Expectations from Emery's first season, 2018/19

[dashsnow17]

Also in terms of fixing the defence, what's more important: having lots of money or having good organisation? Our famous back 4 wasn't one of the best to have ever played the game cos it came feted with big money transfers or because they were individually the best, it was because they were bloody well organised.

Emery is a much more defensive coach than I think some are aware of. I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that with a couple of good additions (GK & CB) and some solid coaching, our defence can improve considerably.

 

[Slartibartfast]

PSG goalkeeping coach Javi Garcia joining Emery's Arsenal staff.

 

[CanadianGooner1608]

So, I just watched that full interview Emery did, reflecting on his time at PSG. It's in french (Emery speaks spanish, but it's subbed), but really interesting as far as digging into his philosophy.

Can't translate it all, but some of the highlights for me were:
- Him explaining his strategy on the first leg of PSG vs Barca, where he specifically set up players in 1 vs 1 duels to push Barca and make them lose their footing.
- Explaining why he decided to play Lo Celso instead of Thiago Silva in the second leg.
- References having shown video clips to Neymar to help integrate him in the team.
- The pride he takes from improving young players like Lo Celso, Verrati, Kimpembe, Areola in a star studded team.
- Also how happy he was that Marquinhos came to him and said he made him improve as a player.
- How he takes his experience at PSG as a learning one despite winning 7 out of 10 possible trophies.
- His views on the kind of football he wanted to implement at PSG.

He uses the sentence "it's a process" a lot, and I might be reading into it too much, but to me it shows his willingness to work towards constant progression rather than instant gratification.

 

[freeglennhelder2]

w

I agree very strongly with this post.

 

[sammy89]

When I look at Real Madrid and Barca, I can't help but believe that having an unreasonable fan base with stupidly high expectations is one of the keys to success today. Puts everyone in the club on their toes. Hence I voted unreasonably

 

[Mo Britain]

When I look at Real Madrid and Barca, I can't help but believe that having an unreasonable fan base with stupidly high expectations is one of the keys to success today. Puts everyone in the club on their toes. Hence I voted unreasonably

Real Madrid and Barcelona have an unfair advantage we can't even begin to dream of. Take a Man City or Man Utd - in financial terms - and then punish the rest of the teams by making sure they do not have access to anything other than a morsel of the tv money available. That's the happy zone they operate in even before official bias kicks in.

 

[Trilly]

We finished 12 points off the top four this year, would I be mad if we finished one or two points off the top four? Probably not.

We’ve always been behind the likes of Chelsea and Manchester but now we’ve slipped behind (and based off of last season it’s not even close) Sp**s and Liverpool the two clubs we realistically would want to catch are arguably further ahead of us than Chelsea who as we’ve seen do previously could be title challengers next season. Unai has a tough job ahead of him but you look at how bad our away form and you do get excited by the room for growth.

For me this season will be about regaining face, showing signs of promise again. We are the Arsenal and in recent times Arsenal at home has become too easy a fixture for teams. I want to see improvements in the more common sense areas, stuff that seemed glaringly obvious that we never addressed such as defending as a unit, a clear offensive game plan etc.

For now, I want us to show that we can compete with our rivals in one-off games and I mean regularly not the one or two good performances we have per season while getting rolled over in the rest. This will fill the players with confidence, excite the fans and improve the quality of player we can sign as well as the general mood around the club. If we can combine that with consistency week in week out then even better but expecting that straight away is essentially expecting a title challenge.

 

[Trilly]

I also expect him to get the best out of Mkhi, Özil, Auba and Laca. Because that’s too much attacking talent to go to waste, I expect he may have to rotate though.

A question. How much time does the World Cup cost him? I now realise that a World Cup year is probably the worst time to take over at a club that has been run by the previous manager for so long. Couple that with the Europa league and how much time does he realistically have to impart his methods?

 

[Trilly]

Triple post sorry.

The more I think about it our attack is elite. If you put everything towards having that attack firing on full cylinders then top four should be doable even with an average defence/midfield.

As I type this I realise that’s exactly how Liverpool got top four the last two years, although their defence did improve this season.

 

[Football Manager]

Triple post sorry.

The more I think about it our attack is elite. If you put everything towards having that attack firing on full cylinders then top four should be doable even with an average defence/midfield.

As I type this I realise that’s exactly how Liverpool got top four the last two years, although their defence did improve this season.

Liverpool plays a very high tempo game. It’s a bit like a basketball game. So whenever they are being attacked, they just have to wait for another attacking chance, trying to out score their opponent.
Arsenal is a different story, we tried to play possession football. But if we don’t have a good defence, how are we going to win back possession?

 

[Toby]

So whenever they are being attacked, they just have to wait for another attacking chance

huh? How do you mean that? Isn't that the crux of the whole game somehow? Evading an opponent's attack and trying to build attacks yourself?

With the likening to Basketball it sound like you're describing deep sitting/counter attacking football, but that's actually not how 'pool play. They're using a high press to provoke mistakes in the opposition's build up play or high balls into midfield to aggressively attack second balls, then they transition quickly into fast paced and fluid attacking. That's why they need so much energy/seem so energetic, they're always on the move. A deeper press is not as demanding physically as you basically compress the field into your own 3rd while leaving no open space behind you, which means there is less ground to cover.

Problem with Arsenal's possession game was that it was useless to have the ball, as their was no clear plan on what to do with ball other than "try to score a goal", but no blueprint on how that might be specifically achieved.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Chelsea's situation is a bit odd so it might be something we can capitalise on while we don't know what Sp**s will do. I need to be convinced in terms of additional recruitment before I really start to believe that we can get top 4.

 

[Mo Britain]

Chelsea's situation is a bit odd so it might be something we can capitalise on while we don't know what Sp**s will do. I need to be convinced in terms of additional recruitment before I really start to believe that we can get top 4.

If Leicester could win the league then us getting the Fourth Place Trophy (will it be greeted with cheers rather than jeers now?) is possible.

This season we underperformed. The new signings and the new manager are bound to have a positive impact to start off with at least, couple that with possible problems at Chelsea, thinnish squad at Sp**s and people becoming familiar with Klopps tactics and we should be in the mix for it.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

If Leicester could win the league then us getting the Fourth Place Trophy (will it be greeted with cheers rather than jeers now?) is possible.

This season we underperformed. The new signings and the new manager are bound to have a positive impact to start off with at least, couple that with possible problems at Chelsea, thinnish squad at Sp**s and people becoming familiar with Klopps tactics and we should be in the mix for it.

Of course it's possible, though I think the Leicester thing can only be thrown around so much. It's certainly a great example of what can be achieved when a team is playing above themselves and as a unit with incredible belief that they can achieve something special. They also had things go their way in terms of what other teams were doing, but they did go from finishing just above 40 points to 81 points in just one season.

I think if we get the recruitment right and Emery can get his ideas across and translate it onto the pitch we can certainly take advantage of Chelsea and perhaps Sp**s. Sp**s in particular could get stuck in a plateau were they don't necessarily really improve and just sort of stay the same, who knows maybe their players might even get bored of all this just making top 4 without any trophies to show for it. The whole thing could become stale.

 

[Mo Britain]

The point about the Leicester example is that they were well down the pecking order and finished ahead of everyone else. We are ostensibly in a stronger position than they were and only need to get to 4th. It is achieveable.

Only Man City were streets ahead this season, from 2nd to 5th they were fairly closely bunched. Can't see Manu hitting a new gear this season either, might even be one of those seasons when things implode and Mourinho leaves.

 

[shootxhakashoot]

Liverpool plays a very high tempo game. It’s a bit like a basketball game. So whenever they are being attacked, they just have to wait for another attacking chance, trying to out score their opponent.
Arsenal is a different story, we tried to play possession football. But if we don’t have a good defence, how are we going to win back possession?

by sorting out the midfield and having a ball winner in there. Very simple.
Liverpool's midfield without Coutinho is possitvely workman like but the reason they can play that system and get to a champions league final is because they have the sort of players we lack - Henderson, Can Milner. All guys that work hard and win back the ball.
Not rocket science this.

 

[shootxhakashoot]

If Leicester could win the league then us getting the Fourth Place Trophy (will it be greeted with cheers rather than jeers now?) is possible.

This season we underperformed. The new signings and the new manager are bound to have a positive impact to start off with at least, couple that with possible problems at Chelsea, thinnish squad at Sp**s and people becoming familiar with Klopps tactics and we should be in the mix for it.

I think the 4th place trophy idea should be retired along with our former manager and a lot of his other ideas. Its not a trophy and never had been, its desirable but you dont get people in any walk of life celebrating finishing 4th unless its for monetary purposes, that would just be sad.....
Eventually this club needs to challenge for the title but at the moment the mess things have been left in realistically requires a season of rebuilding but it could well turn out better than that so better to have low expectations.

 

[Mo Britain]

I think the 4th place trophy idea should be retired along with our former manager and a lot of his other ideas. Its not a trophy and never had been, its desirable but you dont get people in any walk of life celebrating finishing 4th unless its for monetary purposes, that would just be sad.....
Eventually this club needs to challenge for the title but at the moment the mess things have been left in realistically requires a season of rebuilding but it could well turn out better than that so better to have low expectations.

Being Top Four is being a member of an exclusive club, like First Class on a plane. Europa League is Business Class and the rest of the premiership is Economy. The rest aren't even on the plane.

 

[shootxhakashoot]

Being Top Four is being a member of an exclusive club, like First Class on a plane. Europa League is Business Class and the rest of the premiership is Economy. The rest aren't even on the plane.

Oh right so we went for top four for prestige I get it now....
Flying business class/First etc is only good for the length of the flight (and it can be pretty damn poor on short haul flights, glorified exit seats), its the holiday after that matters mate.

 

[Mo Britain]

Oh right so we went for top four for prestige I get it now....
Flying business class/First etc is only good for the length of the flight (and it can be pretty damn poor on short haul flights, glorified exit seats), its the holiday after that matters mate.

Partly prestige, largely money. Both of which lure players and new fans on board. Gets you rewards and freebies.

We are now at the stage where our Gold card expired and we are living on past achievements. If we don't get back into the Champions league soon we drop out of the conversation and that's when you start to worry.