2019/20 Rivals - Arsenal

SquishyMcSquish

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Emery is not incompetent, at all.

His team finished 5th (1 point behind 4th, 3 behind 3rd) and got to a EL final with a squad that imo was comfortably worse than either us or Chelsea's.

He's not a world class manager but he is a good one, they won't get any better. He has little to no backing and has only been there a short time, people expect miracles.
 

Mogget

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Emery is not incompetent, at all.

His team finished 5th (1 point behind 4th, 3 behind 3rd) and got to a EL final with a squad that imo was comfortably worse than either us or Chelsea's.

He's not a world class manager but he is a good one, they won't get any better. He has little to no backing and has only been there a short time, people expect miracles.
We totally collapsed at the end of the season and he's far too defensive against bottom half teams. I wouldn't say he's incompetent but he's not that good either.
 

charlenefan

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If Emery is incompetent what does that say about us ?
Why does it have to say anything about us? Why cant you make a comment about something without someone coming back with the equivalent of a 'Yeah I know I am but what are you' retort?
 

SquishyMcSquish

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We totally collapsed at the end of the season and he's far too defensive against bottom half teams. I wouldn't say he's incompetent but he's not that good either.
You had a bad period of form at the end of the season but so did we and so did Chelsea at various points, nobody in the top four other than Liverpool/Chelsea were flawless.

He has his faults as a manager but his results across the season were pretty good, especially for his first season in charge. I really didn't expect you to challenge for the top four at all with that squad.

I think the biggest disappointment should be your performance in the EL final. That wasn't a great Chelsea side and you got blown away, it should have been far closer, especially since you beat them in the league and the game at Stamford Bridge was close. Really unacceptable that you didn't even compete in that second half considering how big an occasion it was for you.

Similar could be said about us in the CL final but I'd say at least we kept it competitive and Liverpool are obviously a step above Chelsea as well. But neither side acquitted themselves well in the finals.
 

charlenefan

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Emery is not incompetent, at all.

His team finished 5th (1 point behind 4th, 3 behind 3rd) and got to a EL final with a squad that imo was comfortably worse than either us or Chelsea's.

He's not a world class manager but he is a good one, they won't get any better. He has little to no backing and has only been there a short time, people expect miracles.
He's not incompetent but he's not very good either. He's perfect for Arsenal in that he's a yes man but he'd never in a million years be touched by a Real or Barca. His level is the current Arsenal (i.e. 5th/6th place)/Sevilla type clubs. Problem for Arsenal fans is they wanted an upgrade on Wenger and Emery aint it
 

SquishyMcSquish

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He's not incompetent but he's not very good either. He's perfect for Arsenal in that he's a yes man but he'd never in a million years be touched by a Real or Barca. His level is the current Arsenal (i.e. 5th/6th place)/Sevilla type clubs. Problem for Arsenal fans is they wanted an upgrade on Wenger and Emery aint it

I don't think he's far off Sarri/Pochettino level either with the C.V he has, he's a good manager. Like you say perhaps not Madrid/Barca/elite club level but PSG seemed to rate his work enough to give him a shot.

Agree that they were expecting too much if they thought Wenger leaving and Emery in would fix all their problems, the issues go a lot deeper at the club. I think getting Wenger out was a good decision as they needed to move on from his era, but he took a lot of flak (some of it was deserved, but also I think we're seeing more clearly than ever that it's not just a managerial issue) and was a super easy target for the fans to focus on.
 

charlenefan

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I don't think he's far off Sarri/Pochettino level either with the C.V he has, he's a good manager. Like you say perhaps not Madrid/Barca/elite club level but PSG seemed to rate his work enough to give him a shot.

Agree that they were expecting too much if they thought Wenger leaving and Emery in would fix all their problems, the issues go a lot deeper at the club. I think getting Wenger out was a good decision as they needed to move on from his era, but he took a lot of flak (some of it was deserved, but also I think we're seeing more clearly than ever that it's not just a managerial issue) and was a super easy target for the fans to focus on.
Yeah I tend to ignore his CV. The trophies with Sevilla I'll give you but everything at PSG should be expected (and fairly sure he was the manager at the time PSG didn't win the title and Monaco did)

I think Poch is several levels ahead of him tbh
 

Broad Street Bullies

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They haven't done much so far, so it'll be interesting to see who they bring in. They must surely be focusing on their defense. Long time ago now, but a back line of Winterburn-Adams-Keown-Dixon was really something else.
 

SquishyMcSquish

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Yeah I tend to ignore his CV. The trophies with Sevilla I'll give you but everything at PSG should be expected (and fairly sure he was the manager at the time PSG didn't win the title and Monaco did)

I think Poch is several levels ahead of him tbh
Seems a little harsh to me. His Europa League record is superb, agree that what he did with PSG was pretty par for the course though.

I think so far at Arsenal he's done pretty much what anyone could expect.
 

FootballHQ

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From the 4th tier of Brazilian football, not much to shout about.

To be honest I'd rather we just trusted our academy graduates a bit more. We have very little money so there's no point wasting it on players that'll inevitably be not good enough.

What's interesting about this season is that Chelsea without Hazard should be significantly worse than they have been of late - he was their one genuine superstar. 4th will depend on Man Utd's moves in the transfer market, if they get it right they'll be back in. If they get it wrong, we have a chance.

Does anyone think the group below (Leicester, Everton, Wolves) is a genuine threat?
Everton ended last season with home games against Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man. United. They didn't concede a goal in any of them. Given how poor defensively they were mid season that's a very promising sign.

Of course they have mentality issues but I think if they start season well they can challenge for 6th as they have good midfielders.

Think Leicester will be very interesting to watch aswell and they have the style that can turn over top 6 home or away, just need to be more consistant v bottom half team. They lost to likes of Newcastle and Cardiff at home last season.

Wolves haven't signed anyone, Nuno still wants to work with small squad and they have Europa starting in 3 weeks. Think they'll finish a few places down this year due to that but again like Leicester will be tough match for the leading teams.
 

ThierryHenry14

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Next season Arsenal's competitors for the last spot of Big 6 are Man Utd, Leicester and Everton. Even Leicester spent more money than arsenal to improve the squad this summer so far.
 

NoPace

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I think Emery had a good season considering they basically had world class strikers, Ramsey and then nobody had a great season.
 

ThierryHenry

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We desperately need creative midfielders/wingers, and defenders. Fix those issues and we should finish top four.
 

Seij

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We desperately need creative midfielders/wingers, and defenders. Fix those issues and we should finish top four.
Finishing above United and Chelsea shouldn't be that difficult of a task since Woodward will continues to be Woodward and Chelsea just lost their best player without being able to sign his replacement.

I used to dislike Arsenal but I feel some kind of weird camaraderie now that both clubs are getting pulled into mediocrity by their billionaire leeches.
 

awop

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Finishing above United and Chelsea shouldn't be that difficult of a task since Woodward will continues to be Woodward and Chelsea just lost their best player without being able to sign his replacement.

I used to dislike Arsenal but I feel some kind of weird camaraderie now that both clubs are getting pulled into mediocrity by their billionaire leeches.
Even though he's not the same player, they still got Pulisic done early and once he's back, Lampard will probably give a real chance to CHO
 

horsechoker

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How long do you think Emery will stay at Arsenal? I think he could walk at the end of next season if he isn't backed in the transfer market.
 

Scroto Baggins

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How long do you think Emery will stay at Arsenal? I think he could walk at the end of next season if he isn't backed in the transfer market.
Surely they will back their manager? Seems daft to bring in a new coach and then casually go ahead with a 'make do' attitude.
 

SportingCP96

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Everton ended last season with home games against Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man. United. They didn't concede a goal in any of them. Given how poor defensively they were mid season that's a very promising sign.

Of course they have mentality issues but I think if they start season well they can challenge for 6th as they have good midfielders.

Think Leicester will be very interesting to watch aswell and they have the style that can turn over top 6 home or away, just need to be more consistant v bottom half team. They lost to likes of Newcastle and Cardiff at home last season.

Wolves haven't signed anyone, Nuno still wants to work with small squad and they have Europa starting in 3 weeks. Think they'll finish a few places down this year due to that but again like Leicester will be tough match for the leading teams.
I think it is mental that wolves have not attacked this transfer market in order to add more depth and quality to there squad. If they don’t do so I can see them falling under 10th place next season. Those European games will beat you up if you are not used to it like they aren’t. It’s new territory for a rather small club and they are being quite mellow about it.
 

horsechoker

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Surely they will back their manager? Seems daft to bring in a new coach and then casually go ahead with a 'make do' attitude.
It seems like they're doing that though. There's still time but I haven't heard much from the Arsenal camp in terms of transfers and they need players.
 

Scroto Baggins

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It seems like they're doing that though. There's still time but I haven't heard much from the Arsenal camp in terms of transfers and they need players.
They need some investment, I think their attack is fine,PEA, Lacazette. Maybe move Ozil on and recoup some money and invest it in a CB and midfield. Some young prospects as well.

But you are right my news feed is pretty much tumbleweeds in regards to anything to do with Arsenal xfers outside of failed bids for Zaha.
 

FootballHQ

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I think it is mental that wolves have not attacked this transfer market in order to add more depth and quality to there squad. If they don’t do so I can see them falling under 10th place next season. Those European games will beat you up if you are not used to it like they aren’t. It’s new territory for a rather small club and they are being quite mellow about it.
I agree. Clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal still regularly drop points on Sundays after europa games and these clubs are very used to playing in europe now and with large squads.

Wolves are also starting in the earliest qualifiers, will play 6 ties before even the group stage. Might mean they come out flying for start of season but will surely hit fatigue mid season.

Think issue here is Nuno very much prefers working with small outfield squad of 20 players. Worked well last few seasons but only takes a few injuries and depth suddenly isn't there.
 

FootballHQ

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I think Emery had a good season considering they basically had world class strikers, Ramsey and then nobody had a great season.
Even Ramsey wasn't even that good up to xmas, pretty sure he was in and out of Emery team like everyone else. Then he hit a purple patch of form after signing with Juve.

Only Arsenal midfielder who could really break from midfield to join the forwards and arguably the injury he picked up v Napoli stopped Arsenal getting 4th.
 

MsNuno

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I think it is mental that wolves have not attacked this transfer market in order to add more depth and quality to there squad. If they don’t do so I can see them falling under 10th place next season. Those European games will beat you up if you are not used to it like they aren’t. It’s new territory for a rather small club and they are being quite mellow about it.
We will add to the squad before the end of the window not massively because Nuno likes a small squad, but he's aware of what's needed for competing in the Europa league.
 

haram

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How long do you think Emery will stay at Arsenal? I think he could walk at the end of next season if he isn't backed in the transfer market.
They only gave him a 2 year contract with an option for another.
 

Brilad

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Another “big” club in a total state of flux.
Up front with lacazette and Aubanumang (apologies if the spelling isn’t quite right)will cause anyone problems ,fast ,aggressive skilful players ,but at the back they are a absolute shambles.
The midfield is weak and Ozil on those wages is bound to cause issues.
No leaders or indeed leader.
A budget of £50 million for that club charging those ticket prices is nothing short of scandalous.
Again you have a owner who won’t back the manager,I don’t think many of those players are Emery’s players he needs a bit of patience and backing in the market.
 
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Filipe

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Arsenal will finish above united. They have a better manager and better players
 

charlenefan

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Like I said in the other thread if Man Utd supporters think we're bad take solace that we could be Arsenal
 

AkaAkuma

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Who are they targetting aside from Zaha and Tierney. They seem inactive.
 

charlenefan

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Who are they targetting aside from Zaha and Tierney. They seem inactive.
Hard to be active when you've got no money to spend. Tbf though they're not alone, Liverpool haven't done anything yet and Chelsea obviously cant. It's only us, City and Spurs who have brought in anyone
 

Cheech Wizard

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What a twat. I hate it when players do this and drop it on their team on the day or the day before. Why couldn’t he have told them weeks ago? He’s a had nearly two months. No wonder they’ve got a weak mentally at the back when they’re lead by runaway cowards like him in the team.
 

Basso

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So he wants his contract terminated! Who the hell does he think he is.

They should let him rot with the reserves and report bordeaux for tampering!
 
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Renegade

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Players don’t give a feck any more. This behaviour will be more and more common going forward.
 

Kintaro

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I'm always on the side of the Club, if a player refuses to join the Squad, but this Situation is kinda different. So this is a different Situation than Griezmann or Dembele. I think, most clubs would let a player go, who is 34 Years old and has worked for 9 years at the club. For me, this is way different, than Griezmann or Dembele. Koscielny has done his share and earnd somekind of better treatment in this situation.
 

Adisa

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I'm flabbergasted. How can he try and force the club to sell him for free?