There’s been a respectful period of adjustment at the Emirates that hasn’t exactly been enthusiastically observed by every Arsenal supporter.
Supporters have finally come to terms with how far the team is behind Manchester City and Liverpool and that it may take a few seasons before they can make a legitimate challenge in the premiership, but Emery is exhausting the patience of every Arsenal supporter with a series of erratic performances.
What’s needed at this point of the season is to select the strongest team and to keep it together week in and week out to find consistency and a style. Arsenal’s lineup is subjected to rotational and tactical changes and I’m of the mind that it’s having a detrimental effect on the team.
Ceballos is in and out, Torreira is no longer thought to deserve a starting spot and Bellerin and Tierney are being nannied to death.
The defence is still unstable, especially without the wing backs and it appears that Emery is none the wiser in what the most effective pairing is at the heart of his backline. The midfield doesn’t have permanence or solidity and I’m starting to question if the Spaniard actually knows what his best midfield line up is.
The European leagues tend to employ bigger squads and rotate them often but the most successful sides, in general terms, remain unaltered, bar changes due to injury, form or small tactical tweaks.
Wenger was often criticised for his lack of tactics and change, but it would appear that Emery would go as far as changing the groundsman or shirt sponsors on a fortnightly basis.
The results aren’t convincing and neither are the performances, with one half or another being decent, ambitious and flowing, whilst the other seems disjointed, sloppy and almost bereft of ideas.
Some fans will disagree I’m sure and although Arsenal are third in the table at this moment in time, things are going to get a lot tougher very quickly with the fixtures piling up.
If Emery is going to rotate, then do it in the Europa League (a second tier trophy), the FA and EFL cups, none of which are particularly at the top of my own shopping list but in the Premier League, Arsenal need to find their identity and style via a balanced, more settled team.
READ MORE:
Defender Overload At Arsenal Next Season As Emery Has To Decide Whom To Let Go.
Eight games and no Arsenal supporter can really say with any authority where Arsenal will end up at the end of the season with all the big encounters to come. One thing is for sure, this is going to be a defining season for Emery one way or another.
Raul Sanllehi has already identified Champions League football as a priority:
“We said to Unai that we just missed out on qualifying for the Champions League last year, but this year with a strong squad, we expect you to do that.”
It’s not only results that matter, it’s how they’re achieved. It always has been at Arsenal and for every Arsenal supporter.