The Warm-Up: Don't worry Arsenal fans, Emery knows who to blame
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Updated 11/02/2020 at 08:38 GMT
Self-awareness is not something you instinctively expect from people in football, but Unai Emery is something else...
Unai Emery, Arsenal head coach
Image credit: Getty Images
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Emery looks for someone else to blame
On the one hand you can’t really criticise Unai Emery too much. When someone asks for his opinion on why things went wrong at Arsenal, you can’t then get annoyed when he gives his opinion. On the other hand, it does stick in the craw somewhat when his opinion is seemingly that it was certainly someone’s fault that things went wrong, but it wasn’t his.
Because the footballing genius who somehow managed to finish second with PSG reckons that things were actually going fine – improving, even – at Arsenal before his tenure was cruelly cut short in November.
He told France Football:
Arsenal was a club on a downward slope for two years before I arrived. We stopped this fall and even began to rebuild the club with the Europa League final and fifth place in the league, only one point off Tottenham despite the fact that we took just one point in our final five matches. We had Champions League qualification in our grasp and it went wrong in the end. But it was a good season and we had this notion of continuing to improve. But we lost our four captains: [Laurent] Koscielny, [Petr] Cech, [Aaron] Ramsey and [Nacho] Monreal. They were personalities that we missed this season to stay on the right track, and some stars did not have a good attitude and asked for more than what they were giving back. Taking all of that into account, we needed time to succeed with our transition to a new Arsenal, which is what I wanted.
So there you have it. He should’ve been given more time, if anything. And curse anyone who suggests otherwise.
Alli could be in trouble for racist coronavirus post
The FA, in that terrifically passive-aggressive manner of theirs, have written to Dele Alli to “ask for his observations” about a post of his on Snapchat, in which he appeared to suggest that an Asian man was carrying the coronavirus. Actually, scratch the ‘appeared’: that’s exactly what he did do.
If you’re not familiar with the specifics of this one, here’s an explanation: ‘Alli posted a video of himself wearing a surgical mask in an airport lounge before turning the camera and zooming in on a man of Asian appearance and zooming in on a bottle of antiseptic hand wash. The video was captioned with: “Corona whatttttt, please listen with volume” then subsequently: “This virus gunna have to be quicker than that to catch me.”
File under ‘not ideal’. In his favour, Alli did at least fairly swiftly realise the not idealness of his post and apologised, although hats off to you if you’re uncynical enough to think he realised this on his own without prompting from someone else. “It wasn’t funny and I realised that immediately and took it down,” he said. “I let myself down and the club. It isn’t something that should be joked about. I’m sending all my love and all my thoughts and prayers to everyone in China.”
Nevertheless, it’s only right that he should be punished by the FA, and almost certainly will be. Say what you will about the FA, but they’re usually pretty quick on any reference to race by a player. A fine and maybe even a short ban awaits.
Ole’s going to be at the wheel for a little while longer yet
As Mauricio Pochettino and Max Allegri sit there on the managerial shelf gathering dust, Manchester United are cheerfully continuing with the plan that has been so wildly successful this season. At a fans’ forum this week, Ed Woodward this week outlined their future approach, which as it turns out is continuing the current and past approach, so that’s good.
“The recruitment department is working to a clear plan and philosophy, along with Ole and his coaching staff,” said Woodward.
“Our focus is on bringing in a combination of experience and the best young players with potential to develop further, fusing graduates from our academy with high-quality acquisitions.
“Our recruitment process focuses on analysis and selection of players over the course of a season, with a view to the following summer transfer window. As part of the rebuild we see this coming summer as an important opportunity.
“There has been no shortage of investment in players over the past few years, with over £200m spent since Ole became manager. Our aim is to ensure that we continue to achieve consistency in quality of recruitment.”
Well, you know what they say: if you’ve got a plan, you should stick to it. Even if that plan does not appear to be actually working and is at best a muddled and outdated way of thinking in the modern football world.
IN OTHER NEWS
Look, if we’re going to have nightmares about this, then so are you.
HEROES AND ZEROS
Hero: Ezzeldin Bahader
For most people, the realisation that you’re never going to be a professional footballer comes pretty young. It’s pretty depressing and hauntingly real, but you can’t keep lying to yourself. Or can you? Ezzeldin Bahader, an Egyptian man aged 75, has registered with a club in the country’s third tier and hopes to play a couple of matches before March, in order to qualify as the oldest person ever to play the game. Go on, lad.
Zero: Unai Emery
Seriously pal, a little self-awareness…
RETRO CORNER
On this day in 2012, Luis Suarez tarnished his good guy image by refusing to shake hands with the man he was found guilty of racially abusing, Patrice Evra. Manchester United went on to win the game 2-1, which Evra celebrated in probably slightly irresponsible but undeniably funny and justified fashion, whooping it up under Suarez’s nose and causing the Liverpool players to defend their man, as if he was the wronged party in all of this.
HAT TIP
I always travelled to away games and at home would stand with the fans that sing but when I signed for Malmö I needed to be in the VIP section with the Under-17s and Under-19s, but I didn’t really like that. When I was injured or suspended, I really wanted to go in there but it wasn’t right to do it. But now every time I have chance to go back, I always stand with them and sing. There is always 10 people standing in the space of five seats, but that doesn’t matter.
It’s always entertaining listening to Pontus Jansson talk, particularly with his current side Brentford facing his former team Leeds this evening. Interview by Ben Fisher for the Guardian.
COMING UP
Turn your attentions to the scruffy and unwashed but undeniably entertaining Championship this evening. The big one is Leeds vs Brentford, as Marcelo Bielsa’s side try to halt their annual soiling of the bed against the division’s pluckiest underdog story. Elsewhere Nottingham Forest could go into the automatic promotion places if they beat Charlton, Wigan v Middlesbrough should be decent and plenty more.
Ben Snowball is unscruffy and very washed, but he’ll be here tomorrow morning to take you through all you need to know.
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