A Game Of Three Thirds

Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be able to report on an Arsenal victory! Yes, the mighty West ham United were put to the sword on their home ground by a rampant Arsenal on a cold and blustery East London evening.

Well, if only that were true...

For an hour, Arsenal were utterly abysmal, and I was starting to wonder if they were ever going to win another Premier League game. Because, and in case you aren't aware, West Ham are a really poor side; yet they were leading and frankly comfortably holding an Arsenal side that looked terrified to do anything with the ball. Which was bizarre, because West Ham were very happy to let them have it.

To be fair, Arsenal suffered a good deal of misfortune during that first hour, and not all of it was of their own making. Bellerin was forced to withdraw from the side during the warm-up, and Kieren Tierney fell badly onto a shoulder after a tussle with Antonio; hopefully it's minor, but it didn't look that way.

But as to what was of their own making; well, they looked very tentative in possession, moved the ball ponderously, and looked frightened to do anything but play the safe ball every time. The lack of confidence was quite obvious. And whilst West Ham are really not very good, they made far more of their far more meagre possession than Arsenal. In fact, I don't recall a single decent opportunity created throughout a dreadful first half, when it looked like the nightmare would never end.

Freddie had made some interesting changes, drafting in Chambers at centre-back for Luiz, and giving Martinelli his first Premier League start. Chambers was solid, and Martinelli found himself on the fringes from his left wing position for much of the first half, but still showed flashes of both ability and desire. The problem, however, is still in midfield, where Xhaka had a truly dreadful game; epitomised by an awful 30-yard cross-field ball that ought to have led to a goal. It looks like it's time for Guendouzi to come back in and replace him on Sunday. Torreira, however, was considerably better in a more withdrawn role; yet still looking to move the ball forwards when he could.

For the West Ham goal, which came from a corner, I counted no less than 5 individual Arsenal errors in a 10-second period. None of Martinelli, Aubameyang, Kolasinac, Xhaka (especially) and Maitland-Niles covered themselves in glory there. 

One would have expected Arsenal to have come out blazing in the second half, but for 15 minutes it was more of the same. It was clear that nothing that Freddie had said to them had made a difference, and that they needed to self-start; somehow. Because there is enough individual quality in the side to make the difference; especially - and I'll say it again - against opposition this poor. West Ham are possibly the worst side in the division, from what I've seen - although Watford are clearly pretty bad too, and I don't think much of Bournemouth either.

And then, after just under an hour, a switch was flicked. A flowing move from which Torreira's astute ball out wide found the overlapping Kolasinac, and his pull-back was side-footed home by the busy Martinelli, who had made an intelligent run. It just might be that the 18-year-old future superstar has been the one to kick start Arsenal's season.

And from then on the result was a foregone conclusion, as West Ham heads dropped and fatigue started to catch up with them. First Pepe, with a trademark cut in and left footed curling finish, and then Aubameyang (inevitably) - all three goals in the space of 9 minutes and something of the Arsenal swagger was back.

However - and I'll say it yet again - we have to take this result with a huge pinch of salt. The opposition was dire, and bigger tests are very close on the horizon with a wounded Manchester City - an entirely different kettle of fish - due at The Emirates on Sunday. It'll only be after that game that we'll be able to see if this result was anything more than a flash in the plan.

But for now let's bask in that rare feeling - we've actually won a game. So here's a thumbs up from Freddie!

I'll be back on Monday. Hopefully with a report on more good signs for this group. As they say, it's the hope that kills you.

Thank you. Next...

I went to the theatre last night. It was months in the planning. I'd reasoned with impeccable logic that there was no way that Arsenal were going to have a match on this particular Thursday evening;. Thanks, Amazon Prime...

I'd been looking forward to it for months. Sir Ian McKellen's farewell tour; a three hour one-man show from a genuine national treasure. And it was excellent - even if there was a little too much Shakespeare and not quite enough Gandalf. And I even got to shake the great man's hand during the interval!

So there I stood on the wrong Piccadilly Line platform at King's Cross St Pancras, watching Arsenal fans streaming onto the eastbound platform whilst my wife and I were waiting to go to Piccadilly Circus. A part of me was regretting missing Freddie's first home game in charge. But as it turned out, I'd made absolutely the right decision.

And it all went wrong once I got home. Having managed a 'news blackout' for the entire journey home, despite sitting in a train carriage with what I now realise were ominously subdued Arsenal fans, I foolishly decided to watch the midnight rerun on Amazon Prime.

And so it was, as I finally hauled myself off to bed at 2.30am - in a foul mood - that I realised that things are far worse than even I thought they were.

I'm not sure what Emery has done to this group of players, but they seem utterly devoid of confidence and frankly any idea of how to play football at this level. But it all goes back much further than that; over ten years of steady decline have now turned into a full-scale fall off of a cliff. I'm sorry to be proved right, but as I predicted as a worse case scenario the current ownership simply don't understand English football, nor the ethos of the great institution that is Arsenal Football Club. And as a result, they've set it back so far that it may be irredeemable in the near future; look how long it took Liverpool, for example, to get back to the top table.

Years of neglect and mis-management - including missing out on both Guardiola and Klopp in the past few years - since the move to the new stadium have left Arsenal miles behind where they should be and where they need to be. How they go about getting back there I wish I knew, but they need to be bold. Somehow, I suspect that the sort of resources they need to throw at this project is the sort of money that this owner is simply unprepared to spend.

And the foolish and short-sighted thing about it is that he bought the club as an investment vehicle, yet is presiding over a gigantic fall in the value of his investment. As I say he didn't - and doesn't - understand what is required.

And so to the game. It started OK; for about 10 minutes. Until Brighton realised that they  had absolutely nothing to fear.

I wasn't 100% happy with the team selection, which looked strangely shaped, but I did prefer it to the previous one. At least Torreira was in the side. But the combination up top looked and felt wrong, and the defence is inevitably a disaster waiting to happen. Coupling any combination of the available central defensive personnel with a refusal to insist on at least one central midfielder sitting and shielding them was simply asking for trouble.

And so it proved. It's going to take a lot to coach Emery out of this team, and the invitation to attack was very much taken on board by the opposition; the goal was coming and when it came was well-deserved. Arsenal were terrible, and got exactly what their meek play was asking for.

And so they left the field - not for the first or last time - to boos from the sparse crowd.

Understandably, Freddie made a change at half time, bringing on Pepe for the unfortunate Willock. It was a shame for the youngster to be scapegoated for an appalling first half team performance, but something had to be done after a new nadir in a season of nadirs.

And Pepe's introduction did make a difference. Suddenly, with the Fab Four all together, Arsenal started playing with verve and energy and equalised - albeit from a corner - as Lacazette's header looped in at the far post.

But then the switch went back off. I have no idea why. Did they feel that the job was done; because it most certainly wasn't. Foot back off the pedal, and Brighton were back in charge.

And the goal came as a result of lack of closing down, and of Luiz losing his man on the 6-yard line. But what options does a Manager have when Luiz is arguably the best of the centre-back options he has available? And so Arsenal huffed and puffed after that, but never quite looked like getting anything out of the game; and left the field to even more boos from the 10,000 or so who stayed to the bitter end.

If this was part of an audition for Freddie to get the job full-time, I'm afraid that he has failed it already. As he himself said afterwards, the players are lacking in confidence, but surely it is part of his job to reinstill it. There has been no 'new manager bounce' here. As it turns out, selecting Freddie as interim has been like Spurs plumping for Tim Sherwood, or Everton for Big Dunc.

A look at the league table shows that Arsenal are in dreadful form. No wins since early October, and now on their worst run for fully 40 years. A series of draws and defeats against sides they should be dealing with comfortably.  Please note, by the way, that this one was Brighton, 16th in the table and on the back of three successive defeats. They've lost to Watford and Brighton, and drawn with Norwich and Southampton. Teams that under any normal circumstances Arsenal should be taking care of with little difficulty. No more is that the case, and this is freefall; relegation form.

How they are going to turn this around I do not know. Of the mooted candidates I'd want Rodgers, but why on earth would he leave Leicester City now, for any money? But one thing is for sure; an experienced Manager needs to be appointed; and damn quick!

It's West Ham on Monday. And Everton quite soon. But I'm not sure it matters who they are up against for the foreseeable future. I think they'd struggle against Vanarama oppostion at the moment. And it gets worse, because over the next few weeks they have to face City, United, and Chelsea (twice). Quite where they'll be in the table after that little lot is anybody's guess.

I'll be back Tuesday, as the West Ham game is on Monday. I'm going back to bed.

Plus ca change

Plus ca change... or same old, same old...

New manager, new start; one might have hoped for. But whilst one could detect some improvement in the way the team was asked to play it is clear that there is no quick fix; and certainly not one that a couple of training sessions could sort out.

I can't imagine that anybody could have guessed the line-up at Norwich with any accuracy. Freddie was as full of surprises as his predecessor, with the inclusions of Kolasinac, Mustafi and Xhaka all difficult to anticipate. The reversion to 4-3-3 seemed sensible, but square pegs were being fitted into round holes; and in the case of the defence, entirely the wrong-shaped pieces!

Despite my misgivings about the personnel chosen, I was pleased with the start the team made. They were looking to pass the ball more quickly - and indeed forward - far more than before. And they should probably have been at least one goal up before the inevitable happened. My fault, actually; I was just thinking that that attitude and speed of play looked promising, but I'd be interested to see how they'd react to going behind... when that's exactly what happened.

And in a season-long theme, this was an entirely preventable goal. As, I may add, was Norwich's second - plus a host of other chances that Arsenal offered up. As we've seen before from this group, a combination of losing the ball, failing to track back and pick up runners, defenders failing to close down the man with the ball... it all added up once again to another busy afternoon for a beseiged Bernd Leno.

The key, of course, is not to over-commit going forward, and Freddie needs to look at that. If there's any comparison with an Emery set-up, it's that the full-backs, encouraged to push very wide and far forward, left gaps in behind that the central midfielders were unable to plug (and that's where both Norwich goals came from). As we've seen before far too often, the central midfield was conspicuously absent when they were needed. And that's why I'll say, at this point, that Torreira is a key member of the squad and the sooner Freddie realises that, the better.

Fortunately some mental fortitude - and a slice or two of good fortune for the first equaliser - meant that they got out of town with a point. But make no mistake, the team is lacking in organisation and confidence, and is currently in relegation form with just 4 points from its last 6 matches and no win since early October. That's what got Emery the sack, and that's what Freddie has to sort out.

Here's a list of immediate requirements:

Personnel 

• Calum Chambers is not a right back; don't pick him there. The sooner Bellerin gets fit again, the better
• Mustafi should be nowhere near the first team. He is a massive liability. Whilst Sokratis has been fairly woeful all season, he is still a considerably more reliable defender than the German. And David Luiz is... David Luiz. 'Mercurial' would be a kind description for a man always with a mistake in him. The trouble is, who do you leave him out for? Either way, any combination of Luiz, Sokratis, Mustafi, Chambers and Holding is unlikely to give Premier League attackers sleepless nights. What could be worse than pairing Chambers and Holding ? They can't do much worse than what we saw at Norwich
• Adding the unreliable defending of Kolasinac into that mix was an error. Tierney must play
• As alluded to above, Torreira should be one of the first names on the team sheet. Of the midfield personnel Arsenal possess, he is the only one who could genuinely be regarded as having the mindset of a defensive midfielder. Which is of course the reason why Emery wanted him to play further forward (oh, and that was irony...)
• You know what you're going to get from Xhaka. Which is not quite enough, due to his lack of mobility. However, when Guendouzi has a bad day - as he did at the weekend - you start to wonder if he needs a rest. Or if not, a lot more coaching on positional awareness, strength in the tackle and tracking back
• Ozil on the wing? I'm sorry, but no. He doesn't have the pace for it. Put him in the hole
• Lacazette; an enigma. Effective at home; poor away. Makes no sense. He escapes the away day criticism that Ozil gets, however, and I'm not sure why
• I'd seriously look at giving Martinelli a Premier League start. A star in the making

Tactics

• With the team lacking confidence - and speed of thought when the ball is lost - I'd sit Torreira in front of the back 4 and tell him he's not allowed over the half-way line. I'd look to play Willock (for his energy) close to him and Ozil a bit further forward
• What happens in Transition is what is hurting the side most. That's what needs to be drilled into this side; how to respond to losing the ball
• Up front, things should take care of themselves. Aubameyang, plus any three from Lacazette, Martinelli and the invisible man, Pepe, should do the trick. Positional rotation from that group will keep defenders on their toes. The key to keeping the score down is what goes on behind them. Hopefully, the energy of Torreira and Willock will deal with that

New Manager

As I said in my last piece, an experienced man is vital for the team at this stage. And here's something to ponder; if a club are happy to fork out £50-70m on a striker, what's the problem with paying a £14m release clause to get your man? Brendan Rodgers, please. ASAP. Or Poch (no release clause!). Or at a pinch perhaps Rafa Benitez. Experience is key.

Transfers

It's going to take a while to sort this squad out. After the last window, we thought that Arsenal had done well, but a centre-half is desperately needed in the next window (no, we cannot wait for Saliba) and hopefully by then some confidence will have been restored by Freddie. But he has to get the right pegs in the right holes!

It's no fun being an Arsenal fan at the moment, is it? Until Friday, post-Brighton. 

We love you, Freddie!

And so the axe has finally fallen. And not before time! Hallellujah!

The performance and result - and possibly the size of the crowd - were the final straws for Arsenal's owner and Board. The fans had, of course, had enough long before now.

There's no point going into detail about the Frankfurt match, except to say that it followed a familiar, depressing pattern. But it was clear beforehand that pretty much everybody had given up on Unai Emery, and that it was only a matter of time before his head finally went onto the block.

Certainly the fans had seen enough weeks ago, players were hardly knocking themselves out (see Lacazette's reaction to his equaliser at the weekend) and the Board have finally been forced to act (I understand that it was Stan himself who cocked the bullet for Vinai and Raul to pull the trigger). There's negligence from the Board here; it was clear that there was no turning back weeks ago, so why not do the deed during the Interlull?

Questions were being asked after the capitulation at the end of last season. And the summer honeymoon ended at Watford - quite some time ago. And it's been downhill from there.

So what's next? Well for starters, there's Freddie Ljungberg. And for my female readers, I offer you this:

That photo, of course, is from his days as the face of Calvin Klein... and it's a damn fine reason to give any man a job, in my wife's opinion. As she said to me earlier: 'You can keep your Mourinhos - it's no contest!'

I'm not really sure what we can expect from such an untested individual, but he knows the club well, can speak perfect English, and can be expected to stamp something different on the team. Perhaps with the aid of that other heart-throb, the ubiquitous Robert Pires. But he doesn't have the requisite badges, and so must surely be merely a temporary measure whilst a new man is sought.

Freddie has quite a task on his hands, but his first thoughts as imparted to the press were that he wants to put a smile back on the faces of everyone associated with Arsenal, and that would be an excellent start.

There's a lot of chat out there about the 'short list' of possible candidates, but from what I read it's made up of Allegri, Rodgers, Ancelotti, Arteta and Nuno Espirito Santo. Each of them has both Pros and Cons, and I'll  run down the most important of them before I give you my verdict; the man I'd like to see taking over - and why.

Max Allegri
Pros                                                                       Cons
Vastly experienced                                                Doesn't know the Premier League
Knows how to set a team up defensively                 Language skills untested

Brendan Rodgers
Pros                                                                       Cons
Went close to winning the title with Liverpool     Had 'only' won trophies at Celtic
Has transformed the Leicester squad                    Didn't come over well in 'Being Liverpool'

Carlo Ancelotti
Pros                                                                       Cons
Vastly experienced in many leagues                      Is getting on a bit
Won the title with Chelsea not long ago               Query whether his methods have been superseded
                                                                                                     
Mikel Arteta
Pros                                                                       Cons
Been learning under a master coach                      Has zero managerial experience
Knows Arsenal and the Premier League well     

Nuno Espirito Santo
Pros                                                                       Cons
Has done a fine job at Wolves                               Not done quite so well elsewhere
                                                                           Jorge Mendes connection taints him

Of other possibles mentioned in the media, Pocchetino would be unlikely (but OK by me), Benitez has no reason to leave his vast salary in China, Eddie Howe is just a No, Chris Wilder would be left field, and the likes of Freddie, Paddy and Thierry are simply lacking in the requisite experience and gravitas for the job at this stage of their careers (despite knowing the club very well). Tuchel or Ten Hag, anyone? They're not being mentioned at the moment.

And before I name my preferred candidate, a word about the owner and the Board. And it is that he/they need to very quickly get with the times and change their outlook on football, and Arsenal's position in it in particular. More decisive action is required, from decisive individuals, starting right now. It is time to start with a clean slate in order that the club does not go down the route that Manchester United went down. Lessons must be learned from that, and this managerial appointment is crucial for not just the rest of this season but for possibly the next 15-20 years. Once you slip, it's a very slippery slope and it's very difficult to climb back up it.

And my preferred choice is... Brendan Rodgers.

Reasons: He knows the Premier League well. He has transformed the Leicester squad from an underperforming rabble under Claude Puel; he is ambitious; his teams play attractive, progressive football and despite the current trajectories of the two sides Arsenal is a bigger club than Leicester City and is likely to remain so for a considerable time.

I'm expecting disagreement... But here we go. I've said my bit, and I need to get this out into the ether. I'll be back Monday.

What Are They Waiting For?

Another match day - another disappointing performance and result. This is getting to be very repetitive.

So, after an Interlull that saw the Arsenal decision-makers back their man - but a major managerial change elsewhere (I'll come back to that) - ended with another limp display from an Arsenal side devoid of confidence and, from where I sat, as poorly set up and badly coached as ever before.

The decision to go with 5 at the back against a side languishing at the bottom of the table, and who had recently lost a game 9-0, baffled everyone I spoke to. If there was ever an opportunity to play Ozil, Aubameyang, Lacazette and Pepe in the same team then this was it; 4-2-1-3. But there's little point in trying to guess what Emery is going to come up with.

And yet, despite having three central defenders, Arsenal found themselves a goal down in under 10 minutes. And despite working their way back into the game it was clear to me that tactics were at a premium. Some players pressed the ball; most did not. The central midfielders showed little or no discipline, and Southampton's three continually passed the ball around Arsenal's two - and with considerably more tempo too I must add. The full backs were pushing on so far that the outside flanks of the central defenders were continually exposed. At least one of the forwards was having to continually drop into midfield to help out or even to get a sight of the ball. There were gaping holes in Arsenal's central midfield - yet again. Everything Arsenal did - with the exception of Tierney's movement on the left - felt laboured.

Bringing Pepe on at half time left everybody wondering why he hadn't started. As much as anything else, leaving him out is another example of poor man management to go alongside that of Ozil, Xhaka and Torreira over the past few months. And don't get me started on Ramsey from last season!

To be fair, as a result of the change of formation Arsenal did look better and played with considerably more freedom for a while - until the inevitable happened and Southampton re-took the lead. A definite penalty - yet another one conceded! - and it's worth analysing the reasons why the team does give so many away. I think it's simple - lack of proper cover from midfield leaves the defence exposed time and again. The results are inevitable.

So Arsenal huffed and puffed, and got their equaliser (in front of a three quarters empty Emirates Stadium); yet barely celebrated it. And the game ended to a chorus of boos, as the first half had. Yet another draw, 4 wins out of 13, and below Sheffield United, Burnley and Wolves in the table. And over the past month it's frankly relegation form. The chants of 'We want Emery out' are getting louder on a match by match basis.

The issue isn't just the results. It's the lack of clarity of style, of execution, of thought process. I don't know of a single Arsenal fan who doesn't want a change of Coach at this point. The next three games are as winnable as this one was - Norwich, Brighton, West Ham - but I have no confidence in 9 points being delivered. And after that? Manchester City, Chelsea twice and Manchester United in the space of 5 weeks!

Now don't get me wrong; I've got nothing against Unai Emery as a person; he seems a perfectly decent chap. I just feel that he can't coach or man manage - not at this level at least. And despite having backed him only two weeks ago, I wonder if the decision-makers are already having second thoughts. Something needs to be done to cut the levels of negativity and toxicity inside the ground, and an evident lack of confidence amongst the players - almost as if they've stopped playing for or believing in this Coach - would indicate that it's not going to come from them.

The latest statement from the #WeCareDoYou group sums up how Arsenal fans feel at the moment, with matters both on and off the pitch not meeting our expectations. Here's a link to it, via @arseblog. https://arseblog.news/2019/11/wecaredoyou-issue-new-statement-as-arsenal-crisis-deepens/ - I am 100% in agreement with it.

We are of course not privy to what goes on at London Colney, but if we can see the issues, it defies belief that the decision-makers cannot. It is clear that Emery is on borrowed time, but the question is: How long has he got?

And that brings me on to major managerial changes, and the decisive - not to say divisive - action taken at Tottenham Hotspur. There are many things that one can say about it, and that's been well-documented elsewhere, but I would say this:

This type of change of Coach often starts a merry-go-round, and there is no reason why Arsenal should not take the opportunity to jump on it. Having foolishly missed out on both Guardiola and Klopp in the last 6-7 years, and with a change clearly required, now is surely the moment to move. Especially with up to three other Premier League clubs perhaps also about to make a change. And would I take Poch, in the unlikely event that he want to come; the answer is Yes. Of course, most Spurs fans wouldn't have taken Mourinho given the choice, so one has no choice; but I'd be happy with Poch. At least he'd organise us!

And talking of Mourinho, he's now done the treble, and the axis of evil is complete. The man has now managed Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. He's done the treble of the three teams in almost every Arsenal fan's Most Hated. He is the Darth Sidious of football.

And so on to Thursday and, I suspect, the smallest Emirates crowd in history. Arsenal qualified, Frankfurt fans banned, Ticket Exchange disabled, and it'll be cold and wet. 20,000 if you're lucky, and a possible glimpse into the future if action isn't taken.

And then on to Norwich away. Three points? Don't bank on it.

They Call It 'Noise'?

So, as anticipated, Arsenal slumped to defeat at Leicester over the weekend. There's plenty to analyse, and lots of fallout since then.

The 'new'/old formation of playing three at the back, tested in Portugal (with different personnel) the previous Wednesday, got a runout, and whilst one could see the logic in it, it does very much depend on the personnel and to me it simply looks like Arsenal do not possess sufficient quality at centre-back, irrespective of the formation. Chambers did OK - notwithstanding that he lost Vardy for the crucial first goal - and Luiz would be the natural choice for the middle of the three - but Rob Holding was poor, unfortunately (isn't it funny that a player is always remembered as being better than he really is when he's out injured for a while?).

Bellerin needs games in order to get back to his best - he's much better going forward than defending in any case - and Emery's decision to play Tierney on Wednesday and Kolasinac at the weekend was frankly baffling.

In midfield, the enforced absence of Xhaka and the injury to Ceballos left Guendouzi and Torreira as the default starters, and further up the field Ozil got the start he deserved just behind Aubameyang and Lacazette.

I've got no gripes with that team selection, to be honest. It was worth a go. However, the passive way in which the team was asked to play meant that it frankly didn't matter what the formation was. From the very first minute it was clear that there was to be no 'press' - and this was something that we all thought that Emery's teams were reknowned for - as the forwards and midfield took up their positions but did not approach the ball. And it didn't take long for Leicester to realise that they had a lot of time available to do their thing as they slowly but surely pushed Arsenal back.

This tactic of inviting teams on is something that I simply cannot get to grips with. Even in my extremely low standard Tuesday evening game players do what comes naturally and close down the man in possession. Yet up against players of the quality you find in the Premier League Emery just lets the opposition get on with it. And this has to have a lot to do with the fact that Arsenal are constantly out-shot by their opposition; and it makes no sense whatsoever to me.

However, Lacazette missed two gilt-edged opportunities midway through the first half, and it felt like one of those days that at least one of those chances had to be taken. And it also felt like it would only be a matter of time before the pressure told on the Arsenal rearguard, as Leicester's confident midfield wore away at what was in front of them.

When the first goal went in, I think that all Arsenal fans knew that the team's number was up. With the second, it was absolutely all over, and there was simply no response whatsoever from Arsenal. One shot on target all match, and that a feeble, scuffed effort in the 20th minute, sums it up as another ultimately disappointing performance.

So to then hear from the manager - and then later from the Board (as briefed to the normally reliable @David_Ornstein) that they felt that Arsenal had been in control until Vardy's goal... well, I don't know what game they were watching, as I was getting more and more nervous on my sofa the more the game went on.

And there was more disappointment to follow. We'd all got ourselves up to believe that with the slump in results, with personnel issues throughout the squad and the dressing room splitting into cliques, with the statistics worsening with every game and with every passing week indicating that this manager is not up to the job, that the Leicester game might be the watershed that forced the Board's hand. Not that any proper Arsenal fan would want the team to lose, I must add; simply that the gap to top four is widening, and that it is plain that action needs to be taken before it's too late.

Yet the brief that Ornstein was given was that the Board continue to believe in Emery - contrary, I would say, to ALL the evidence - and are prepared to give him until the end of the season. At which point it will almost certainly be far, far too late and Arsenal's slide from great team a mere dozen years ago to mid-table mediocrity will simply gather pace. In which case they are following the pattern of the previous set of decision-makers; that of sitting on their hands and hoping for the best. They will be culpable, of that let there be no doubt.

To make things worse, Ornstein then wrote that the Board feel that their 'project is sound, well-planned and will bring success, provided the external atmosphere allows it to do so', and that they 'accept that the absence of domestic matches will increase the "noise" around Emery and they are determined not to let it influence their thoughts or actions.' In other words, they appear to be blaming the fans - and thus disappear all the Brownie Points they had gained over the summer and in the early weeks of the season. Cue angry protests and thousands of empty red seats, I would imagine. Clearly, it's the fans who pick the team, coach them and send them out twice a week playing with no defensive shape, little ability to shield the defence and with a paucity of creativity as the cherry on top. I hadn't realised!

I can't put it better than @arseblog when he wrote this morning that 'perhaps the Arsenal board should take note of the fact that Brendan Rodgers was only appointed in February 2019, and in that time has done more to improve the team than Emery has in 18 months at Arsenal. In fact, he's a very good example of how changing a coach can bring improvement. He couldn't use the transfer market when he took over, he just coached his players better than Claude Puel and connected with them in a way that the Frenchman could not.' It's also worth chucking in here that Rodgers lost his star centre-back in the summer and was not permitted to replace him; but he just got on with it, with the players at his disposal.

One can only hope that it turns out that the statement from the Board is the dreaded Vote of Confidence... the one that precedes a change of coach, that is. But it doesn't look that way.

To compound the sinking feeling that Arsenal fans are going through on a match by match basis, what a terrific match Liverpool and Manchester City served up! There's not as much between the sides as the 3-1 scoreline would suggest, but that's where Arsenal were a dozen or so years ago - fighting it out at the very top of the table with their main rivals, and putting on a show of high energy, tempo and skill of the very highest level. How I long for those days!

And think about this; just over 4 years ago, when Jurgen Klopp left Dortmund, Arsenal had the opportunity to bring him in to replace Arsene Wenger - just as they had with Guardiola two years before then. They sat on their hands - as they are doing now - and look at the result.

There's another dreaded Interlull this week. See you after the real football re-starts - unless there's good news, that is...

I've Seen More Than Enough Now

Post Wolves: I've been sitting at my keyboard for the best part of five minutes now, not really knowing where to start without finding myself repeating myself yet again. But in summary... I think that Arsenal are in a negative spiral that is going to need drastic action to avert a very disappointing season. I have not had a 'good ebening'.

From where I was sitting the team, and particularly the manager, got exactly what they deserved against Wolves. The only bright spot was the restoration of Ozil to the team (although if the whole thing with Xhaka hadn't blown up last week I'm not sure we would have seen that) and as we all know the guy simply oozes class. We saw some good defensive work from him too.

As for the negative, I simply could not fathom the formation all game. Was it 4-4-2, 4-1-2-1-2 with a diamond, or 4-3-3? All I could see were massive gaps in the midfield once more being afforded to the opposition for exploitation. Picking the personnel he did, why was Guendouzi (who had a particularly poor game and is not suited at this stage of his career to receive the ball facing his own goal) at the base of the diamond and not Torreira? What precisely was Ceballos's role? And what remit had been given to Ozil?

What we did see was the by now traditionally slow start. I can't understand why it seems to take the team 10 minutes to work the opposition out (Palace game excepted) when what we know of Emery is that he does lots and lots of homework. But if that's truly the case I'm really not sure what questions he is asking himself, as Wolves were all over Arsenal for the first dozen minutes and were unlucky not to be at least a goal up; if not more.

During the course of the game we saw - once more - all that is wrong with Emery's Arsenal. They took the lead (and for the fourth time in three matches squandered it), probably against the general run of play, but Emery's innately conservative tactics and lack of clarity meant that the equaliser was inevitable.

And this time things were worse, for it was as a direct result of the bizarre decision to replace Torreira with Saka and Arsenal's failure to adjust to the new formation that they conceded just three minutes later. Two things immediately wrong with that decision:
1. Why change the formation to something more attacking when in front with 20 minutes left, and 2. Why (yet again) replace Torreira when Guendouzi was having a shocker?

And then... and then... with less than 10 minutes to go, and with the players pushing hard for the win, the only thing Emery could come up with was to swap his left backs? Mortifying.

The sad facts that sum the match up are that Arsenal had just 10 shots compared to 25 by Wolves, and that after the 32nd minute Arsenal did not have a single shot on target. This simply isn't acceptable, and rather than making progress performances are now going backwards.

As for what Emery said in his press conference - surely he was watching a different game to the one I saw. I disagree with all the following: 

'We worked on different tactical situations well today.' No, you didn't!

'We didn't concede a lot of chances in transition.' Yes, you did!

'When we were winning 1-0 we knew in one moment they could score and they did.' This is a conservative/negative outlook and it's not good to show this to the players. They were at home to Wolves; not away to Manchester City!

...' tactically I think we worked how we wanted.' Really? Then you really do have a problem!

For all that the introduction of Ozil gave the team a shot in the arm, the rest was turgid, mundane and predictable. And it means that all the optimism that the summer transfer window engendered has now dissipated, with those raised hopes making things even more disappointing.

So that's two points out of the last 9, garnered from league games with Sheffield United, Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers, when it would have been reasonable to expect at least 7. And not forgetting the fortunate Europa League win and demoralising cup defeat at Anfield sandwiched in between.

I'm not sure what those in charge are waiting for, as far from taking advantage of the current woes of Tottenham and Man United, Arsenal are outside the top four and allowing Leicester to pull away from them. And the next game? - Leicester away... massive; and I'd expect Leicester to win and thereby open up a gaping 9 point gap!

It is evident that the players are confused by what the manager is trying to get them to do, and the Xhaka incident and the fallout from it suggests that he is now starting to properly lose the dressing room as well. The optimism we all had, based on the clearing out of some of the more expendable players and the signings of Tierney and Pepe, plus all the hopes built around the likes of Willock, Nelson, Saka and Martinelli... they're all gone now.

Sure, it depends on one's expectations, but based on the summer we had I think that we could reaonably have expected progress towards a genuine challenge for a top four spot. We've had these personnel issues centreing around Ozil and now Xhaka (the whole captaincy vote thing struck me as utterly bizarre), but aside from those I think that most fans are struggling to see any clearly defined style of play. We are just not sure what Emery is trying to do, and I don't think that the players know either.

We knew that there would be problems coming out of the 22-year long 'legacy' management dynasty of Arsene Wenger - look at Manchester United to see what may await Arsenal FC - but it is clear that whilst he may have looked like the answer 15 months ago, Emery is most definitely not the answer. The honeymoon finished a year ago, the relationship looked on the rocks after the disastrous finish to last season, and for all the excellent 'marriage guidance' in the summer old habits have since been reverted to.

What's to be gained by waiting for the inevitable loss at Leicester (which will be followed by another 'interlull')? Emery out. Now. Before it's too late. Because failure to qualify for next year's Champions League will see Aubameyang and Lacazette on their way, and Arsenal will find themselves facing Tottenham-like levels of time spent in the football wilderness.

But, please, no, not Jose Mourinho. No. No. No. No. No! I don't have to spell out why.

Until next week.

#emeryout