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Arsenal may be in turmoil but all is not yet lost

Three games, three losses and three goals per game conceded all amounts to a team in a mess but now is not the time to panic, there is too much at stake for that.

We are not out of the race for a Champions League qualification spot despite the loss today against Leicester City, no matter the result in the Man Utd v Chelsea match we are still in with a chance of making Europe’s elite competition on two fronts.

The worst-case scenario is that we would be four points behind Tottenham and Chelsea in the league with just two games to go but to assume both those clubs will get those necessary three points is to ignore their respective poor performances recently.

But let’s assume they did, let’s assume we lose both our last two Premier League games and do not qualify via the league, we still have the Europa League route and in that competition, we do stand an excellent chance.

Valencia is no longer an elite Spanish side, they are very beatable and we showed against Napoli that no matter how poor we are doing domestically that we are formidable opponents in Europe.

We have a manager that knows the Europa League backwards, he may well have his faults in the English game but in Europe, he is a whole different fish entirely.

I am not saying that all is rosy in the garden, it is not, we have some huge issues but all is not lost either. Qualification to the Champions League is still very much in our own hands and we should not forget that.

Put today’s game out of your minds, stay calm and focus on the upcoming tie with Valencia, that is what Unai Emery will be telling the players in training tomorrow and as fans, we should do exactly the same.

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62 Comments

  1. 12 months ago we couldn’t beat atletico Madrid who didn’t even need to win the Europa to qualify for CL.
    Now we face a Valencia side whose CL qualification via league position is also out of their hands…
    Don’t forget, they have a few Spain internationals in their squad. We don’t even have one representing England.

    1. Spot-on

      For those who want Wenger back, be careful of what you wish for. Wenger managed Arsenal for more than two decades, yet he was unable to create a world class academy should be on a par with La Masia

      The quality of our youth development and scouting systems have brought us down to the 5th position and it could be worse at the end of this season

      1. “For those who want Ferguson back, be careful of what you wish for. Ferguson managed Manchester United for more than two decades, yet he was unable to create a world class academy should be on a par with La Masia”.

        FIXED.

        Just like Ferguson’s famed “Class of 92”, Barcelona had a golden age of La Masia. For nearly a decade now, Barcelona has relied on the buying of Super Stars rather than academy promotion. The last La Masia super star success was Messi and that was 15 years ago. Arsenal had series of players who joined as youth and made it here. Enough of this Wenger attack. Face your current manager who, for many is doing, “a miracle”.

  2. I would go as far as saying we are not an elite English side anymore either .
    Seasons a right off me ,can’t stand Europe league another cup for the money men to cream as much as they can out of football ,meaningless trophy unless you count the CL spot ,but let’s be honest the teams winning the EL don’t have a chance in the CL that’s why they are in it .
    Until we have an owner who understands that money is the only way forward ,then I’m afraid it’s deja vu for the coming seasons ,we all know the drill by now ,summer comes ,promises are made ,then we go into a new season like every other one ,just for it all to crumble ,off cup now again maybe but not a top team .
    What pisses me off was the promises made to us over a decade ago and fans that remember said promises are still here waiting for them .
    Today’s results and the past week are just evidence of what’s been accumulating for the past decade .
    Sorry state of affairs but what can we do .

      1. Lol ,not much I did arsenal,hibs and,Aston villa ,they all fcked me over .?
        Didn’t think it was possible for us to lose 3 in a row,won’t be making that mistake again ?

        1. Xxnofx, unfortunately as you state, without investment Arsenal will continue to fall down the table. Money talks. Teams such as Wolves, Leicester and Everton will be spending more due to their committed ownership and even Europa League may become out of Arsenal’s reach.

  3. I like your optimism Admin, I’m on the same wavelength! I too still believe this season can be salvaged! Valencia are a good team, are they better than Napoli though? Not sure about that! I don’t care that they’re only hope of Champions League football is too the Europa League, it doesn’t mean they’ll beat us! We seem to be a better team in the Europa League and Valencia are no Atletico Madrid.. if we bring our A game we could quite comfortably beat Valencia on Thursday which I think we will. This is a great opportunity for us fans finally to see European glory and younger fans who have never seen Arsenal triumph in Europe! Yes it’s not the champions League I know but a European trophy is a European trophy at the end of the day and it shouldn’t be frowned upon.

  4. I can’t understand why Iwobi had to come off instead of Laca. If we were going to come out of that game with anything, it was him. ??‍♂️Now it’s safe to say Emery has lost it. Let’s focus on the Europa semis and finals, hopefully that can be our route back to UCL.

      1. You thumbed up a troll there mate .
        I doubt iwobi will start ever again for arsenal ,if he does then it shows what kind of ambition our club as going forward .

        1. Xxnofx nah mate I was thumbing the focus on Europa League and route back to CL. Iwobi is useless ?

    2. ….. Dude, just stop this already. Laca has been shit lately especially in away games but we know his abilities and he can take the shot. Iwobi just flatter to deceive. How can you be a professional footballer and week in week out you don’t work on your weakness which is shooting,? I have never seen Iwobi doing any shooting practice in our training videos. Why? It’s because he doesn’t care enough to improve on that aspect of his game. He has has failed to score two goals against Crystal Palace and Leicester today.
      …That goal he missed today could have changed the game and the one against palace could have earned us a point. That miss today made Emery put him on the bench where he will be a lot next season when Emery gets wingers. He has shown he doesn’t want to improve despite the starts given to him which has made the coach look stupid for his trust in him. Iwobi has been disappointing and truly deserved to leave the pitch after that horror miss.

      1. That was a actually a very smart save with the feet from the GK, give him credit. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Iwobi’s strike other than it not going into the back of the net. It was on target at least, How far Laca’s effort on goal? Let’s start from there…

        1. What club will you be supporting next season when he leaves ?
          Cause we all know you think more of him than the club .

          1. Don’t hold your breath pal, Iwobi will retire and play a testimonial at Arsenal so I’m not worried

        2. …..How can you say that there was nothing wrong with his strike? Laca’s missed chance was far more difficult than Iwobi’s. You have been called a troll and I am beginning to believe that.

        3. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Iwobi’s strike!!!??? It was more like a gentle pass back to their freakin’ keeper! For all his size he’s got about as much power in his legs as a piccadilly tart!

        1. Haha let’s hope it stays like that now ? watched that cobra Kai well first episode ?

  7. Unai Emery is to blame for these losses. He knew Rob holding was injured for the rest of the season. He was Naive and arrogant to think this ageing defense would push through to the end. He brought in Denis Suarez but still continued playing iwobi. He has no plan A. Not offensive enough. Not bold enough with his formations. He should have signed an experienced central Defender in january to cover for the injured rob holding. Gary Cahill, Johny Evans should have been bought or loaned in january. He should have stuck to a 433 formation with a ruthless front 3 of lacazette, Aubameyang and Denis Suarez. He should have also gone for a box to box high energy midfielder in January. The EPL is a tough league. And when you are playing Europa, you have to have a big squad. Holding and welbeck were injured for the rest of the season. Unai Emery should have brought in Gary Cahill in January. And played Denis Suarez more in that front 3. No Plan A, always tinkering with formations. How could you play at home against Crystal Palace with 7 defensive minded players? If we don’t play in the Champions League next season, then Unai should be sacked.

    1. Just remember Emery came clean with us and said he had only been given funds for loans. How could he bring in defenders on loan and how many were available in the January window even for transfer?

    2. The board is not supporting when it comes to signings, that was the problem with Wenger and its the same now with Emery. When will you guys understand that board is not putting the money on the table ? I am hearing there will only be 45m for transfer this summer.. that can’t even buy a decent winger which we need desperately and tomorrow you will blame the coach for not buy a winger

  8. Now, let’s assume we get thumped Valencia and lose the last 2 games and then thumped again by Valencia and ultimately finish in sixth place again..

    Now, you can call me a pessimist if you like but, it’s a bit more believable I say. I wouldn’t put a serious bet on Arsenal winning the most simplest of ties right now because I’m a realist!!

    I’m used to lies, bs and the over bloated yap that comes from the club about progress and being able to compete with the best!

    A blind man can see this club are going backwards..

  9. Who thinks Valencia is a push-over is wrong.I watched them play Atletico Madrid,in Madrid.Same level,only a formidable long range kick made the difference.Valencia is way better than Napoli and conceding almost no goals in away games.Very dangerous on counter,with tricky players.The team is the same level in all compartments.No star players,all players are equal.I don’t think we will make it.1-1 in London,losing 0-2 in Valencia.In the final,Valencia will beat Chelsea.Spanish teams are the boogie teams for English sides.

  10. I can’t wait to rub it into the Spu faces when we win the Europa in Emery’s first season, and in the same year they moved into their new stadium (more seats than our place because they put it in the blueprints lol) What, you made the latter stages of CL, in a year that had poor teams going far with you lot being one of them. Some things never change, that is why I think we’ll win it, even in our worst seasons we can win more than they ever do, that is why we’ll do it, with Tott being the punchline even if the pundits refuse to see it.

    2. I would say Toreira too English game is very physical for him and Auba and possibly Laca they need to go because of age – since we lost Santi Arsenal is not the same and I really hope EDU comes in as DoT and brings in that Brazilian ingredients Sol Campbell said 10 players need to go will say maybe 15 to 17.

  13. Wenger back ………..my arse! Crisis? Yes. I was always giving Emery the benefit of the doubt but some of his team selections are shit. Persevering with Iwobi has its limits and he has passed those. Get rid. Mustafi is poor. Get rid. Monreal get rid. Mkhitaryan get rid. Xhaka get rid and the rest of Wengers low cost dung.

  14. I’m more than happy to put all our eggs in Europa League. At least if we win it then it will be deserved.

    I’ve always felt that, over 38 games, whoever finishes in the top four deserves it. But our form since Everton has changed my mind. A top four finish now would feel pretty hollow.

    Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to “cut my nose of to spite my face”. If top four is the only way we get into CL than I’ll take it (no matter how undeserving). I’m just saying winning Europa would be much more satisfying.

  15. Hard to believe,is not over yet….Watford or ( more likely)Leicester to draw ( or win) against Chelsea and we are equal on points.Which means is goal difference.Next game we need a lot of goals and a win in last game.That can be epic after so many losses.Troy Deaney,where u at?Vardy?Come on,man!

    1. or our old friends Barcelona…making Messi the all time scorer in UCL (even if is behind Ronaldo with 20 something goals)…

  17. Some posititive and hopeful thinking in this article and I would love to be able to agree that we have a chance still to make to four. We do, in theory, for the reasons laid out in the article. But we are fast running out of energy ,of players prepared to commit body and soul to our cause. Who do fans honestly, HONESTLY NOW, think HAVE given body and soul this season? Ramsey yes, Leno certainly, Torreira in the main. But Sokratis ? IMO only if you count the ability to wrestle. Mustafi? Snort of derision! And how about the two out and out slackers, Mkhi and Ozil? Double snort of derision! And here is the main problem we have still and have had for many years past; that so many players just do not fancy hard physical work. We all see how EVERY player in City and Liverpool give 100% every week. If they do not , then they are not picked. But we do not have the luxury of not picking slackers and so we field about half a team of men and another half of scaredycats, most weeks.

    Emery has not managed to change this regular occurence from the Wenger latter days, so the ONLY solution is to get the cowards – for they are cowards , let us not mince words – OUT THE DOOR, as quickly as we can. ON THIS CLEANSING THE DRSSING ROOM OF LAZY , TIMID, COWARDS, RESTS ANY HOPE ARSENAL HAS OF REGAINING THE PRIDE THAT OUR FORMER TEAMS OF ALL REAL MEN ONCE HAD ALL THE TIME. Clearing out the slackers, all of them, is the FIRST and most VITAL task! I remind fans that the word “cowards” includes players who have no moral courage and spine , not just merely those who lack physicality.

    1. I totally agree but who is going to buy our lazy sods especially on their wages.I can’t believe the supporters on this site slagging off Emery ,we still have a chance of a trophy and 4 th place and for some reason this isn’t good enough .

    2. Thank you Jon smith.

      You can imagine how I always look forward to reading your comments. They are always devoid of emotions and spot on.
      How come dedicated fans like are no where near the administration of our team.

      You are spot on as usual. Personally, I feel so bad and dejected about the situation of Arsenal. I worked morning shift today, didn’t get the chance to watch the match, only to check the scores later and saw that we lost 0-3 again.

  18. What? Each game you gonna look for other teams results til last game instead of ours? This draw MU – Chelsea & Spurs shows that we should be 4 points ahead of Spurs but we lost 3 games against so called average oponents.

    We wont have CL football from EPL because we simply do not deserve it nor we have team to make an impact in CL. Europe League win is only way but 2 steps to take, we wpnt.

    Only chance today is rely on others, WE killed all out chances in a dumb way 3 last games. if somehow 5 UK teams can qualify combining wins of CL by a UK team, we may have a chance if we finish 5th’. We more capable to not….

  19. To expand om post above whre I say we have cowards in our team, I WUOLD SAY THE SAME ABOUT MANY OTHER CLUBS IN TODAYS TOP, LEVEL FOOTBALL TOO. I am fast approching my seventeeth year and am used to having watched the beautiful game throughtout most of my life without ONCE thinking that ANY playrs anywhere are cowards. But thanks to the pampered lifestyle of todays material world and plentiful money at Prem level, that has fostered so many snowflakes in younger society, REAL tough men are now the exception rather than the norm. Much of it comes dowmn to what is widely accepted as “trying” by fans and esp by managers. Now I do NOT say that Emery accepts cowardice anymore than Klopp[ ,mor Guardiola do, both of whom have NO cowards playing for them. The key difference though , is that Klopp and Guardiola have real money PLUS a board and owners who actually WANT silverware and glory.

    Though many of our fans, esp on here, refuse to face this truth, it is the KEY MATTER HOLDING US BACK FROM BEING LIKE LIVERPOOL AND CITY. Sensible fans can easily see that Emery would not have chosen- not in a million years- to have cowards like Ozil and Mkhitarian strolling around the pitch half heartedly, and would FAR RATHER have fighters and warriors like FERNANDINHO , MIILNER, MANE, ROBERTSON, DE BRUYNE and so on, wearing our shirt with pride while FIGHTING 100% for the club. Only an idiot chooses cowards instead of warriors, GIVEN THE CHOICE. But Emery does NOT have the choice. Players need rests and have injuries and a depleted in talent squad like ours with a shambles of a defence FORCES Emery to have to play slackers and moral cowards at times, even mostly. This is perspective and clearly the truth. I hope that at least the large number of rational fans on here will give this post serious thought. The other, incapable of real thinking, fans please ignore it. It is wasted on you! Finally, no one man can be expected to produce courage in cowards . It cannot be done, even by near miracle workers like Emery.

    1. ?The players are not good enough; the majority lack professionalism (no personal pride in their performance), no pride in playing for the shirt and badge of Arsenal, no heart (drop their bundle at the first sign of adversity), physically and mentally weak overpaid pampeted pansies.
      I feel sorry for the fans who commit so much, financially and otherwise to make the effort to support home and away to watch such performances.
      In 57 years of following Arsenal, the last 3 seasons the players have “dogged” it.

  20. AMN was today the victim of an arrogant, incompetent referee who is making a name for himself for all the wrong reasons.Ok Leicester had the lion share of possession but most of that possession was in their own half until AMN was sent off when the game changed.I could not fau!t our players for a lack of effort with the exception of Mik who really has turned into a passenger.Anyone with any football intelligence can see that we are a team of slow, aging defensive players who cannot cope with any pacey forwards nor indeed simple free kicks or straight punts up the park by the opposition goalkeeper as demonstrated by Leicester today.Socrat is and Kocielney should be ashamed of their abject failure to deal with what is a schoolboy tactic.On a brighter note,if we do not win the Europa Cup and I do not think we will,hopefully it will encourage Emery and his support team to accelerate the departure of the woeful defenders he inherited from his predecessor together with the likes of Socratis, Lichsteiner etc.Sol Campbell was wrong to suggest that we need to get rid of ten players,He erred on the low side.

  21. The real issues here is that the board is not supportive of our transfer needs. A classic example is when Liverpool was building their team, at some point it was obvious that the needed a dominant center back and a goalkeeper to put the icing on the cake and what did they do ?! they spent 75m for a defender and 63m for a goal keeper. Arsenal is not even guaranteed 75m for its entire transfer budget this summer ( I hear is 45m or 70m if we get CL football) and you expect Emery to build a team capable of challenging pool and city.. with what money if I may ask. I think genuine fans here should be more concern about this rather what team Emery puts out there because he won’t play Van Dyke in the center of our defense because he is register with Liverpool and not answer and that is not Emery fault but the board or konkere if you like

  22. “but in Europe, he is a whole different fish entirely.”

    The reason Emery has been winning the Europa is because he constantly gets eliminated at the group stages of the UCL. In real terms, at the highest European levels, he has under-performed badly.

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