Good morning all.

Since Pepe managed to hit two absolutely glorious free kicks,to steal a result last night ,I’ve been agonising over whether to write this blog. Because it will basically be like every blog I’ve written for months. The story is the same, poor football and bailed out by a moment of individual brilliance. It’s all depressingly familiar.

We played against a team from Portugal, that lost last week in the cup to a third division team of semi professionals and they came to our ground without a point or a goal in the Europa League. And guess what? For 75 minutes they were better than us, on our own ground.

The positives are two dead ball strikes and Matteo running with the ball. I should be cock-a-hoop at turning a game around and getting a victory. That is the emotion I want to feel, but I don’t. I’m depressed by our play and the thought of watching the same thing over and over and over.

Everything I loved and admired about Arsenal seems, just like Mesut,to be fading into the background and taking my joy of supporting with it.

I feel genuine anger towards Emery, and that in itself is irrational. I’m honestly lost, I don’t know where to go.

I feel that I should take a step back, do myself a favour, and take up knitting or something, because this is horrible and worse of all, I think the worst is yet to come.

Good morning people, well I say “good” , I mean yuck.

Do you know what? I’m not even angry. I’m not disappointed,and worst of all, I’m not at all surprised. This was not a blip. It was not anything other than a reflection of how we have been playing in the Premier League, all season. That is not a bad performance, it’s the norm. The difference is that the result reflected the performance. Aubameyang was not able to save our bacon, we got what we deserved. Fortunately, we have gotten more than we deserve up until now. We could have lost every game this season, we haven’t dominated a single one, We have been piss poor all season . It shouldn’t come as a shock, the second half of last season should have been all the warning we needed to tell us what was to come.

If Mesut Ozil isn’t good enough to get in that team, well? Dear me.

In the first half we had one shot on target and were out played by the mighty Sheffield United. They scored one goal and were so confident that we wouldn’t score ,that they sat back and let us have all of the ball, I think in excess of 80% at times, and we obliged by creating less than nothing. We were not unlucky, we were terrible.

There is nothing that suggests we are a good football team, despite having a great squad. The sum of our parts is pathetically less than it should be. No fluency, nothing. All the players fight and strive, but the system is horrible, The midfield has zero control and we just aimlessly lump the ball to players that are totally unsuited to hold it up and wait for the play to develop.

There is nothing on show that remotely resembles that which we enjoyed for years and were assured would continue.

There is no point thinking it will get better, because every metric that indicates how well we are playing as a team, is getting progressively worse, despite a spend of around £200m.

How long will Emery’s apologists ignore everything that stares them in the face?

There isn’t a poor player in our squad, and yet we play like a poverty team.

This squad should be walking the top 4, it still could, but not with this head coach, not in my opinion.

We are in a much better position than our performances deserve, and that stroke of luck will mean nothing unless a change is made.

Positively Arsenal eh? Sorry folks.

Every day on twitter, blogs, the media, podcasts and just about every forum, we see some comparison or other between Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery. Every time another game is played we see some table comparing the first X number of games that Emery has been in charge, compared to the same number of the last games Arsene managed. The number of points, chances created, chances conceded, passing accuracy, areas of play, and on and on it goes. It really is the most pointless of arguments. Not simply because the teams were competing against have changed and the teams they were competing with has changed almost beyond recognition or even that one has a squad eager to impress while latterly the other had a squad waiting for the final curtain, but because it’s actually is an argument that is so subjective that it can never be resolved. Particularly when those arguing are so invested in being right, that they have no interest in hearing the other point of view.

Can Unai give a press conference as witty and entertaining as Arsene? No of course not.

Could Unai address a baying mob at the annual general meeting and have them eating out of his hand, when minutes earlier they were baying for his blood? No he couldn’t

Ten or twenty years from now will former players still laud him, will he be asked to speak all over the world, be given award after award , be offered job to develop FIFA itself ? I very much doubt that.

Will Unai transform the club and elevate it to once unthought of heights? No, not a chance.

Is it fair to expect any of these things from Mr. Emery? No it is not. Why? Because it’s unfair to expect anyone to fill those shoes ,,as only a handful of managers in the history of the game could have.

So let us not ask if Unai is as good as Arsene was. Rather let’s ask is he as good as we expected he would be?

Let’s ask why after 18 months we are playing unattractive football in a system that no one seems to understand, and that changes from week to week and even from half to half.

Let’s ask why our best and most creative player is not being picked, humiliated and excluded ,from a team screaming out for creativity?

Let’s ask why watching us play is a chore now , we can play 8 games of the season and not play well in one, let alone dominate any?

Perhaps ask why we go from insisting on playing out from the back, to lumping it up to a center forward that’s skill set is far from hold up play.

Ask why sometimes all eleven players can have decent games, and yet the team plays poorly.

Ask why our midfield is so dysfunctional despite every player being a good one.

Let’s judge him on what we see, not against a man that is now a fond memory, and a genius that he overall could never live up to.

Wenger has left the building, gone , and the comparisons are a distraction, we must judge Emery on what he is showing us, and has shown us.

I want to write a positive blog!

I want to describe some beautiful football!

I want to be enthusiastic about Arsenal!

I want to enjoy our football!

Sadly, I’m unable to do any of these things.

That was 95 minutes of tripe. We won the game courtesy of a well executed headed goal from David Luiz and also courtesy of them defending the corner  badly.

Two shots on target ,at home, against Bournemouth?  That can’t be acceptable, no matter how healthy our league position is.

We have played 8 PL games and not played well in any of them. In fact I would go as far as to say we have played poorly in them all. That we are where we are in the league, is testament to how good our players are despite how they are being forced to play.

We can be very happy at the 3 points gained, content with our league position, but I defy anyone to say we should be happy with the excruciatingly poor football being churned out week after week.

People will say “judge it in May”, well I did, I judged the crap we were served up last May, and if anything it’s gotten worse. If you dare look beyond the points total, what looks back is a football team that lacks the ability to play entertaining attacking football. There are those that don’t want to look beyond, those that would rather not see, to them I say “You‘re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.”

Good day one and all.

Arsenal are back at the Emirates for their second Europa League group fixture; hosting Belgian side Standard Liège.

We kicked our campaign off with a win away in Germany a fortnight ago, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0. With Unai Emery methods currently taking tense and, well, fair criticism, the Gunners almost inconspicuously put together an unbeaten run of six-matches (all competitions), that includes three wins in our last four. With just one defeat in nine matches all season, you would be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about.

Now, I don’t know anything about our opponents, however, a quick trawl of their recent results infer they might not be pushovers. They sit one point behind Belgian First Division leaders Club Brugge, and come into this match on the back of three wins in their last four games (D1) – all competitions. A decent run that include 10 goals for and only two against. So could there be a suggestion they have a “press” Emery might think we need to negate? Yikes!

It’s a short turnaround following Monday night’s 1-1 draw at Manchester United, so we’ll likely see a Gunners side with quite a few changes. Making this another opportunity for the youngsters and fringe players to impress, after proper performances against Frankfurt (EL) and Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup. 18 years-old Gabriel Martinelli did better than expected making his first Arsenal start vs Forest, scoring two goals, so one can imagine he must be excited at the possibility of getting his first European start. Hector Bellerín and Kieran Tierney must also be itching getting another run as they continue their rehabilitation from long-term injuries.

Whether Mesut Özil, who was “rested” against Frankfurt, get a start, is anybody’s guess at this point. Because just as it seems that him and Emery are getting past their domestic issues… it seems not.

One player that could certainly benefit having a crack at the visitors is our record signing Nicolas Pepe. He has struggled to find his feet so far in the league, so starting in a match away from the PGMOL game management variant shouldn’t be the worst idea.

Many argue that Arsenal doesn’t play like a side that has developed much from last season, but optimism levels are a little higher in the Cup competitions and playing in front of the Emirates faithful always gives the boys a bit extra. Standard have started their European run with a win, so while their priorities may be with their domestic league back in Belgium, a win tonight will leave them in a good position to advance to the knockout stages.

This is only the third meeting between these two sides, with the Gunners winning both the previous two back in 2009.

With group F top place up for grabs this got the makings of a spicy encounter. However, I’m predicting a cagey start to the match with the Emirates crowd cheering the homeboys over the line.

Labo @LaboGoon