Top 4 at end of feb

[WES]

Ahead of Man Utd and Chelsea with only two more “big” fixtures to play

Notable improvement in big game results and performances.

Notable improvement in individual (Lacazette, Iwobi and bellerin in particular) and collective performances

Early substituons, as demanded by the anti-Wenger crowd

Regular in-game tactical changes, as demanded by the anti-Wenger crowd.

Not pandering to our star player/s, as many claimed Wenger too often did.

All this with just one transfer window to play with, the sh*tshow of ramsey’s contact over which he had no control, and having to cope with the legacy of a decade of decline (as claimed by the Wenger-out crowd).

Yep. I’m happy with that.

I still have hopes that Unai will get the best out of Mesut but ultimately it is down to Ozil himself to decide he's going to play the way the manager wants him to.

If I was to list what I was happiest about at this point it would be that we seem to play with more intensity for longer than we used to. Even in the Liverpool loss we were pushing forward until the end of the match, the heads never seem to go down which I thought was a characteristic of the later Wenger teams. It wasn't just that we got pasted from time to time, it was that when we went behind early on it looked like we gave up and just accepted it.

No sign of that under Unai imo.

[Monty92]

I still have hopes that Unai will get the best out of Mesut but ultimately it is down to Ozil himself to decide he's going to play the way the manager wants him to.

If I was to list what I was happiest about at this point it would be that we seem to play with more intensity for longer than we used to. Even in the Liverpool loss we were pushing forward until the end of the match, the heads never seem to go down which I thought was a characteristic of the later Wenger teams. It wasn't just that we got pasted from time to time, it was that when we went behind early on it looked like we gave up and just accepted it.

No sign of that under Unai imo.

You've got to give it to Unai. Regardless of Wenger's diminished standing, following in his footsteps must have been a daunting task. You might think he'd tread carefully and avoid doing anything that polarises the fans. So what does he do? He inherits a team with only one real marquee name and he c*nts him out the team with no hesitation.

You have to respect that.

[WES]

You've got to give it to Unai. Regardless of Wenger's diminished standing, following in his footsteps must have been a daunting task. You might think he'd tread carefully and avoid doing anything that polarises the fans. So what does he do? He inherits a team with only one real marquee name and he c*nts him out the team with no hesitation.

You have to respect that.

Quite

And Wenger's comments in the media about Ozil being in a comfort zone and having issues with his immune system suggest that Emery got this one right.

My only complaint at this point would be his plan for midfield. If he has one, it isn't apparent to me. He seems to have a collection of good players without any real plan as to how he wants them to play. But this one may fall into your 'supporters are pig ignorant and relative to professional football managers understand virtually nothing' category. I love Torreira and Gwenda and Xhaka looks a better player this year, however I'm still not sure I understand how he wants them to play together.

[Ash]

Quite

And Wenger's comments in the media about Ozil being in a comfort zone and having issues with his immune system suggest that Emery got this one right.

My only complaint at this point would be his plan for midfield. If he has one, it isn't apparent to me. He seems to have a collection of good players without any real plan as to how he wants them to play. But this one may fall into your 'supporters are pig ignorant and relative to professional football managers understand virtually nothing' category. I love Torreira and Gwenda and Xhaka looks a better player this year, however I'm still not sure I understand how he wants them to play together.

Yesterday was one of the games where it looked (to my cretinous eyes at least) like we had a midfield. When he goes cautiously (probably because our defenders are pish) and plays the three plus two at the back we're sometimes a leetle bit short in the abilty to progress the play in the middle of the park, and rely too much on the wing backs. Which is obviously less easy without Hector. The Bosnian tank is looking quite good though. Even did some defending yesterday.

[Pat Vegas]

Yesterday was one of the games where it looked (to my cretinous eyes at least) like we had a midfield. When he goes cautiously (probably because our defenders are pish) and plays the three plus two at the back we're sometimes a leetle bit short in the abilty to progress the play in the middle of the park, and rely too much on the wing backs. Which is obviously less easy without Hector. The Bosnian tank is looking quite good though. Even did some defending yesterday.

I think Torreira and Xhaka are the best combo,
Guendouzi is rather good but we should stick with those 2 for now.

[Herbert Augustus Chapman]

But this one may fall into your 'supporters are pig ignorant and relative to professional football managers understand virtually nothing' category.

Or possibly the vacuous utterances of a moose bothering, syrup schlurping Canadian hog-wit category?

[redgunamo]

Yes. If you're a manager though, I think you'd prefer it if your new club hadn't just committed itself to a hundred million pound player who may not be your cup of tea. You'd much rather spend that money yourself, on your own choice of player, or even players.

Quite

And Wenger's comments in the media about Ozil being in a comfort zone and having issues with his immune system suggest that Emery got this one right.

[redgunamo]

No, it's t'other way about; it would have been a daunting prospect had Wenger been carried off shoulder-high in triumph parading the Henkelpott, say, rather than carried off shoulder-high practically burning in effigy.

If you have to go in somewhere and do a job, it's much better if there's actually a job there to be done. In fact, Wenger's own task in taking over the club, way back when, and winning the players and supporters over was a far more formidable challenge.

You've got to give it to Unai. Regardless of Wenger's diminished standing, following in his footsteps must have been a daunting task. You might think he'd tread carefully and avoid doing anything that polarises the fans. So what does he do? He inherits a team with only one real marquee name and he c*nts him out the team with no hesitation.

You have to respect that.