Mustafi and Sokratis together don't work, Bellerin is as blind as a bat and Monreal is trying to defend on his own. No semblance of a team out there at all at the moment.
By the way, if rumours are true that Ramsey rejected a new deal because he wanted higher wages, he is going to have to perform a lot better than he's done today. A lot of fancy trick and skills, but produced nothing of substance at all.
Bellerin has by far been the worst player on the pitch. Unbelievable lack of discipline and composure.
Badly needed three points,but a tough watch.West ham will probably wonder how they lost that.Long hard season ahead don't envy Emery his task.Major investment required.
3-1. FT. Much improved second-half performance, although admittedly we started to play a lot better when Arnautovic came off injured. He was running our defence ragged. Mustafi and Sokratis must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when he was subbed off! Welbeck and Lacazette both looked sharp when they came on, and Torreira's ball retention was good. Bellerin didn't have a good game in the slightest, but provided the assist to kill the game off. Not a hugely convincing performance, but I'm just happy to get our first 3 points of the season
Much needed 3 points. Can’t say we played well. Defensively still all over the place. West ham had more chances than us for the first hour or so. What stands out to me is just how many average players we have in this squad. As said earlier, we need to invest heavily just to challenge for the top 4.
Jack Wilshere said in the week that it was up to him to prove why Emery shouldn't have let him go. Hate to break it to him, but all he did was prove that Emery was right in letting him go. He was non-existent in West Ham's midfield today and I was actually shocked that he stayed on the pitch for as long as he did. Not only did he commit cynical fouls and struggle to fulfil his defensive responsibilities in that deeper midfield role, the one thing he's supposed to excel at - dribbling - was not really showcased. And the times when he did try to dribble, our midfield won the ball off him with relative ease. He just doesn't have the stamina or the presence to succeed in a box-to-box role.
Didn't see the game but listened to the 2nd half on the radio. Sounds like we were a bit lucky to go 2-1 up, but pleased to see us kill the game after that. Also, as has been mentioned, this is a big 3 points for us. It gets us off the mark, gets the negativity off our backs and gives the whole club a boost of confidence going into the Cardiff game Emery looks like he's definitely trying to work out his best team. For me Torriera, Lacazette and Aubameyang need to be in that starting XI
Much needed 3 points there and sometimes you need a little luck. This match goes to show how tough the task is ahead for Emery. Our defence is still looking rickety and this will probably take some significant time to settle but at least our attacking is looking better!
I think West Ham are actually looking fairly decent. Very unlucky to have lost their first three games - Pellegrini is a good coach. I think City, Chelsea and West Ham (2 london Derby's) is one hell of a tough start for Emery. We have to give him time to adjust his team, make tweaks and for the players to learn his system.
Personally, I don't think Emery will lead us anywhere near the promised land. I also do not think, there would be an improvement on Wenger's last 2 season. in fact I expect a regression this season and maybe the season afterwards. From what I have seen so far, I can see us easily losing to the likes of Everton, Bournemouth and most definitely teams around the top 6. The defence if anything is a shambles, the new acquisitions (in defence) do not bring anything to the table. In fact I see this guy as a Wenger Lite. We are by far too open, and West Ham were pretty unlucky to come away empty handed!
I think we can't judge him based on three games, two of which were against league title and Champions League contenders. Whilst it is true that we suffer the same vulnerabilities we had under Wenger, the truth of the matter is Wenger only left the club 2-3 months ago. We've had a few new faces come in, but in order to alter the entire philosophy and the culture at the club, it will take time. It's not going to be a quick fix. Wenger had 22 years of exerting his influence at the club. To see the real benefits of the changes we've made, patience is going to be pivotal. We don't want to adopt this 'Manager Merry-Go Round' approach. I've always said that this season is a 'Free Hit' for Emery because he needs to see which players are capable of playing the way he wants to play. So there will be some experimentation and tinkering because he has a huge job on his hands. Come May 2019, he should then be able to assess which players need to be upgraded on and which players can stay. Whichever way you want to look at it, Wenger had huge level of power at the club. That power has now been diluted due to the restructuring, but it means the players we have will need to adapt and learn the Emery way. We've seen some positive signs already i.e. playing out from the back, pressing from the front, creating lots of chances through intricate one-touch football and full-backs getting into advanced positions. There is still a lot of work to do though, and we are going to have to accept that things won't go as smoothly as we want them to this season. There were doubts of Klopp and Pochettino when they both started at their respective clubs. Look at both of them now. Just relax and enjoy the journey we're about to embark on.
100% agreed. This season is basically Emery finding his feet at the club and working out what his players can offer. He needs 2-3 transfer windows to then bring in the players he wants to play to his system. A top 6 finish would be nice this season, but anything in the top half is acceptable this time. I'd rather see us lose a few game whist the players learn and stick to Emery's philosophy, rather than stick with what we know (which we also know won't win us anything)
My main worry is that Emery is not the manager. He's a head coach and the main difference - he has very little control over the ins and outs at the Club. His job is to get the players we have performing on the pitch. I feel if he cant get at least a TOP 6 position he may be in trouble. This is a decent squad and so far they are underperforming in much the same way they did last Season - however I'm hopeful that this will chnage as the team learns and adapts to the new methods.
