View Full Version : Nice article from David Walsh on Unai's impact
Look away Monty and Burney...
Had you been an Arsenal fan at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening it would have been difficult to resist the optimism. This is a feeling the team’s supporters haven’t known for a long time. It wasn’t that the game was of the highest class or that the 2-2 draw was an exceptional result against an unsure Manchester United, rather it was the confirmation that Arsenal are again a proper football team.
After Jose Mourinho’s side scored their second equaliser it was Arsenal’s players who had the greater belief that victory was still possible, and Arsenal who had both the stamina and desire to continue attacking. They fought like they so rarely fought during the second decade of Arsène Wenger’s reign. In five months Unai Emery has brought remarkable change to the team culture.
More than any other Premier League club, it was United who best understood how soft a touch Arsenal had become in Wenger’s latter years. Paul Scholes spoke about it the other evening, recalling the great Arsenal side of Wenger’s first decade at the club and then the gradual fall-off in standards. In the end an opposition only needed to show a little physicality and Arsenal folded their tent.
Winning ways: Unai Emery has done well after replacing Arsene Wenger
Winning ways: Unai Emery has done well after replacing Arsene Wenger
ANDREW ROWLAND
Writing in this newspaper last year Rio Ferdinand said that towards the end of his days at Old Trafford, he and his teammates felt if they ran hard in the opening quarter, Arsenal would run away. In virtually no time, Emery has changed that. At the club’s north London training centre they have seen this coming. Pre-season was like no other. The first thing Emery insisted upon was an expanded indoor fitness facility. Some days there were separate sessions, coaches not leaving the training ground until after 9pm, with first-team players relishing the new routine. That was the surprise, because there had been a feeling that the group was soft and not partial to hard work. Emery significantly increased the training-ground workload and the players have responded in the right way.
The emphasis on fitness has created a mentally stronger team and one that routinely delivers strong second-half performances. More time in the gym and on the training ground and increased intensity in every aspect of their preparation has created a different Arsenal. There will be some tut-tutting at reports that some Arsenal players used laughing gas on an early-season night out and while the club will publicly disapprove, they are privately wondering why the story should emerge more than three months after it happened. The better things go on the pitch, the more likely players will be supported.
Under Wenger, the other coaches at the club felt there was too little delegation and that Steve Bould, for example, was never given enough time to work on how the team defended. Nobody now looks at the first-team squad and thinks they could be doing more. Emery and the coaches who came with him have impressed their new colleagues by constantly consulting with them. This, too, is a change from what happened previously.
Emery is an interesting character. Towards the end at Paris Saint-Germain, he sat down with the Spanish journalist Marti Perarnau and offered a detailed insight into his time at the French club and the kind of manager he would like to be. Without a hint of bitterness he conceded that though he was the manager, his authority wasn’t absolute.
“One day Jorge Valdano said, ‘At Barcelona, the leader is Messi. At Real Madrid, it’s Florentino Perez. At Atletico, it’s Diego Simeone.’ A player, a coach and a president. A different kind of leader every time. I know when I’m the main person responsible and when I’m not. It’s a process that a coach has to live with and internalise, and one he assimilates with time and experience. In every club, you have to know what your role is and what role you have vis-a-vis the rest of the group.
“I am of the opinion that PSG’s leader is Neymar. Or that he is currently becoming it. Neymar came to PSG to be the leader, to go through this process to some day become the best in the world. It’s a process that will require a bit more time in order to consolidate this position. At Manchester City, Pep is in charge. At PSG, Neymar has to be.”
Emery talked about how he likes to work on set-pieces and considers this is one of his strengths. But then all the work on the training ground would count for nothing as, with a stroke of genius, Neymar would render all the preparation irrelevant. “I always prepare set-pieces extensively, and that has often worked in my favour. But when you have Neymar, sometimes there isn’t much more that you need — Neymar becomes your strategy.”
At Arsenal, Emery has no desire to be the manager he was at his former club. Mesut Ozil should have seen this coming because it is now a matter of some uncertainty whether the German has a future at the Emirates stadium. Emery insists on his team pressing their opponents aggressively and winning the ball back as quickly as possible.
That demands a discipline and workrate that Ozil may or may not be able to deliver. He remains a gifted footballer but one who may not find a place in Emery’s set-up. You wonder how Ozil could resist the attraction of being part of a team who are destined to get a lot better, but some gifted footballers see things their way. What Ozil should know is that from his manager there will be no compromise.
Emery has decided what his role at Arsenal will be. This will be his team, not Ozil’s. “Sometimes you need to do what Guardiola did when he got rid of Deco, Ronaldinho and Ibrahimovic,” Emery told Perarnau. “Afterwards, Zlatan and his agent got into an argument with Pep? OK, but they got rid of him, and they got rid of the obstacle preventing them from completing their masterpiece. Pep is a coach who makes masterpieces. What am I missing? Making my masterpieces, real masterpieces. And making them my own.”
The future for Arsenal looks interesting.
Herbert Augustus Chapman
12-10-2018, 10:33 AM
I enjoy seeing Unai consult with his advisors in the tech area and have a real dialogue rather that simply ranting into Stevie Bould's ear while he [Bould] looks on in grim silence knowing his opinion would be ignored anyway.
Also, he shows proper professional respect to the opposing manager where Wenger would offer a cursory wet-fish hand shake and no eye contact.
And half time substitutions!
Sir C
12-10-2018, 10:44 AM
He's used an awful lot of words there to say... not very much at all, really.
1. He has changed the players' mentality by making them run more.
2. He speaks to his coaches.
3. He has alienated our best player.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm far from arguing against Emery's initial impact, which certainly looks positive. I just think that's a limp dick of an article.
Herbert Augustus Chapman
12-10-2018, 10:57 AM
He's used an awful lot of words there to say... not very much at all, really.
1. He has changed the players' mentality by making them run more.
2. He speaks to his coaches.
3. He has alienated our best player.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm far from arguing against Emery's initial impact, which certainly looks positive. I just think that's a limp dick of an article.
ivories are far from perfect and his hair's a little on the shiny side.
He's used an awful lot of words there to say... not very much at all, really.
1. He has changed the players' mentality by making them run more.
2. He speaks to his coaches.
3. He has alienated our best player.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm far from arguing against Emery's initial impact, which certainly looks positive. I just think that's a limp dick of an article.
If that's all you got out of that article I suggest you try reading all of it next time :thumbup:
bbrian
12-10-2018, 01:46 PM
If that's all you got out of that article I suggest you try reading all of it next time :thumbup:
All good stuff and all that ..but we are still in 5th place and have conceded more goals than all above us . I too have been happy with the new regime , but a manager that relies on pressing needs to get results early for the players to buy in fully ....very easy for them to tune him out otherwise
All good stuff and all that ..but we are still in 5th place and have conceded more goals than all above us . I too have been happy with the new regime , but a manager that relies on pressing needs to get results early for the players to buy in fully ....very easy for them to tune him out otherwise
We are unbeaten in 21 games BB.
All good stuff and all that ..but we are still in 5th place and have conceded more goals than all above us . I too have been happy with the new regime , but a manager that relies on pressing needs to get results early for the players to buy in fully ....very easy for them to tune him out otherwise
Are you sure that Palace are 5th in the league, BB? Slipped under my radar, it would seem.
We are unbeaten in 21 games BB.
A bit of a misleading statistic when you consider it includes games against Vorskla (x2), Blackpool, Brentford, Quarabag etc.
bbrian
12-10-2018, 02:09 PM
We are unbeaten in 21 games BB.
I know , i know ...and i want to be all in SW , there's just something holding me back
bbrian
12-10-2018, 02:10 PM
Are you sure that Palace are 5th in the league, BB? Slipped under my radar, it would seem.
Ffs Rich.......
All good stuff and all that ..but we are still in 5th place and have conceded more goals than all above us . I too have been happy with the new regime , but a manager that relies on pressing needs to get results early for the players to buy in fully ....very easy for them to tune him out otherwise
City and Liverpool have had two of the best starts to a season in the history of English football and we are only 7 and 8 points back so the league is still very much on. Under Wenger we were usually out of it by now. And we're one of three teams within 2 points of each other battling for 3rd. And we're on a pace for 81 points, last year we finished with 63. That with a new manager, new style of play and relatively little net investment.
Hard to understand how anyone can't see this as a huge step forward at this point.
bbrian
12-10-2018, 02:23 PM
City and Liverpool have had two of the best starts to a season in the history of English football and we are only 7 and 8 points back so the league is still very much on. Under Wenger we were usually out of it by now. And we're one of three teams within 2 points of each other battling for 3rd. And we're on a pace for 81 points, last year we finished with 63. That with a new manager, new style of play and relatively little net investment.
Hard to understand how anyone can't see this as a huge step forward at this point.
It is a huge step forward and you're starting to convince me
You did say the league was very much still on though! 😂
It is a huge step forward and you're starting to convince me
You did say the league was very much still on though! ��
Well, we completely outplayed the current league leaders at our place, pasted Spurs and lost a close game to the team that just beat City. The days of getting hammered and looking out of our depth against the league leaders seem to be over so why not? :shrug:
Pokster
12-10-2018, 03:08 PM
Well, we completely outplayed the current league leaders at our place, pasted Spurs and lost a close game to the team that just beat City. The days of getting hammered and looking out of our depth against the league leaders seem to be over so why not? :shrug:
Beacuse we still have to play the top 3 away from home, and until we show we can win big games away from home i can't see us getting close enough to be actual title contenders.... saying that, I am happy the way we have progressed and seem to put more effort in even when not playing well
Luis Anaconda
12-10-2018, 03:10 PM
City and Liverpool have had two of the best starts to a season in the history of English football and we are only 7 and 8 points back so the league is still very much on. Under Wenger we were usually out of it by now. And we're one of three teams within 2 points of each other battling for 3rd. And we're on a pace for 81 points, last year we finished with 63. That with a new manager, new style of play and relatively little net investment.
Hard to understand how anyone can't see this as a huge step forward at this point.
Comparative positions for this date over the past five seasons
2017/18 5th 17 points from the leaders :yikes: but only one point off 4th and 2 off third
2016/17 1st (level on points)
2015/16 1st (1 point clear)
2014/15 6th 13 from leaders 2 from fourth and third
2013/14 1st (five points clear)
Only two of those seasons back up your claim and three tell a very different story at this stage
Herbert Augustus Chapman
12-10-2018, 03:13 PM
Comparative positions for this date over the past three seasons
2017/18 5th 17 points from the leaders :yikes: but only one point off 4th and 2 off third
2016/17 1st (level on points)
2015/16 1st (1 point clear)
2014/15 6th 13 from leaders 2 from fourth and third
2013/14 1st (five points clear)
Only two of those seasons back up your claim and three tell a very different story at this stage
Must you always go googling out the facts and spoiling the party l?
Comparative positions for this date over the past three seasons
2017/18 5th 17 points from the leaders :yikes: but only one point off 4th and 2 off third
2016/17 1st (level on points)
2015/16 1st (1 point clear)
2014/15 6th 13 from leaders 2 from fourth and third
2013/14 1st (five points clear)
Only two of those seasons back up your claim and three tell a very different story at this stage
You sad c*nt...
And had one of those seasons been different it would have been 3 of 5 so that would have qualified for 'usually' - small margins :cloud9:
Luis Anaconda
12-10-2018, 03:23 PM
You sad c*nt...
And had one of those seasons been different it would have been 3 of 5 so that would have qualified for 'usually' - small margins :cloud9:
You said usually "out of it" - since you believe that being within 8 points still gives a chance this season, they would have to be quite different. I was actually quite surprised we were top so late in the season when Chelsea won quite comfortably
You said usually "out of it" - since you believe that being within 8 points still gives a chance this season, they would have to be quite different. I was actually quite surprised we were top so late in the season when Chelsea won quite comfortably
I am quite surprised we were top at this stage in any of the seasons you have listed never mind 60% of them.
I am quite surprised we were top at this stage in any of the seasons you have listed never mind 60% of them.
Yeah me too - although perhaps the collapses did tend to happen Jan/Feb or so. Also, I seem to recall so many absolute hammerings by the other top 4/5 clubs that even if we were top or very close I never really felt like we had a chance.
Yeah me too - although perhaps the collapses did tend to happen Jan/Feb or so. Also, I seem to recall so many absolute hammerings by the other top 4/5 clubs that even if we were top or very close I never really felt like we had a chance.
Just for the record I don’t think we are really in any title race this season. We have had a magnificent run since the Chelsea game but inevitably will hit a patch at some point, one that I would not expect City or Liverpool to have, possibly Chelsea neither.
Interesting few weeks ahead. Couple of injuries just happening to stretch resources throughout the team, lots of games to play, Ozil gone missing to be sold in January, two remaining central defenders out this weekend so I guess we play a three of Lichsteiner, Koscielny and Monreal which probably was not in the script and who at best could be a risk, Torreira one game from a ban, Spurs in the Cup and Liverpool in the League.
Sir C
12-10-2018, 03:42 PM
Just for the record I don’t think we are really in any title race this season. We have had a magnificent run since the Chelsea game but inevitably will hit a patch at some point, one that I would not expect City or Liverpool to have, possibly Chelsea neither.
Interesting few weeks ahead. Couple of injuries just happening to stretch resources throughout the team, lots of games to play, Ozil gone missing to be sold in January, two remaining central defenders out this weekend so I guess we play a three of Lichsteiner, Koscielny and Monreal which probably was not in the script and who at best could be a risk, Torreira one game from a ban, Spurs in the Cup and Liverpool in the League.
If we sell Ozil and Ramsey, we have just about precisely hold on let me count it all up here we are: zero creativity in our squad.
Comparative positions for this date over the past five seasons
2017/18 5th 17 points from the leaders :yikes: but only one point off 4th and 2 off third
2016/17 1st (level on points)
2015/16 1st (1 point clear)
2014/15 6th 13 from leaders 2 from fourth and third
2013/14 1st (five points clear)
Only two of those seasons back up your claim and three tell a very different story at this stage
This suggests you're a lying c*nt Anaconda...
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2681861-epl-table-2016-week-16-standings-after-wednesdays-premier-league-scores
If we sell Ozil and Ramsey, we have just about precisely hold on let me count it all up here we are: zero creativity in our squad.
Yeah, because Lacazette, Boomerang and Mikkie don't create anything :rolleyes:
This suggests you're a lying c*nt Anaconda...
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2681861-epl-table-2016-week-16-standings-after-wednesdays-premier-league-scores
And this...
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2599117-premier-league-table-2015-standings-week-17-fixtures-after-week-16-results
If we sell Ozil and Ramsey, we have just about precisely hold on let me count it all up here we are: zero creativity in our squad.
There is no if in regards to the Welsh, we are selling Ramsey or more accurately allowing him to leave, one cannot call it a sale if the exit is left until the summer and no fee is received.
I have no idea what is occurring with Ozil. The manner of his excusion from Bournemouth was simply beyond logic and hints at issues, his continued absence since then, including for some huge domestic games, on the basis of a back injury, a little suspicious at best. Given the drain he is on the relative limited finances available to the club I for one would not be surprised one jot to see him leave.
It would be wrong of you to suggest there absence removes all creativity from the current playing staff and anyway I would expect the new summer window to be quite a busy period for us.
Sir C
12-10-2018, 03:48 PM
Yeah, because Lacazette, Boomerang and Mikkie don't create anything :rolleyes:
Oh yes, a classic 10 and two trequartistas there.
Idiot.
Just for the record I don’t think we are really in any title race this season. We have had a magnificent run since the Chelsea game but inevitably will hit a patch at some point, one that I would not expect City or Liverpool to have, possibly Chelsea neither.
Interesting few weeks ahead. Couple of injuries just happening to stretch resources throughout the team, lots of games to play, Ozil gone missing to be sold in January, two remaining central defenders out this weekend so I guess we play a three of Lichsteiner, Koscielny and Monreal which probably was not in the script and who at best could be a risk, Torreira one game from a ban, Spurs in the Cup and Liverpool in the League.
All true - but after watching us against Liverpool, Spurs, ManU and even Chelsea away I no longer fear any team.
I could see us winning our next few league games and beating Liverpool at Anfield. It's not *that* unreasonable anymore given our winning streak and second half performances.
Just for the record I don’t think we are really in any title race this season. We have had a magnificent run since the Chelsea game but inevitably will hit a patch at some point, one that I would not expect City or Liverpool to have, possibly Chelsea neither.
Interesting few weeks ahead. Couple of injuries just happening to stretch resources throughout the team, lots of games to play, Ozil gone missing to be sold in January, two remaining central defenders out this weekend so I guess we play a three of Lichsteiner, Koscielny and Monreal which probably was not in the script and who at best could be a risk, Torreira one game from a ban, Spurs in the Cup and Liverpool in the League.
:nod:
AC Milan?
Fenerbahce ?
Sir C
12-10-2018, 03:49 PM
There is no if in regards to the Welsh, we are selling Ramsey or more accurately allowing him to leave, one cannot call it a sale if the exit is left until the summer and no fee is received.
I have no idea what is occurring with Ozil. The manner of his excusion from Bournemouth was simply beyond logic and hints at issues, his continued absence since then, including for some huge domestic games, on the basis of a back injury, a little suspicious at best. Given the drain he is on the relative limited finances available to the club I for one would not be surprised one jot to see him leave.
It would be wrong of you to suggest there absence removes all creativity from the current playing staff and anyway I would expect the new summer window to be quite a busy period for us.
Where are we going to find a Tony Currie in the summer, eh? Or a Stan Bowles? Because that's what we need right enough.
There is no if in regards to the Welsh, we are selling Ramsey or more accurately allowing him to leave, one cannot call it a sale if the exit is left until the summer and no fee is received.
I have no idea what is occurring with Ozil. The manner of his excusion from Bournemouth was simply beyond logic and hints at issues, his continued absence since then, including for some huge domestic games, on the basis of a back injury, a little suspicious at best. Given the drain he is on the relative limited finances available to the club I for one would not be surprised one jot to see him leave.
It would be wrong of you to suggest there absence removes all creativity from the current playing staff and anyway I would expect the new summer window to be quite a busy period for us.
There is another possibility we should not dismiss - Ozil mans up, listens to Unai, and turns into the player he could be and the club get a big boost as a world class player reaches his potential for us. Just saying like...
Luis Anaconda
12-10-2018, 03:52 PM
This suggests you're a lying c*nt Anaconda...
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2681861-epl-table-2016-week-16-standings-after-wednesdays-premier-league-scores
I distinctly said "this date" though I must admit I didn't see Chelsea had a game in hand tbf
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38193110
Oh yes, a classic 10 and two trequartistas there.
Idiot.
You said zero creativity in the squad. If we lose Ramsey and Ozil. Zero. No one else is capable of creativity. Not one of them.
And I'm the idiot. :hehe:
I distinctly said "this date" though I must admit I didn't see Chelsea had a game in hand tbf
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38193110
Then you were guilty of poor analysis as the calendar date is not meaningful, only the number of games.
HA!
There is another possibility we should not dismiss - Ozil mans up, listens to Unai, and turns into the player he could be and the club get a big boost as a world class player reaches his potential for us. Just saying like...
Well yes, not impossible at all, he could awaken from his absence this weekend and put in a stellar performance as we all know he can, however one cannot but think that is a slim prospect given events of recent weeks.
Remember this is a man retired from the rigours of international football, a man who relatively speaking would have been well rested but was then deemed to be not up for the fight of Bournemouth where he was clearly not injured.
His sore back having come afterwards.
Nah, this all stinks of pish. This is Mourinho v Pogba without the lunatic egotistical element of that particular shítfest.
Luis Anaconda
12-11-2018, 09:28 AM
Then you were guilty of poor analysis as the calendar date is not meaningful, only the number of games.
HA!
It was the only data available and is valid as a rough guide. It certainly disproved your point that we were out of the running by this "time" - you're clearly wrong about three of those five seasons here and your failure to acknowledge so just undermines you :shrug:
It was the only data available and is valid as a rough guide. It certainly disproved your point that we were out of the running by this "time" - you're clearly wrong about three of those five seasons here and your failure to acknowledge so just undermines you :shrug:
Where did I fail to acknowledge it? I admitted I was surprised by the fact that we were top of the league or very close three times which is effectively acknowledging it. Although it wasn't really true, was it? If you want to play with numbers over the past four seasons at the same stage of the season we have been 17, 13, 6 and 4 points back.
So 'out of it by now' twice in four seasons. And that analysis when compared to our current position does not reflect the great start that City and Liverpool have had, of course.
Luis Anaconda
12-11-2018, 09:48 AM
Where did I fail to acknowledge it? I admitted I was surprised by the fact that we were top of the league or very close three times which is effectively acknowledging it. Although it wasn't really true, was it? If you want to play with numbers over the past four seasons at the same stage of the season we have been 17, 13, 6 and 4 points back.
So 'out of it by now' twice in four seasons. And that analysis when compared to our current position does not reflect the great start that City and Liverpool have had, of course.
City actually had four more points this time last season than Liverpool do this :rubchin:
City actually had four more points this time last season than Liverpool do this :rubchin:
:yawn: :yawn: :yawn:
Luis Anaconda
12-11-2018, 09:58 AM
:) :) :) :)
Viva Prat Vegas
12-11-2018, 11:35 AM
LA "I distinctly said "this date" though I must admit I didn't see Chelsea had a game in hand tbf
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38193110"
In fairness to LA , his information re the state of play on 10th December 2016 - Arsenal are 1st - is correct so as far as that one is concerned he is not a lying cund there
Luis Anaconda
12-11-2018, 12:10 PM
LA "I distinctly said "this date" though I must admit I didn't see Chelsea had a game in hand tbf
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38193110"
In fairness to LA , his information re the state of play on 10th December 2016 - Arsenal are 1st - is correct so as far as that one is concerned he is not a lying cund there
thank you VPV
LA "I distinctly said "this date" though I must admit I didn't see Chelsea had a game in hand tbf
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38193110"
In fairness to LA , his information re the state of play on 10th December 2016 - Arsenal are 1st - is correct so as far as that one is concerned he is not a lying cund there
Sorry S, there is simply no room for defending Anaconda on this board. :nono:
Viva Prat Vegas
12-11-2018, 12:36 PM
I will only defend the man when he's being an honest cund
The other lying cund accusations stand
:-)
I will only defend the man when he's being an honest cund
The other lying cund accusations stand
:-)
OK I'll give you that. He wasn't lying, just guilty of poor analysis.
So a stupid cund instead. :judge:
eastgermanautos
12-11-2018, 05:53 PM
We are unbeaten in 21 games BB.
Exactly. What's with all the whining. The win against Huddersfield was a good indicator. We were nervy, believing our luck had turned after the lame goals conceded vs United. Getting a bounce-back win was great.
barrybueno
12-11-2018, 07:43 PM
Are you sure that Palace are 5th in the league, BB? Slipped under my radar, it would seem.
Looks like you're getting your bb's mixed up young Rich :hehe:
bbrian
12-11-2018, 10:23 PM
Looks like you're getting your bb's mixed up young Rich :hehe:
First guns accuses me of being from Donegal , and now this insult!!!
Must be good for your ego though baz to be confused for me 🤗
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