It occurred to me sometime after the game, that once upon a time in a galaxy far far away, we used to get to see that every week. Those were the days.
Yeah this. Frankly, I'd be completely behind Emery even if we'd lost today. Today was just the cherry on top. In my subjective criteria for evaluating the manager, he'd be a success if we consistently played as good as we are. And in that way, Emery has completely exceeded my expectations. We're not a great team, but we're a good team that consistently plays well. We're winning the games we're supposed to win, and some that we're supposed to lose. Also, I don't have any of the reservations now that I was worried about earlier in the year. We're playing a different style now than we used to, but we're not making a fetish of it. We can get the ball forward into the opposition half at the risk of giving away possession, we can kick the ball long from the keeper when we have to, in situations where before it looked like we were forcing it to play the Emery way.
That's exactly what it is, I'd guess. You don't want to pay the 10th best player on the team 250K/week. Eg, I think Torreira is on 50K/week or thereabouts. As for Ozil and Miki, I think it's pretty clear that they wouldn't get the contracts they're on now under the new regime. As it is, they might not be here that much longer anyway. I think, or at least I hope, that the new regime is rationalizing the wage structure before we explode in the transfer market.
Well shit, it's nice to have a tactical manager. A double-switch and system change at half? Unheard of for the last decade. I've genuinely enjoyed watching our Arsenal against this season after several years of growing disinterest. I know there's lots of work to be done, but this is refreshing. Also... sign Ramsey up... ship Ozil out.
Right this second, I think our best team is the team we started the second half with, essentially playing 352. The downside is that when we've established possession in the opps' half and they're dug in, the creative responsibilities go away from Ozil and toward Bellerin and Kolasinac, which is probably a negative. On the other hand, the upside is that personnel and formation solves every other selection problem we have. Kolasinac doesn't have to defend. We get to use Ramsey for workrate and counters, not worry so much about positioning and technique. Lacazette and PEA are both on the pitch where they're supposed to be. The CBs might be lacking a bit for quality, so it's just as well we're playing with three of them. But this is all very specific to this moment and this exact squad. I certainly wouldn't extend Ramsey on account of it. Forget about Ozil even. When Monreal coming back this will shake things up at least a little bit.
Re your suggestion that Ramsey is the 10th best player on the club, It's very hard to compare forwards, to midfielders to defenders so any ranking between lines is speculative at best. As I mentioned earlier, I believe Ramsey is the second most creative midfielder on the team. If you look at production as an indication of a players ranking on the team, last season Ramsey was tied for third in league goals scored and tied for first in league assists. That doesn't sound like the 10th best player on the team to me. Re wage structure: IIRC A few years ago many on this forum were lamenting the fact that Arsenal were losing players because of Arsene's stingy wage structure. As long as Manchester Clubs and Chelsea are in the league, a return to a stingy wage structure almost certainly precludes any championships in the near future.
Yeah, that whole business about being the 10th best player, that's certainly not scientific and maybe a little unfair. But it's entirely fair to suggest that Ramsey's place on the pitch is contingent on having this particular squad available. For example, IIRC this was by far his best performance of the year. He's had cameo appearances in other games recently, and hasn't necessarily done well in them. Paying Ramsey Ozil-level wages creates the same political problem with Ramsey that we're going through with Ozil. If the performances aren't exceptional every week, his wage threatens the financial stability of the club. And, we foreclose the flexibility of selling him, because no other club can afford to take on his wages. So even though I thought Ramsey was outstanding today, it doesn't change my opinion regarding his long-term future at the club.
Lol Eric Dier tells Rambo to sit down. See you in the 2nd half, mate. pic.twitter.com/VXdelY36Vy— Poz (@PoznanInMyPants) December 2, 2018
I know the second half has us all wet, but I thought we were great in the first 20 mins as well. Both their goals were fortunate/gifted. We created a lot and had them pinned back. Iwobi should have scored and auba should have had another to put us up 3 before their first goal. I’m not sure what our best 11 is to be honest, but I like that Emery is willing to start what he thinks is the best against any opponent and then change that the moment it proves lacking. As for Ramsey, great performance off the bench. Of course this is the type of situation that is made for him. Visitors defending a lead, backs to the wall, front 6 going for goals, etc. it’s nice, but I also have faith that Emery can replace his output next season. One thing that just really impressed me was how Kola has come to life the last few matches. Just a few weeks ago he was the worst player on the pitch and couldn’t even make it 60 minutes. I can only guess that in nachos absence, Emery’s team has really work with him and the players to help him.
One difference between this regime and the Wenger era is that Wenger and the rest of them always tried to get by with the minimum possible resources it would take to achieve whatever he thought he could. On the other hand Emery is bringing as much as he can carry. The upshot is, we can take a bad bounce or a bad performance here and there because we've got some margin built in for us. It's pretty much been forgotten already, but Spurs' first goal was an error by Leno, and a pretty bad one at that. We've got enough in the locker to overcome that sort of thing now. That's a good thing, besides the win even, because we don't have to spend the next week groaning about why didn't we buy Allisson or Donnarumma or whoever. The people responsible can just deal with it and move on. (And between Cech and Leno, our goalkeeping has been as good as any team in the League so far this year, and we've needed every bit of it.)
Was for us as our second didn't sleep thru the nite until she was 3.5! But agreed - they are not so on your arm the whole time and you can get rid of the pram etc
Down to coaching with Kolasinac: the coaches have worked with Kolasinac so that he understands what he needs to do, and they've adjusted tactics to take his limitations into account. He's been really good lately.
I agree with the formation going forward except Ozil has to play in Ramsey's place. I'd rather have Ozil's creativity than Ramsey's work rate if Kolasinac and Bellerin are going to be playing behind them. Both are very mobile players with good endurance.
Shoutout Eric Dier for one of the finest Arsenal performances in a derby.Made up for his 1st half goal with a great finish for our third, then creates space for Torreira to score the fourth. Big performance. pic.twitter.com/N6xlweF9Ks— Lewis (@LGAmbrose) December 3, 2018
Loved this comment to a post on Deadspin about the THFC fan who got banned for throwing the banana peel at Auba.
Speaking as someone with grown children there is almost always something to look forward to, even in their rebellious teenage years. You will take immense pride in their successes. But a word of caution, you will also feel their failures and you will never stop worrying about them, especially the girls.