Arsenal, and not for the first time, are in a mess. The club seems to be going backwards which is unbelievable given how poor they were towards the end of Wenger's tenure. There's been no real improvement from the latter Wenger days and Emery has made the fanbase angrier with his team selection and treatment of Mesut Ozil.
One thing Wenger always seemed to have was the command and respect of the players. He'd built that up by being a great manager having won lots of trophies. Authority is earned through decision making and Emery seems to have no authority due to his bad decision making.
Fans had called for Emery to leave after the disastrous 4-1 Europa League final defeat to Chelsea. Their aim that season had been to get back into the Champions League but losing the final was not also to blame for not qualifying. Emery, putting all his Champions League eggs into one basket, chose some strange line-ups towards the end of the last season. The race for Top 4 was as open as it had ever been at the climax of last season and Arsenal, after picking up 4/15 points from their final five matches, finished 5th.
After a manager like Wenger leaves, the new manager is expected to be given some time to get his message through to the players. Arsenal had become spineless under Wenger with no fight from them but Emery hasn't changed that. He was meant to bring in fresh ideas after one man had been at the helm for 22 years but everything is the same as when Wenger left, maybe even worse.
Time is running out fast for Unai Emery and his treatment of Ozil is ridiculous but not surpising. When Emery has managed top clubs before, he has struggled to control the biggest egos in the dressing room. At PSG, it was Neymar and Cavani. With Ozil, he has taken the bold strategy to phase his completely out of the picture. There's no valid reason. He tells journalists that Ozil is looking good in training and doing the right things but he never picks him. The last time Ozil was in a matchday squad was the 24th September against Nottingham Forest, also the last time he played.
It would at least make more sense for Emery to leave Ozil out if they were playing well, but they clearly are not. Against Sheffield United they had no creativity in midfield with Guendouzi, Torreira and Xhaka starting. They are not the type of players that can unlock a door with a killer pass - something Ozil has made a living out of.
But now Ozil isn't even the biggest talking point at Arsenal. Step forward club captain Granit Xhaka. Upon being substituted against Crystal Palace, having been 2-0 up but were now drawing 2-2, fans began to jeer him. Xhaka through the armband to Aubameyang and walked slowly off. The fans were now on his back and booing him intensely. The captain cupped his hands to his ears, told them to "f**k off", took off his shirt and walked down the tunnel angrily.
This is the club captain. Supposedly the ambassador for the club in terms of on field respect. Xhaka hadn't played poorly, it was the fact that he was taking an age to get off the field when Arsenal had surrendered a two goal lead. Fans were wrong for jeering Xhaka but he was more in the wrong for swearing and responding to them.
Xhaka has never been a fans favourite. He has been a scapegoat at times for their poor performances but a captain should never react like that. It is clear that the Arsenal of old still reeks throughout the club and Emery has not been able to shut it out. What Emery does now will reflect upon him as a manager.
Emery has to take the captaincy away from Xhaka. There is no alternative. He disrespected the club and the manager's decision to substitute him. A captain does not behave like that and not be punished for it. Letting the players decide who is captain shows that Emery lacks authority as he didn't make the decision. It makes he seem like he was too scared to upset the players with his choice so he let them choose. A manager naturally has authority over his players, but they can easily lose it and Emery may have lost it.
The situation with Ozil doesn't look like being resolve any time soon. He is on £350,000 a week - why would he want to leave? The Xhaka debacle has thrown up another hurdle that Emery must jump over and combined with poor results and questionable team selection, Emery is close to going. The board have instilled their confidence in Emery but his contract is up at the end of the season. If Arsenal don't improve quickly, it could be a bad ebening for Unai Emery.
One thing Wenger always seemed to have was the command and respect of the players. He'd built that up by being a great manager having won lots of trophies. Authority is earned through decision making and Emery seems to have no authority due to his bad decision making.
Fans had called for Emery to leave after the disastrous 4-1 Europa League final defeat to Chelsea. Their aim that season had been to get back into the Champions League but losing the final was not also to blame for not qualifying. Emery, putting all his Champions League eggs into one basket, chose some strange line-ups towards the end of the last season. The race for Top 4 was as open as it had ever been at the climax of last season and Arsenal, after picking up 4/15 points from their final five matches, finished 5th.
After a manager like Wenger leaves, the new manager is expected to be given some time to get his message through to the players. Arsenal had become spineless under Wenger with no fight from them but Emery hasn't changed that. He was meant to bring in fresh ideas after one man had been at the helm for 22 years but everything is the same as when Wenger left, maybe even worse.
Time is running out fast for Unai Emery and his treatment of Ozil is ridiculous but not surpising. When Emery has managed top clubs before, he has struggled to control the biggest egos in the dressing room. At PSG, it was Neymar and Cavani. With Ozil, he has taken the bold strategy to phase his completely out of the picture. There's no valid reason. He tells journalists that Ozil is looking good in training and doing the right things but he never picks him. The last time Ozil was in a matchday squad was the 24th September against Nottingham Forest, also the last time he played.
It would at least make more sense for Emery to leave Ozil out if they were playing well, but they clearly are not. Against Sheffield United they had no creativity in midfield with Guendouzi, Torreira and Xhaka starting. They are not the type of players that can unlock a door with a killer pass - something Ozil has made a living out of.
But now Ozil isn't even the biggest talking point at Arsenal. Step forward club captain Granit Xhaka. Upon being substituted against Crystal Palace, having been 2-0 up but were now drawing 2-2, fans began to jeer him. Xhaka through the armband to Aubameyang and walked slowly off. The fans were now on his back and booing him intensely. The captain cupped his hands to his ears, told them to "f**k off", took off his shirt and walked down the tunnel angrily.
This is the club captain. Supposedly the ambassador for the club in terms of on field respect. Xhaka hadn't played poorly, it was the fact that he was taking an age to get off the field when Arsenal had surrendered a two goal lead. Fans were wrong for jeering Xhaka but he was more in the wrong for swearing and responding to them.
Xhaka has never been a fans favourite. He has been a scapegoat at times for their poor performances but a captain should never react like that. It is clear that the Arsenal of old still reeks throughout the club and Emery has not been able to shut it out. What Emery does now will reflect upon him as a manager.
Emery has to take the captaincy away from Xhaka. There is no alternative. He disrespected the club and the manager's decision to substitute him. A captain does not behave like that and not be punished for it. Letting the players decide who is captain shows that Emery lacks authority as he didn't make the decision. It makes he seem like he was too scared to upset the players with his choice so he let them choose. A manager naturally has authority over his players, but they can easily lose it and Emery may have lost it.
The situation with Ozil doesn't look like being resolve any time soon. He is on £350,000 a week - why would he want to leave? The Xhaka debacle has thrown up another hurdle that Emery must jump over and combined with poor results and questionable team selection, Emery is close to going. The board have instilled their confidence in Emery but his contract is up at the end of the season. If Arsenal don't improve quickly, it could be a bad ebening for Unai Emery.
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