Where Wenger walked into the club inheriting a great defence, Emery has walked into the club having inherited a mess, Sokratis has been Arsenal's best defender this season and Leno hasn't done much wrong and they're both his signings, but Koscielny is an injury prone 33 year old, as is Monreal, Mustafi is just terrible, Kolansinac doesn't do defending, Maitland Nile is a square in a round hole at right back and Bellierin as much as he has gotten better, he's still not good enough in 1 on 1 situations, Holding is an Emery type player and it's no coincidence Arsenal soon lost their unbeaten run not long after he was injured, but even having said that they've been conceding in almost every game since day 1, Steve Bould is more culpable imo, he's the one who's been coaching them the last few years

Then there is the Ozil problem, he can't sign new players til he gets rid of him, looks like Suarez and Perisic are both non starters because only loanees can be brought in and their clubs are not having it, they want the money up front?

Then of course there is Xhaka, he would  not stand out in Accrington Stanley's team. Surely a gooner at the end of the season, I hear Nainngolan could be a replacement.

Don't think it's fair to write Emery off after just 5 months and barely a full proper transfer window to operate in, if players are allowed settling in seasons don't see why managers can't as well. If a team is a reflection of their manager, then this team currently has two faces, and it needs at least 2 seasons before you see just Emery's, then he can be judged imo.

I'm certainly not wanting Emery out. He needs two seasons before we can judge him. Just saying i thought we'd be seeing the green shoots of recovery by now [tactically].

Agree about Ozil and Xhaka, but then again Emery has GX playing come wind, rain or shine. Steve Bould is there to put the cones out, has no input on defending under both Emery or Wenger.

Alot of our problems financially are down to Gazidis. Putting average players on big money. In Stans defence, he appointed Gazidis because SK knew nothing about football. Gazidis has put us in a mess regarding wages and FFP.

On the field a team can play better than the sum of its parts if they are tactically astute.

Gazidis lied to us when he said, Wenger would leave this club in a great position, i'm afraid Wengers legacy will be tarnished forever. If he left After 10 years, he'd be a legend, and i'm sure the club would be in a much better state.

XHAKA DROPPED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well done with your programme tonight, touch of class. https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1090296434065199105?s=19

Yes, it's good to see the club keep to some of the traditions to behave in an honourable and respectful way.

Suarez reported as a done deal. Think that will be it for the window, though they're trying to get Nkunku over the line.

Whilst these aren't exactly earth-shattering signings (if they both go through), at least both players have worked under the manager before. It might give us more of a clue about 'style' which we all keep banging on about on here.

Smith Rowe loan move is good. Hopefully he'll at least get some experience in the Bundesliga.

Delighted that Perisic now looks to be a non-starter. With our bloated wage bill, the reported £250,000 a week and £35 million fee just doesn't look great commercial sense for a player whose best years are behind him.

I see, quite by accident, we've arrived in the Top 4, though we'll be out again at the end of the weekend. We may still be in touch at the end of the month - Chelsea have a couple of difficult fixtures, as do Man U, who have to play Leicester (away) and the Dippers. It's the hope that kills you.....

Ornstein has spoken: Nkunku unlikely.

leno CJ SM LK NM SK LT MN MG MO PEA 451 then reassess at ht. Would give us some real firepower on the bench to change the game.

19Leno
    20Mustafi
    6Koscielny
    18Monreal
    12Lichtsteiner
    11Torreira
    29Guendouzi
    31Kolasinac
    17Iwobi
    14Aubameyang
    9Lacazette
Hope Iwobi plays on the right to protect the very dodgy Lichsteiner. I think if Lich' play this as a RB and not as a RWB he would be far more solid. Sooner we played it as a 5 for the first half and look to frustrate them. We have goals up top if we can just be more solid ie concede no more than 2 !

Kompany aside, I think they had their full squad. We had 3 starters missing from our defence alone. Given this and the fact Pep has designed his team over several seasons, around his own philosophy and many a transfer window we are should not be overly down. I think Emery is doing all he can with the players he has to choose from. I think we can still be there or there abouts in the hunt for top 4 and have a good chance in the Europa. Looking forward to the coming seasons as long as Emery gets the funds he needs.

Thought we were very poor today, just seemed to accept defeat with little intensity or fight. Sitting back against City, esp with our defence, was suicidal. Would have been nice to see Emery try to get in their faces higher up the pitch and have a go at them where they are weak. The defence is totally unorganised and that has little to do with personnel. He could do a lot to try and fix that.

OK in parts yesterday but you got the feeling that there was absolutely no belief in the players. To be honest, it wasn't a bad result as I had feared a very heavy drubbing.

A run of fixtures now where we have a chance of picking up some points. Plus Chelsea have Spuds and the Oil Rig this month and United play the Dippers, so we may still be in touch with Top 4. And if you can't clutch at straws, what can you do?

MO....350K per week 4 what ?
We are a shambles.

This club has been left in a complete mess in respect of being a title challenging outfit. We are a million miles from being contenders

Strange, I thought you did OK yesterday, especially after conceding such an early goal.

Also you shouldn't be too disheartened given the defensive injuries you have had, can't be easy for the manager to organise his defence properly when as soon as he organises it a member of it goes down.

FWIW I think you're still well involved in the top four thing, just got to make the most of a decent run of fixtures, think you've only got to play us and Man Utd among the top six between now and the end of the season. Chelsea and Man Utd have what look much harder run-ins.

Be interesting what people on here would consider a successful first season for Emery.

Winning the Europa League.

Nuts and bolts of this is that you simply cannot have a player who is paid £350K per week and if he is fit then not play him in the toughest game of the season ?

If he isnt good enough to play in these fixtures then we just have to get rid and get players in who are good enough !

Ozil is almost the poster boy now for the obscenity of modern football. I'm sure Winston Bogaarde is breathing a sigh of relief.

Ozil is paid £18m a year. That's another £45m wages before his contract expires. He'll be 32 then and will have little resale value at that age. So the only way we'll get rid is if we release him on a free to a club who will pay him similar over the next 2.5 years, unless he decides to take a pay cut which he may not as it's his last big contract. Not sure the board would even let him go for free.

Emery has done nothing to organise the defence all season. We've been giving away goals from schoolboy defending even with our first choice defenders. Wouldn't be hard to correct if he tried but don't think he has. That sort of mug defending seems to be acceptable to him.

To answer Jed's question, I think we all just want to see a little forward momentum, but there is little evidence of that so far. We're just about where we were under the apparently now 'hopeless' manager that was Wenger. Given our roster and that of the clubs currently above us, anything higher than sixth would be an achievement. We are a very hit-and-miss side with no consistency. You can bleat about injuries, but every side gets them and I seem to remember we've had just as bad over the years (Matthieu Flamini at right back, anyone?).

I don't think that the Ozil situation is being well handled and freezing out a player on that amount of money means he'll probably stay put until the end of the contract. It was a panic decision to sign him to new terms, though if he had been allowed to leave on a free, there would have been plenty voicing their disapproval, so in one sense you are caught between a rock and a hard place. Emery clearly wants to offload, but I don't think they'll be many suitors - perhaps they'll be able to send him to one of the big clubs in Turkey, where he would be welcomed as a superstar, though we'd end up subsidising the wages.

I do have sympathy for Emery as he's very hamstrung in the transfer market. Mislintat's departure means that Summer recruitment could be chaotic. I'm pleased we've got Torreira, Aubamayang and Gendouzi - all Mislintat signings. My suspicion is that the manager will have a greater say in who comes in for next season and it's telling that some of the names we were trying to bring in on loan had all worked under him previously. I don't know if anyone has an insight into what the Summer transfer budget is but we have new sponsorship deals with adidas and emirates worth £500 million from next season (over a five-year period). We'll also be able to trim the wage bill and offload players (Jenkinson and Cech will save around £160k a week from what I can gather). We are in dire need of a major rebuilding job, particularly at the back.

I think it is untenable to suggest the defending was acceptable to him. If that were the case he would have 'got in their faces' and very likely suffered a humiliation that would have put the Liverpool debacle into the shade. We have excuses with an injury list that rivals any Wenger had and the constant changes in players and systems would be hard for any team.
He needs to get to the summer and get rid of the players he doesn't want and get a few that fit his style. I think he is doing OK all things considered though I have some issues with some calls he makes in team selection (that is the case at any club and with any supporters).
If that is as good as City are then they are not a great team by any means. Emery has bags of improvement to come from the younger players at the club and with a few astute additions I think we can be a far, far better side next season than what we are at present.

.....and good to see you back on here Jed; you're always welcome if your comments are thoughtful and well-constructed rather than of the "we're better than you" variety (which clearly at the moment you are).

I do dip into the Spurs Files 3 from time to time, which is way busier than here since Wenger left, though am alarmed to see that Spurs fans on there seem to be in a minority....

I agree with all your points, the fink sisters. I would, however, like to see Ozil start against all teams including top 6 sides as when he doesn't play I feel we are missing a creative midfielder like him, to play in the two strikers. I too like all of Mislintat's signings and am very sad to see him go, it wasn't at all long ago when I was delighted that he'd joined the club and we would be moving in a different direction with signings - with Wenger towards the end it was always 'oh no, not another lightweight, technically brilliant, attacking midfielder to join the other five we already have.'

Emery has a huge job of rebuilding at the back, our best centre half, Kos, is getting past it and his most important attribute was always his pace. It's touch and go whether Holding will make it, Mustafi isn't anywhere near good enough, Bellerin might be but is becoming more and more injury prone and needs to work harder at his defending and we need a new first choice left back.

Emery really does have work to do.

I agree with you broadly about Ozil pixie, but having had a look at the stats, it's impossible to come to any other conclusion than that he is past his prime. In 2015/2016 he provided 19 assists in 35 PL games (when we had, variously, an attack of Giroud, Walcott, Sanchez and Welbeck). That return has been dwindling and I don't think we'll ever see the player of that season again, either for us or anywhere else. Following the Germany fall-out and Emery's 'tough love', he looks very much like a player who has fallen out of love with the game. It's frustrating as an Ozil in prime form is exactly the player we are missing in terms of creativity. Yes, I appreciate that he's a luxury in terms of work-rate (but so is Pierre-Emeric to be honest), but I would like to see them try and re-integrate him into the team rather than freeze him out.

It's a difficult one for Emery, to be fair. He's got a lot of fans on board with his no-nonsense approach to player selection and management and though some of his calls have been questionable, he is decisive. Had Wenger completed his contract, my feeling is Ozil would have started every game if fit this season and we'd be broadly in the same position we are now. Some good performances, some complete guff and a lot of hapless defending.

and Emery's first signing is Denis Suarez, another lightweight attacking midfielder..... And you playing Ozil with 2 strikers would further unbalance the side

Sitting back against any side with our defence is a ridiculous tactic. We need to get in their faces and keep them away from our defence as much as possible until he sorts it out. That's what City do, their defence is suspect but you have a hard time getting near it. You can barely get out of your own half when they lose the ball - look at the first goal yesterday when Iwobi got caught by their press. Man U had a weak defence and strong attackers under Mourinho and sat back and fared poorly. It's not rocket science. Play to your strengths and make the opponent play in a way they are not comfortable with. Don't rely on the weakest part of your team to get you a result. Nobody gets any change out of City sitting back off them.

Man of the Match yesterday....by far...Granit Xhaka

Did an amazing job stopping City from playing through us. Kept the score down with his awareness and tough tackling. Forced City into constantly switching the ball back out wide.

More please.

'And you playing Ozil with 2 strikers would further unbalance the side' ?



enpassant • February 2, 2019 11:13 PM GMT
leno CJ SM LK NM SK LT MN MG MO PEA 451

'Sitting back against any side with our defence is a ridiculous tactic'

You posted the same pre- Liverpool and we all know how that panned out.

'Nobody gets any change out of City sitting back off them. '


Really ?

Feb 4, 2019 -- 10:15AM, EastLower Gooner wrote:

Man of the Match yesterday....by far...Granit XhakaDid an amazing job stopping City from playing through us. Kept the score down with his awareness and tough tackling. Forced City into constantly switching the ball back out wide. More please.

It's the most positive influence Xhaka has had on the team this season.

Summer transfer budget being reported as £40m. Hmmm....

Can't believe even the Board would be so parsimonious with new sponsorship deals and, potentially, Welbeck, Monreal, Cech, Ramsey, Jenkinson and Lichtensteiner all off the payroll.

Emmanuel Petit interviewed in the Irish Independent:

“The frustration level must be very high for Emery.

“You look at the money Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City spend and unless you join them and put the cash on the table to compete for the best players, you are going nowhere.

“Tottenham are not spending money, but they are in the position Arsenal were in a few years ago building a stadium, but there is no excuse for Arsenal now.

“If you sack Arsene Wenger and then say to the guy who replaces him you have no money to spend on new players, I would ask what was the point of sacking Wenger in the first place?”

Despite Wenger's achievements at the club, it was time for him to go. But the point about funds and backing is an important one. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that we are in almost exactly the same position as we were last season.

enpassant, we sat back against liverpool and got mullered. What game were you watching? I am talking about getting in their faces and pressing them high up the pitch, not just pushing up to the halfway line as a tactic like we did under Wenger. Liverpool pressed us and we were pushed back deep, same with City and we coudn't string any decent attacking play together and were like lambs to the slaughter. You are playing right into the hands of teams like that by sitting off them, which is why they broke the PL points record last year as Liverpool were the only PL team to do it last season. Everyone else sat back and got mullered.

Re City, yes numerous teams have got change out of Pep's City by pressing them high up and not allowing them time on the ball or to play out from the back. Liverpool did it twice last year, Lyon twice this year, Celtic were the first team to do it two years ago. Their defenders are not comfortable on the ball under pressure and make mistakes. If you sit back deep they counter-press as soon as they lose the ball and win it back from you in your own half or else you give away possession by playing a long ball and it starts all over again.

Kroenke will hide behind FFP or whatever he has to come up with an excuse not to spend within the club's means and keep the club's resources for himself. Gazidis was coming out with the same guff about renewed sponsorship deals 5 years ago and Wenger only spent big when he was under pressure.

Kroenke
Wenger
Gazidis
ruined the club we love

It seems to me lurka that we not only disagree on team selection and tactics but we (perhaps due to that) appear to be watching different games entirely!

Feb 5, 2019 -- 4:25AM, dambuster wrote:

KroenkeWengerGazidisruined the club we love

Agreed with the caveat that Wenger started well but couldn't let go; or perhaps I give him credit where there ought to be some scepticism.

I love the fact that Wenger "started well". Three titles, multiple FA Cups, an unbeaten season and some of the best football I've ever had the pleasure to witness.

Won't be too long before some clown comes on here and says that Wenger never built his own defence.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the club went into a relative decline after the departure of Dein. Since Kroenke took over fully in 2011, that decline has been more pronounced.

If I were to get into my time machine now (it's parked in the shed) and fast forward a decade, I'll see a succession of managers trying to make us competitive against bigger-spending rivals. There will be little or no silverware to show for it.

To be clear, I believe Wenger was magnificent in the first half of his tenure. He will take his rightful place in the history of our club alongside the real legends.
This does not hide the fact that in staying too long he, at least in the short term he sullied his status. He earned the the right to be included in the above list- I find that a little hard to face but imho it's true.

Apparently the £45m summer spend is based on us being in the CL.

It’s closer to £20m if it’s the EL and we already know £18m of that will probably go on Suarez.

So a probable £2m to spend....f u c k me.

(obviously not taking into account player sales but how much would realistically get for some of these clowns)

Could end up being Lucas Perez / Gabriel type losses...certainly on the cases of Mustafi and Xhaka.

—-

The players on loan will be key...ESR, Reece, Chambers...and that’s just to hold a EL spot.

Martinez too...we’re skint so no fancy dan no2s.

Leno 1 and Martinez 2.

I have yet to read any evidence to back up this claim of £40m odd to spend.

The only way forward is to hit Kroenke in the pocket, Don't go and don't buy any merchandise, but as we know, that won't happen

People still think - like Gary Neville defending Wenger - that Arsenal don't compete because they don't spend X£000M

Arsenal get dreadful value for money in the transfer market. They spend very poorly for years on end, spending more on the same sort of signings will make little difference.

It's not as if they spend so little anyway. Yes City, PSG et all spend more and are far better, but there are typically another 8 or 9 sides around Europe at any given moment that spend less than Arsenal and have better teams than Arsenal.

eg Shokdran Mustafi is the 6th most expensive central defender in the history of football, and maybe the 37th best central defender in the premier league atm

Blimey, it's quiet on here.....due mainly to another underwhelming performance, I guess, though it didn't stop the manager talking the boys up.

Is it just me, or does everyone just feel that we're stuck in a groundhog-day hinterland of 5th/6th?

Nothing will change until Kroenke goes

Ramsey's deal announced as £400k a week! Nice lad, dedicated pro and all that, but you can understand why they withdrew the offer.

Letting Ramsey go is a huge mistake. We will only realise that when we try to buy a replacement

Sadly the legacy of the total mismanagement of the preceding 10 years is going to go on and on and on ...............................................................................

Ramsey is an average player on superstar wages.

Could someone please explain what he brings to the table?

Goals? Assists? Tackles won?

I would suggest that Ozil is the average player on superstar wages !!!!

Lets wait and see who we replace Ramsey with and what money we have to pay them

Ramsey brings quality, vision, creativity and heart / determination. Thats what we have got to replace.

I do like Ramsey but I'm guessing the club would have had to get close to the £82 million that Juve are reportedly paying him over the next four years, so you can understand why they withdrew the offer IF they want to use those funds elsewhere. With Mislintat gone, I expect Emery to have a bigger say on new recruits and to ear-mark players he has worked with previously, so expect some cast-offs from PSG, Valencia and Seville. I think Nkunku looks likely in the Summer.

According to the Telegraph, Ozil is being hawked around China and Italy by "intermediaries", but I cannot realistically see him going unless we pay a chunk of his wages, especially as he's not exactly in the spotlight these days. By my calculations, if they let him go on a free (unlike the AFC Board to sanction this), it will free up £45 million.

I was underwhelmed with a few of the names being bandied around in January (Perisic and James) to name but two - both players on a downward curve imo.

I would just like to see Ozil play!

Ramsey has heart and determination but vision and creativity I am less convinced of.

I will wait for the summer transfer window to set the tone for the club. If SK does not back Emery there will be no question where we are heading. In those circumstances Emery should resign or we will know for certain he is complicit. At that point I would back any sensible boycott.

Best chance of getting shot of Ozil is a Turkish club. Probably have to let him go for nothing but that is still better than we are getting now.

Feb 14, 2019 -- 12:53AM, John.W.Henry. wrote:

I would suggest that Ozil is the average player on superstar wages !!!!Lets wait and see who we replace Ramsey with and what money we have to pay them Ramsey brings quality, vision, creativity and heart / determination. Thats what we have got to replace.

Where did I say he wasn't?

Wesdag > No you didnt. I did. If a top european team is prepared to pay Ramsey 400K per week ( circumstances accepted ) then I am not alone in thinking that he will be hard to replace or perhaps Juve would have gone for a cheaper model

Empassant... I will simply offer his goal against Fulham to encapsulate it all in a nutshell. That cannot be scored by a player without all the attributes I have referred to. Back across to you.

Hard to replace

How many starts this season?

He can score but calling on one goal as proof of creativity or vision when these attibutes are normally given to midfielders that make teams hum- Ramsey was not one of those players imho.

Luther Blisset scored a few you know ...so did Heskey !

Juve have massively overpaid for Ramsey and will find that out in due course. We have to in future, move players on if they refuse to sign a new contract. No point in letting the contract wind down and see what happens.

If Kroenke wants his investment to strengthen, then he has to release substancial funds to the manager for transfers this summer. If not we will finish 6th every season, till someone else closes the gap and we fall behind them.

1 Petr Cech
20 Shkodran Mustafi
6 Laurent Koscielny (c)
18 Nacho Monreal
15 Ainsley Maitland-Niles
29 Matteo Guendouzi
34 Granit Xhaka
31 Sead Kolasinac
7 Henrikh Mkhitaryan
9 Alexandre Lacazette
17 Alex Iwobi
Subs

    4 Mohamed Elneny
    11 Lucas Torreira
    12 Stephan Lichtsteiner
    14 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
    19 Bernd Leno
    22 Denis Suárez
    49 Edward Nketiah

20 mins gone and it's a hard watch

Lol. Shocking stuff individually and collectively. Lacca squandering chances and possession, flicking the ball about like he's in the park and is more likely to hit a tree. Emery ought to be throwing a fu..ing insults around at HT cos the attitude is even worse the the performance so far.

As bad as anything we have seen in the last 10 years

Pathetic, they should hold their heads in shame

Arsenal have become the old Tottenham and are almost looking like a Pakistani cricket team. How could you lose to Bate?

of course they will blame the state of the pitch etc etc

Got what we deserved tonight. A spineless performance so lacking in heart or creativity that it was embarrassing. I thought we'd have to go some to put in a worse performance than the one against West Ham, but they certainly topped it. I agree with your sentiment enpassant, but I'd say it would be 30 plus years - back to dear old Terry Neill. Red card merited and a thoroughly stupid thing to do.

What makes it worse is that BATE are effectively in pre-season after their winter break. Going to be a struggle to qualify now given that we're almost certain to concede in the return leg.

It almost looked like we were trying to keep the tie alive because it was utterly stagnant play from beginning to end. Lacca was still doing his f..king flicks seconds before he got sent off - missed 2 sitters and could pass a turd ffs. If we were a team from the back of beyond it would be hard to argue against the accusation that we threw it.

*couldn't pass a turd !

Coming round to my way of thinking I see...
Took a while.

739pm post familiar....

More bland sh!te from you.

Indeed.
Long road ahead for you Enpassant. Behave yourself man eh.
Your post of 739pm basically said what I did a few weeks back. That you criticised me for.
Bland **** alright.

ZzzzzzzzzzzzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzZzz

No insight, no knowledge, not funny or interesting in any way....just bland.

That an attempt at wit?
Lol.
Hahaha.....

Read back your musings chump.
Laters.

ZzzzzZzzzZzzzzZzzzzz

It was literal you plumb

Plumb?
You mean plum?
Off you pop enpassant.

And enjoy the rest of your evening!

Soph you PLUMB- I thought you were gone for the night- I also thou zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Picking up on typo's is so intereesting, well certainly the most interesting your posts have been ZzzzzZZZzzzzZZ

At least trolls bring a bit of banter and feeling with their posts. Yours are shockingly blurghhhhhh

Right off on one now.
Struck a nerve again.
Hilarious.

Get a gold fish for yourself, it would probably be apt for you.

You should be thankful for the company/reply you pillock.
Your usually sat here talking to yourself.
Not a fellow Gooner worry wart in sight.
Days on end.

Even when you remind them all YOU WON.

Soph you're back !

Ahhh Soph you've been stalking me.....how sweet.

And on Valentines day too xxx

Carassius auratus - it's for you Soph- a match made in heaven !

Easier to hook you enpassant. Than the simple goldfish.

Just a simple one liner and your off the deep end.

Only the big fish allowed to pass comment on Arsenal,even if it is the same as previously stated up the thread.

What happened to 'laters' (really up to date with the roadman talk there Soph )?

Now your getting all excited someone actually engaging with you.
Golf delayed mate. Hanging on for that.

Cant beat a bit of late night banter eh...pity not much coming back but cant have it all I suppose!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wes... How many starts this season ? LOL... Nowhere near enough sadly and it shows !!!!

Blackrock ... I would expect Ramsey to be a big success @ Juve and will win more silverware there for sure.

Emp.. That was just an example. I think many of you underestimate him. Lets see how we get on replacing him ???

Still its all about opinion. Should have got rid of Ozil ages ago. Biggest bluffer for many a day. I wonder if one of the stats men could drag up some numbers on his performances in meaningful games ?

Last night showed exactly where we are at right now. Not looking good is it. Have we made any real progress in the overall scheme of things ?

Yes could have done with an average player like Ramsey last night! Somebody who might move the ball forward and get forward himself.

Could have done with Ramsey or Ozil last night, would be an improvemnt on Mhiki and Iwobi. No creativity in that midfield. Should start playing Ramsey every week and get some value for his wages at least. No point in dropping him any more.

It was shocking stuff alright. Either Ramsey or Ozil would have been an improvement last night but that fact is even more worrying because where does that leave us NOW ? Both have no future at the club and our current midfield look unable to impact on the attacking side. Mhikhitaryan should probably get his preferred role in the 10 position. I have no doubt we will progress to the next round though.
Our new signing; if he can't force his way into this dodge-pot of a side he has no future in football let alone with us.

Whatever Ramsey does at Juve (and good luck to him) it won't prove anything imho. Sanchez was given a free role and looked a world beater (Wenger done this to many an otherwise decent standard player). His Chilean countrymen demanded he leave and go to a 'bigger club'. Well he did and cannot get into the team under 2 managers. Juve look a cut above in Italy and Ramsey will likely get goals if given his head. All that aside he is not world class ( we appear to lack even one atm, though LT has potential to be one) and was not worth the money it would have taken to keep him.
Emery is in danger of getting himself into real bother much sooner than one might have expected as he is making very big calls and they are not coming off AT ALL.

Agree with you enpassant. It's alright making those calls when you are a on a long winning run as we were earlier in the season (though we were very fortunate in some of those games). You are hailed as something of a genius. When you leave out two of your most creative players and turn in a display like that, questions are rightly asked.

I don't hold your level of optimism that we'll actually turn this round. Leak a goal (which is more than likely) and we'll have it all to do. Having said that, the last manager beat this lot 10-2 over two games last season and we all know that he was totally hopeless, so it should be an absolute breeze.

Emery's press conference afterwards was interesting. One of his quotes was: "We worked. I am happy with the players as we worked and we tried." This is really alarming. I'm just hoping that he's shrewd enough to realise that calling out your players after a display like that is counter-productive (cf Sarri, Mourinho), and he is actually telling the players something completely different (i.e. the truth) at the training ground.

The early season optimism seems to have been washed away.

It's not time to judge Emery, that will come in 12months time. I'm hoping he'll show the door to a few of the usual culprits who have let us down so often, I'm thinking Mustafi and Xhaka especially. Both players cost a fortune and, other than glimpses of quality, have been poor.

How many players can put their hand on their hearts and say they've played to their potential? I like Sokratis, Lacazette tries hard, Torreira was exceptional but has dropped off since Christmas. Aubemeyang is good but inconsistent and then the likes of Bellerin and Koscielny have one good game followed by one bad one.

There's very little to be optimistic about really. We're absolutely miles off the top three teams, and things are going to take a hell of a long time to change.