did feel that way under Arsene. In other words, even when we weren’t doing well, we were still doing considerably better than, say, Unai Emery.
I always think it is fair to allow players a year to settle in. Unfortunately, I’m not sure the same can be true of managers; few clubs would or could sit by and watch themselves get relegated under the novice hands of a failing newbie, for instance.
The problem AFC fans currently have is that whilst we may play like we are in danger of getting relegated, our league position/cup performances, continue to flatter. So a collective turning of a blind eye might seem to be the order of the day.
Yet, for the reasons outlined by Labo, the disappearance of fans – or bums on seats – will likely do for hapless Unai. I know many fans struggling to ‘make the effort’ to even turn up for games these days. One imagines this struggle extends to the club’s shops and bars etc. Given that it isn’t even November, I’d suggest it all looks a tad ominous for Emery.
My fervent hope is the club does as good a job in ‘eventually’ replacing him as they appear to have done with recent player recruitment, which looks to have been outstanding, of late.
Sorry Emery, but you ARE awful and few like you.
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Unai has completed his “free” season and is only ten games into a season he can be reasonably judged. In most instances I would say anyone would be mad to make definitive decisions based on such a short time especially when you look at the talent we have in the squad and beyond and how fortunes in football can change quickly. The spuds were 20 minutes away from going out in the group stages and made it to CL final. Basically a good run in the final ten games in the league could get us top four and at the moment we still have three cups to for, so as Arsene used to say judge us in May.
The problem is that watching the games are becoming increasingly difficult and imaging the improvement also seems less and less realistic.
Open play is not how we create chances anymore and just that statement alone should consign any manger to the collection of his P45. However I don’t want Maureen under any circumstances.
Im usually not in favour of giving ex players a go but looking at the situation at the moment I would find it very acceptable.
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Ianspace – once it becomes more widely understood that AFC may be looking for a new manager, all sorts of people may suddenly become available.
I have a huge problem with the diving/gamesmanship associated with Pochettino’s current club, but that big issue aside, I’ve always admired his ability to create effective teams whilst spending small sums (who does that remind me of?). The entertainment value of Poch doing a Sol would be worth the cost of a season ticket alone.
Maureen?
Don’t even go there.
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whatever the club does not Jose M
Arteta or Freddie will do
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cheers Labo, unexpected, and summing up pretty much the whole dirty rotten saga. Good piece as always mate. Shame to have to delve into the ‘orrible times though. A balanced and decent write up.
Much talk today about Xhaka and Mesut, but Mustafi is on the destroyed list too. I wonder if Giroud feels better off out of it? Jack knew it was over and slung his hook pretty sharpish. Odd how Mhiki ( soon forgotten) ended up with two left feet as soon as Emery turned up? How did that happen?
Andrew, great points adding to Labos piece, weird thing is these days players arent given anytime to settle in any more than managers, the impatience of the crowd is over whelming. Not much time to expand or grow. Cultures in the same boat; years ago record companies would stick by bands and let them grow, no chance of that now.
Packet world: just add water, tastes like crap but hey its instant! Way over priced too.
Everyday we see Weng wasnt a dino nor had the game passed him by, its was just the turds floating around in the Wob mind. Thanks to them we’re being flushed down the El Boggo to the great sewer of club football. Grrrr!
I still want to know what the footballing side of things has to do with Raul Montana? what would you do if he came in and started saying this and that? You might not do anything but you would think %#*!$ off! My word, the players must feel like puppets these days- its hard to feel proud and recall who you represent when loads of people are booing you, the coach isnt playing it right and nobody has a clue whats going on, a superstar is excluded and its a pull- out- the- hat to decided whose the captain. If Granits so divisive then why wasnt he stripped off his captaincy when it was pull out of the hat? Imagine how he feels having to listen to that bloke on aftv calling him out. Unfair fight man. No dignity either and yet they call for dignity from Xhaka himself.
‘ere Dad Ive got it wrong again…
Its a tough call from a coach to pull off the captain in a game…and its not the first time Emerys done it. Imagine old Tony Adams being pulled off. He would have turned into the incredible Hulk. All green and angry.
At least Weng stood by the players shielded them and kept the dirty underwear away from the puritan critics.
Heres a question, if VAR messes up should the game be replayed?
cheers again Labo.
CÖYG!
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It’s difficult finding something to crow about; Guendouzi’s development, that is coming at the expense of selecting our best line up? Saka, a promising young kid who the coached subbed on to rescue the team?
Emery has zero credit with Arsenal fans yet he left Xhaka to the mercy of a baying, vindictive mob with his post match comments.
On paper the games against Sheffield, Palace, Wolves and Leicester look, at least, winnable. We already dropped 4 of 6 pts against the Blades and Palace. Last season Wolves and Leicester took 8 of 12 off us in the league – between them and Palace they took 13 of 18 pts off us last season in the league. Looking at those three teams in isolation it doesn’t appear like we would be any better off this season despite the summer recruitment.
It’s depressing just to actually put that into words. But eh, that’s where we currently are under Emery.
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Appoint Arteta with Mert as assistant.
What a combination that would be.
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Think I may have said before season (in piece on Shotta’s site)
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If reports in The Athletic are true, Emery is safe, for now. But assuming he needs to start improving things, doubt if that comfort blanket is unconditional, and I suspect a lot of what Xhaka got, wrongly in my opinion, was in reality aimed at Emery, with Xhaka the lightning rod.
These articles also suggest Emery has lost some of the dressing room, which, if true should be of concern to the powers that be.
But in reality, I want all this political and behind the scenes shit over, and to just support those who wear the shirt, I have loved watching them since 1978 through good times and bad, and just want to continue doing so
And let’s not forget, we would have won yesterday, and should have at very least drawn at Sheff had it not been for cheating and corruption. That for me was the biggest story yesterday. Can only sympathise with our players who have to put up with this, week in week out, especially a player who always tries his best but is lacking confidence, out of form and maybe at the end of his tether. I hope they consider he is a human being when they meet Xhaka this week, whatever he did yesterday.
Seems The ever communicative Mike Riley changed the bar for VAR interference over the weekend, perhaps under pressure from IFAB, but didn’t tell anyone, and put the inept and compliant in charge of enforcing it, as usual. I hope this thing is removed from office very soon, though doubt his replacement will be any better, perhaps even Mr Dean himself
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Think I may have said before season (in piece on Shotta’s site) I wanted to wait ten games this year, or that after ten games I’d feel in better, and pretty good, place to judge. Some of thinking was that end to year demanded a response, plus year in league under belt, plus signings, and last year’s bedded in.
Well…it doesn’t look like he’s ever likely to get us playing good football or playing effective football. This start, on back of last year’s finish, and the questions before that, it’s not been impressive.
My views on him and the future are however mixed up with my views on pgmol, and the serious handicap placed on us by them. This certainly complicates any analysis I try make on a manager’s performance as if that handicap is real, and as serious as I believe, the effects are incalculable.
It also makes me gloomy about the future. Whoever replaces him still has to deal with it. Yet still it seems there’s every chance they can do so better than the current man, or at least have more to offer overall.
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Suppose there’s a possibility the pgmol volte-face over the high bar had something to do with the heavy hitters of IFAB gathering last week. Head of FA refereeing, Elleray, was there, plus Fifa and Uefa heads of refereeing Rosetti and Collina. Maybe concerns were raised.
Perhaps more likely it was simply the result of the gathering criticism of the way they use if from here, with the high bar and refusal to use monitors being mentioned increasingly frequently in the weeks beforehand. Quite possibly the overreaction to the one- high bar- was done in hope of quelling talk of the other, the monitor, which I’ve felt from the off they were loathe to use, for extremely dubious reasons.
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Thanks Labo
Raul will do his best to keep the pressure of his puppet gimboid Emery. He has no choice but to do so.
So the unqualified head of Football Relations continues to dictate the Football for Arsenal Football Club. And he continues to avoid the amusing 180 we’ve seen from the Big Blaggers in recent weeks upon his puppet who defended with stinking gibberish such as, and I quote: “Ozil and Rambo can’t play together” even though the entire fan base saw them win three fa cups in four years (a record only bettered by the Invincibles and Maureen’s first Chelsea team).
In the world of PR how much does it cost to get someone to say: “build him a statue!”?
Or set up something called the eerily silent black scarf movement?
About the same as it does to hire idiotic PR consultants who have circles run around them by the agents of Ozil, Koscielny, Rambo etc.
He’s not even good at the old football relations nevermind the actual football that he should never ever be allowed close to after his record at Barcelona. How did he get any job at the Arsenal? I wouldn’t even hire him to clean my toilet!
Do the Kronke’s = The Oystens at Blackpool for The Arsenal?
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< Oystons
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You can imagine it: the 10 CCup v Liv, Emery puts out weakest team possible with Mesut as captain; Livercrutches play a nearly full strength team in expectancy of Arsenal doing the same. Arsenal get a sloshing, Emery subs off Mesut in the second half” Emery says reporters later, ” I was right you see-not my fault”.
Mesut doesnt get involved in squad for rest of season as he is scapegoated out.
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It’s not quite the Emery Degeneracy.
Daddy Raul arrived in February 2018 and it’s been incrementally downhill on and off the pitch since.
Football Relations my Arsenal.
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Mills, as ever with Unai it’s all so predictable. Shoot me now please!
I’m off the bookies to put some squids on Ozil playing at anfield and being hoiked at some point. Could be wrong but:
As Daddy Raul would say,
“Easy money”.
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no, I cant do it fins, we need you alive and well, and to keep posting here ,plus you have to collect your winnings from the bookies!
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Hear Emery is going to ballot the players on what colour bibs to wear in training tomorrow
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Morning! You wake up , and then realise its GroundhogMontanaEmerybored day!
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Ha. I hope it’s incorrect about consulting players on Xhaka situation. That’d just be embarrassing, but I guess it would indicate the end is nigh.
The only good reason to change it is if he talks with Xhaka himself and the player believes it’s for the best.
Capitulating to boo boys is very foolish in my book. Safer short term, perhaps, as it lessens chance of another ugly episode soon but I’d rather we test it out and confront reality of where we’re at. I think Xhaka’s made of tough enough stuff to brace himself for it but of course wouldn’t blame him for thinking ‘fuck it’ and stepping down.
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Morning guys…
Tough day ahead, at least if you’re one Granit Xhaka. From a sporting perspective I suppose Xhaka’s reaction was not needed at that time, but, as Mills so often articulate very well with his mental munchies, you can’t ignore the human factor in all of this.
Xhaka has been put through some horrible shit from the bottom of the barrel within the Arsenal support, still are, and he was bound to say “fuck you”.
Our players seem very much aware of what goes on in social-media and to I degree I think most of them will sympathise with Xhaka. This came just a week or so after Mustafi’s interview. We know Özil and Bellerín (2 of the 5 captains) had their run-ins with fans too, Ainsley.
I’m not too sure Lacazette ‘liking’ an insulting post toward Xhaka from one the aftv crew would not have been missed by few of our players. Laca and Auba ingratiating themselves with that lot is not a good look.
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Expecting news today, after emery confirms with the players it is in fact Tuesday and they are due in for training ,subject to a 66% majority in a ballot to hold a further vote on the issue before an extension is given on the decision
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Lol Mandy. I guess if Xhaka is granted an extension the flash mob will demand another elective vote before the xmas crunch.
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There could be some protaganisation out there today.
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Arsenal player contracts expiring at the end of next season:
Mesut Özil,
PE Aubameyang,
Sokratis,
David Luiz,
Shkodran Mustafi.
Good thing Raul let everybody know that the negligence from the previous regime of letting contracts run into their last season is a thing of the past.
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My own personal view of the vid, is that theres some fans near the bench/tunnel that are swearing at him and saying xyz, Emerys too far to the right for the Xhak to be having a pop at him. Im mean, the Xhak was visibly hurt by being booed and verbally insulted.
Yet the moral issue is ” hes telling THE fans to fkoff”. Im mean for that to have happened he could have done a lap of swearing telling everyone to do one to make sure everyone was insulted. a) why has this become so insulting to people he wasnt directly insulting, and should people in other grounds who were playing at the same time be insulted? and b) why is it ok that they are insulting him but he has to be “professional”? What does professional mean? Be a zombie? If Billy Bremner or some other bloke from the 70s did it it would be ” ard as nails” “well done fella” and therefore legit? Professional is a daft term, the same as lazy, sort of abstract terms that dont really mean anything but are just accepted as a great foggy idea of not knowing.
Why were many fans so insulted and outraged, considering their own serial system of bullying him? Most people snap in the end if you wind them up? Seems like a plastic and feigned moral outrage to me. And almost turning him into a sort of servant to be discussed and used at whim, then insulted and destroyed when theyve had enough?
Im really worried that players are becoming more like puppets to fulfil the emotions and clicks( therefore life support) of many people now. Toxic tv needs these moments as do the established pundits on tv channels.
Whose the authority that says he has to soak up endless abuse? Perhaps they could have some empathy with the bloke?So homophobia is banned from the Emirates, diversity is encouraged, racism is banned ( except if your Jewish-although its better than it was), yet verbal abuse, shaming, bullying, prejudice of any other form is allowed. In my book that kack. Look, fairs fair, it has to be?
Dont get me wrong, Im full of shit, as Ive cussed out players before, in the heat of the moment but I would like to think thats a fleeting moment, same as it is with you guys.
What if coach was behind Xhaka, and the fans too? What then?
The bloke with the outrage on Toxic tv ( actually he was projecting his feelings of loss onto Xhaka, who was a convenient scapegoat, and actually admitted to have booed him in previous games ( by booed* do we mean serious verbal abuse, that in any other situation in society can get you into serious trouble?), and echoed or even showed worse behaviour in the vid. This is the sort of hypocrisy that is utterly rampant in society at the moment.(look what you can say and do in politiks and still keep your job-truly unbelievable, why theres no moral outrage over that I dont know)..we live in a bullying culture; tv makes it legitimate, and this is supported by the established news media and expanded by social media. Endless divisions, but a real lack of plurality seems evident.
Bullying is nothing new, my great grandfather was gassed for being Jüdisch, so thats one extreme form, (know to all families that have lived under oppressive violent regimes)but it works on subtle, small ways each day, the dog eat dog of business, the lie of nationalism in a vast universe that beyond our comprehension, class systems, the aging process, notions of beauty, magazines and online articles telling us we are worthless unless we have a certain product or follow as certain style or political system etc .
Its always been there as the scourge of society, and the false notion of “other” and the fear that brings up. And in a way we’ve all done a bit of it if we are honest. But its tough to be honest. Notice how the victim can easily become the bully?
Empathy and understanding, which is seen oddly as morally weak, is a key here. I think the club should stick by Xhaka, and the fans start to support their players again, in what’s a difficult Groundmontanahog day period for everyone. Not so easy? But all it takes is thinking about how it is for others. Not one of the bigmouths could cope with 60,000 shouting in their faces, nor the after match ranting watched by potentially millions) that wont go away until the internet is ended. In a way Xhaka is deflecting the real problems onto himself and soaking them up (good captain that), theres other things at hand that are more important. Long term: who wants to play for Arsenal in the future under such conditions ? Lacca should watch out too-and extended period of not scoring will see them turn on him too.
Did it ever come into their minds that Xhaka wants to do well, that he wants to be a good captain? Maybe he feels his coach let him down, the tactics let him down, and the supporters let him down? Playing with concrete boots and mind? Not easy?
I cant recall which piece it was in, either Orn or Amys, but the whole Pat Rice ” remember who you play for” was tagged with ” people coming from other parts don’t understand”. Eh? Johnny Foreigner again not understanding? This really is the biggest kack and utterly insulting.
Why would an outsider not know anything about tradition and club ethics, these things are easily picked up on, and incorporated into life, take a moment to examine it in your own life how traditions have been quickly set up as part of your own routine ? Do they think that such things dont exist outside of Britain? Perhaps they should check the evolution of Britain book, and see that its been made up of lots of foreigners, who brought with them culture and traditions. Thats the stench of the British Empire leaking through again, and a touch of the island mentality ( continent cut off by fog).What understanding other than one of exploitation and domination did the Empire have for imposed upon culture and society?
Sorry but here is there, is here. Everywheres outside to someone. Derby days and club traditions are quickly installed and understood, and have been for a long time.
Either that or make a trip overseas for a while and see that things arent as evil as the xenophones make out. Everywhere the same after a while.
There must a place for justice and a place for fairness, and misappropriation of these things has to be worked out and not allowed to grow, imo. And at the moment we can see a big fog of a problem, and booing Xhaka off made it worse. It wasnt necessary to inflict this on ourselves. Its made things worse.Now the club (Razl) will play righteousness and fine him and maybe worse put him in detention, but how to heal Xhakas hurt as much as the crowds? The crowd is easy: win 5-0 every week for years until they are bored and want to lose again. But Xhaka wont forget it, and has to go out into the arena again, with also away fans taunting him. And that will affect his play, in which it all spirals down even more.
These things might not get sorted out now, but they will one day, maybe future generations?
Look, all Im saying is this is what Im observing; it is subjective, and its not detailed enough, and its a head doer. I realise it might seem over sensitive, but experience in life, is that apart from the sociopaths (etc) Ive had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with, everyones really sensitive to life. Its a good thing even if its difficult to handle.
*lets face it there is some booing but its mixed up with insults that most people would be upset by. This is not pantomine “hes behind you” type of booing is it. Plus why should he be booed at when theres others on the pitch that have played worse..? Scapegoat mentality is rife at Arsenal and it shifts around. Well all fans are part of it, and to be blamed too, if we are blaming?
How would you feel? Imagine some of the booheads being alone in a locked room with Xhak, Mes, and Mustafi, Giroud, Eboue etc, and see how they like to be insulted and tormented ( assuming theyre not masochists and into it)…
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Top post and top comments (sorry not to ‘like’ them but seem to have lost that facilty). It seems to me that if the current coach stays in post, and if we continue to play as we are, and if we keep getting the likes of Dean, Atkinson and Oliver in charge, and if there is more VAR chicanery then Arsenal are not in a top four or top six fight but actually looking at a relegation scrap.
And I cant see why any of those things are likely to change.
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When I say I have lost the capacity to ‘like’ I mean in a computer based glitch way, not in a general misanthropic way.
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Well well well. After feeling the heat Emery has changed his tune on Mesut:
“We need his quality and his skill. We need his consistency, we need his positive mentality. Then we need him to help us on the pitch. I want now like in pre-season and one month ago for him to help us on the pitch”
What was that then this past Saturday about having the support of the suits to exile Özil, while talking up the quality of Guendouzi and especially Torreira having “more intelligence” to play everywhere in midfield, notably box-to-box and as a plyamaker to find pockets of space in and around the box to create many goal scoring chances.
If Ö plays I do hope he doesn’t give his detractors any reason to say Emery was right, as he’s a bit cold.
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labo I seen several predict last week that Emery would recall Ozil for the away CC game with Liverpool tomorrow only so that if we lose, or struggle in it, he can take off Mesut and be able to say well I played him and it made no difference, so stop calling for him to be included.
As for Emery consulting the squad over Xhaka, well is there any greater sign that Emery does not command respect or authority, if your Head Coach has to ask the players what to do in this situation then he is weak.
If Xhaka is stripped of the captains armband then all is lost, purely cos the club will have allowed the fans to hound one of our players to the extent that the fans will have decided who our captain is. It will only encourage them to go after the next player, and the next and the next. It just can’t be allowed.
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Bravo Mills, you hit the nail firmly on the head.
I don’t think the club should fine Xhaka, they need to support him because with bullying, you either stand up for yourself or you turn it inwards and wreck your confidence and livelihood. I wouldn’t blame him at all if he asks for a transfer. The AFC boo boys don’t deserve anything nice as they just don’t appreciate it. I’m sure they’ll have plenty to say when the quality players start voting with their feet.
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reports this evening that Xhaka has refused a request by Emery for him to apologize to the Arsenal Fans.
Good Man Granit, stand your ground, don’t let the boo boys win. We all know that if Aubameyang did the exact same thing there would not be nearly as many Gooners offended by it. As so much of the ire has nothing at all to do with the actual actions of Xhaka, and much more to do with the fact it was Xhaka who done the actions. You only have to see the amount of lies being pedaled about it, like he flung the armband to the ground, that he flung his shirt to the ground, that he SHOUTED fuck off at the crowd, that he slow walked off. I seen one idiot fan complain that Xhaka took almost 30 seconds to leave the pitch, well the rule is that the Ref should add 30 seconds of stoppage time for every sub, so what the fuck is the problem.
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Unai Emery has confirmed that Mesut Ozil is in the squad for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fourth-round clash at Liverpool and “has a chance to play”.
Our head coach faced the media at London Colney, and this is what he said:
on whether Ozil is in the travelling squad and if he will play…
Yes, tomorrow. He’s in the group so he has a chance to play. We have had this morning a very good conversation, Mesut and Me, and I said to him I haven’t changed my idea about him. He knows what I want from him because it’s the same as last season in the first day of pre-season training when we had a conversation. It’s the same as one month ago and in that way, some circumstances weren’t helping us in every moment to be consistent or available to play. But I will say I think the last weeks he has progressively been training well and adding his spirit to help us. For example, our conversation this morning was because I wanted to listen to him about how he’s thinking now to help us and be with us tomorrow. Then if we are in the same spirit and the same idea, to play. It was a very good conversation and tomorrow he’s in the group.
on what he wants to see from Ozil…
We need his quality, his skill and his consistency. We need his positive mentality and then he will help us on the pitch. That’s the next step. I think he’s done the steps before, and now I want the steps like in pre-season and one month ago to help us on the pitch.
on what we need to show if we want to reach the quarter-finals…
Each match in this competition can be different, and tomorrow is one very good opportunity for us. We will be thinking that the Carabao Cup is important and it’s an opportunity for us to recover confidence and our way. It’s not important what players they have on the pitch because we need every player and tomorrow we are going to have the possibility to play some different players from Sunday, and also in Europa they can repeat the match. I am looking to play tomorrow with 11 players and 18 players in the squad to do one good match and find the victory. Each game is difficult and maybe they will change some players also, but to win at Anfield is difficult in each match.
on whether Ozil will be the captain…
It depends because he’s one of the captains. I’m not thinking exactly yet, but we are going to decide the first XI and if he’s in the first XI. It depends on who else plays. He could be, yes.
Copyright 2019 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
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Unai Emery says that Granit Xhaka is “devastated” about the situation that took place in Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace.
This is what Emery said in Tuesday’s press conference at London Colney:
on how Xhaka is after the events of Sunday…
Good afternoon. It’s not easy for him and for the team. He is now devastated, devastated and sad. We spoke yesterday and on Sunday night I also spoke. This morning, he trained as normal with the group but he is devastated and he is sad about the situation. His commitment with the club is a great commitment every time. He wants to help. His behaviour was perfect in training, with the group and with the club. He knows he was wrong. He was wrong and he feels it inside very deeply. But that is normal as a human. You need – and every player needs – the supporters’ support. Support them, support the team. We spoke and I spoke a lot with him also about that. We need to learn and when we are having good matches and good moments, they applaud us and we are happy. But when we are in one difficult moment or we are receiving some criticism, we need to also be strong and to know and to learn to play under that pressure. It’s our work, it’s our job and the supporters, they are the most important in our life. Because if there aren’t supporters, there aren’t fans and there aren’t people behind us, there is no reason to play professional football without our fans. Now, he is down. He is down and the most important thing now is that we look after him, his family. Look after him, the club, the team and also recover our best Granit Xhaka. After that wrong situation on Sunday, I have one challenge every time, for myself and also for the team and every and each player. When the supporters – our followers – are unhappy with us because maybe now we need to play, now we need to control the matches better and improve things to be stronger, we need them. But first it’s for us and we need to take one step ahead. Individual circumstances like Sunday, they are coming because as a team we need to improve and we need to be more comfortable and transmit to the supporters and show better performances and the results for them. When we will do that, they are going to support us collectively and individually.
on if he thinks Xhaka should have apologised…
Yes. I think when we make individual mistakes, we need to make apologies for the circumstances. I prefer to do that. We suggest to him to do it.
on if he expects an apology to follow…
But now, what is the response we are seeing? It’s that he is devastated and he is very down. First is to recover him, his feelings. We need our family, our friends, our supporters to support us, like us. Love us, everybody. He is not feeling that with the supporters. But we are speaking with him to first be calm and be close with his family and be close with us because we are your family too. Be close and we are going to try to be close with our supporters and this is a step, little-by-little, towards that in this moment.
on if he is still the right person to be the captain of Arsenal…
I explained why I decided that. He has the values, he has the respect in the dressing room, he has experience and he is captain of his national team. He has the conditions to be the captain. I decided that and the players respect that. He was wrong on Sunday and he also got wrong the response on Sunday, as a captain.
on if that means Xhaka is still the captain of Arsenal…
We need to go step-by-step, step-by-step. First is to recover him, as a human, as a player. And then we are going to continue speaking about how we can improve, how we can continue in that way with him, with the team and with everybody.
on suggesting that means he won’t be captain…
No, no, no – at the moment, I am not speaking and I don’t want to speak about that. The first is for him to recover. We cannot anticipate the circumstance because I we are going to play a match on Wednesday, on Saturday and I prefer to keep moving, taking each step, and taking the best decision possible.
on whether this will affect him mentally…
Now he is upset, devastated and sad. It is not only yesterday and today. He is feeling the supporters don’t like him. It is one example. Two weeks ago, I met with 100 supporters at Emirates Stadium and we had one small dinner and one small connection with them, me and Edu. One question there was, ‘Why is Xhaka captain’ and individually he said to me he thinks Xhaka must be more as a player. It is one criticism. I answered him, in response, and we finished that conversation. Afterwards, he came and said to me, ‘I defend Xhaka and I like Xhaka’. If if in 100 people, one is negative on Xhaka then that is positive. Yesterday morning I was saying the same to Xhaka. Sometimes people love us, sometimes people don’t love us. We have positive and negative criticism and people can support us or not. It is the same that we are thinking in all the supporters, on Sunday, after his mistake not every supporter was against him in that moment. It is also because the team is not winning and also they are also in this moment only thinking he is not playing a good match. Each match, each moment is different. We need to be calm and to try to be consistent and and change that individual situation.
on whether he has been fined by the club…
I think we can again speak about the same, we are in the first step after his mistake. Now is for him to recover as a person.
on whether it will affect his future here…
We can maybe remind some similar situations in the past for players, and they came back. For example, I was speaking with Hector Bellerin and he said to me that he received some criticism three years ago at Emirates Stadium in one moment because people weren’t happy with his performance and then he came back. The most important is to keep moving ahead , working, improving and showing and transmitting to people that if one moment they don’t like him, to work to change that situation. I don’t know not today how it will be in the future, the most important for me is the present, with the future tomorrow. Tomorrow, for example, he is not in the group but I wasn’t thinking for him for that match [anyway] and he stays here and trains and we are going to let him recover as a person because he is down and then think about the team.
on how difficult it is for players to deal with criticism on social media…
We are aware now how our situation is. The first thing now is to achieve again emotional balance in us, confidence, and we need to use each match to do one step looking for that confidence, a good result, playing as good as we can. I know we aren’t really so bad, we aren’t really so good, we are in the moment where we can go ahead and it is very important to be together and to add positive spirit to achieve confidence. The most important is to find [a way] to play better and that is the consequence if we win, to achieve the points. Keep moving ahead every day, using every day to achieve confidence in training, playing because we are playing tomorrow, Saturday, next Wednesday and then Saturday. We can show we can do better, we can get the best way to achieve the points.
Copyright 2019 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
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It true on Xhaka not apologising, good on him, standard expletives are not sufficient for some of our fans. Emery is being political in asking for an apology, but he is wrong
He should keep the captaincy, seems like the majority of the players back him all the way if reports are true.
Wouldn’t blame him if he wants out though
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Morning!
Looks different in the morning sunshine, but when I read the club statements/interview bits and pieces last night, I came away thinking the people who run the club now are the aftv/LG/ WoB parasite mob. If people hadnt sung the Özil song, theres no way he would have played him tonight. It feels like they run the club, yet the club didnt buckle under Wenger, and played it in a cool, dignified way, now it seems about pass the blame and dont blame me, and people that dont know the actual game in hierarchical positions.
That the Wob mob run things now is the lowest point for me.
I agree Mandy about him not apologising, plus what was said to him? If he has to apologise then so should the insulters. But we arent in a time when insults will stop, as its seen as normal, exactly as prejudice and ridicule was a normal part of itv in the 70s. It isnt right. But we arent collectively going to change it. As theres no real cause or call for it. To even say it shouldnt be part of the structure of the game makes you seem weak or over sensitive, which is bs. I dont see whats wrong with living in basic dignities. We are trapped with it at the moment and there will be more to come, sadly.
Who would really want to play for Arsenal at the moment? You must be a tough nut to do it and deal with every second of your game getting the archaeological dig treatment and then go out and be aware of all of that.
Dont forget how Auba got in a big mood at BVB…and basically gave up. Will he be next?
The axis of negativity and petty morality to manipulate fans will soon have their emotions on their next scapegoat.
oh brother! Groundhogmontanaemerybored day!
Fork it, maybe we can do it tonight.
CÖYG!
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William Hill have the game priced up as even money Liverpool, 13/5 the draw and 5/2 Arsenal which suggests they expect a weakened home side.
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I do wonder if some people are making so much of the captaincy just to generate drama/content.
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I have no hopes of a positive outcome tonight. I just hope Mesut has a good game because he is being set up as the fall guy for the inevitable failure, knowing the cowardly tactics likely to be employed later.
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Martinez
Bellerin Mustafi Holding Kolasinac
Torreira Willock
Maitland-Niles Ozil Saka
Martinelli
subs Macey, Sokratis, Tierney, Guendouzi, Ceballos, LAcazette
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Evening everyone, cheers Ed for putting the teams up. Looking at the Livercrutches team we have a chance tonight ( hang in there Passenal you never know!). As long as they havent been set up to coil back in terror against them ( what do you mean they have ?banned smiley that isnt funny) the we do have a glimmer of hope.
Worried for Mesut though—looks like Guendouzi is on the bench to sub him in the 2nd half. Grrrrr!
I knew the Klopp would play the Ox. We’ve all been able to read the script since Monday! Soap opera…
What else can we expect, the Anti VAR cursing us, poor reffing, Liverpool diving, a few pens for them and a sneaky red card for us ( Mesut?). Can Freddie take over tonight and guide them a bit more..?
CÖYG!
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slosh.
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poor old Mustafi will be getting it tomorrow.
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av that!
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that av!
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va tath!
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Ooooh that touch by Oz…absolutely sublime..3-1
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6.0 for the dive?
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pretty exciting game. CÖYG!
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That was an effing dive….
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