The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Arsenal are back full circle as fans demand for the exit of new Manager, Unai Emery after another poor display from the team away to BATE in the Europa league.
Emery, who replaced legendary manager, Arsene Wenger, started the season with the sort of widespread support his predecessor hadn’t received for close to a decade, but his handling of the team, especially of star player, Mesut Ozil, slowly eroded any goodwill his appointment gave him.
The football has not inspired many either, and it is of particular interest to a fan base who had been spoilt for over two decades with Arsene Wenger’s “football as art” project, and their team being fearless protagonists. The current Arsenal team look bereft of ideas and creativity and possesses a distinct lack of personality. Arsene Wenger had a lot of distractors, who accused him of many things, and few deservedly, but his teams were never cowards and had personality – which was to play the kind of football that gave credence to why the sport was called the “beautiful game.”
It is almost as if Arsenal have lost their specialness and have become the average football club – who play football for the mere sake of it, without reaching for an ideal – where the ends justifies the means. This is the current divide between the fanbase. While many believe the football has been poor and obviously worse than last season, others are quick to remind them Arsenal are better off, pointwise at least, this season than they were last season.
Both group have a point. Emery is trying to stamp his authority and style (whatever that is) on the team and has tried a variant of tactical approach. The result has been the same though. Arsenal still suffer from a backline that can’t keep its rear shut, and more worryingly, the offensive game, which was one of the few high points of a unusually poor season for Wenger, has regressed too. Now, Arsenal are a team with its usual porous defence, and an unusually predictable attack.
It may be far too early to call for Emery’s head, but the signs are not looking good.