Unai Emery's remarkable Gunners transformation continues

Arsenal 4-2 Tottenham: Unai Emery's remarkable Gunners transformation continues
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46420874

Arsenal laid down a marker and leapfrogged Tottenham into the Premier League's top four with an outstanding display, their finest under manager Unai Emery, to deservedly win the north London derby at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners' unbeaten run stretches to 19 games after the 4-2 win and this was their most significant of the season.

So how has Emery transformed Arsenal - and how far can they go?

The Emirates is alive again after the toxic final Arsene Wenger months. The chants of "We've Got Our Arsenal Back" may be harsh on the former manager who achieved so much, but they carry meaning.

Emery has blown the winds of change through Arsenal like a hurricane. It is, quite simply, like watching a different team in a different stadium.

This place was accused, with justification, of being like a library in the past. This was more like a bearpit and how Emery's Arsenal revelled in it.

Emery injects steel into Arsenal
Arsenal's so-called soft centre was probed relentlessly under Wenger, with opponents believing they could profit from exerting their physical will on his teams.

Emery's Arsenal show resilience and steel in many forms, not least in stringing together an unbeaten 12-game league run despite not leading at half-time in any of those matches.

And here they picked up a physical and footballing momentum that ultimately Spurs could not cope with.

It was summed up in one sequence in the closing stages when Spurs, penned in their own corner, were subdued by a succession of shuddering challenges, much to the delight of Arsenal's fans.

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I have to say it was a joy to watch the Gunners roll back the years and look like a tough unit again. Spurs are one of the best teams in the PL and we raised to their level and went a step further. If we manage top 4 after all the issues we've had, the passing on of a legend and the level of competition in the PL then this would make Dick the real deal indeed.

 

Loving what we're seeing at Arsenal atm. Our fan base was divided for so long and that hurt me more than anything. Great to see everybody getting behind Emery and his new developing project at Arsenal

 

Yesterday was the best example so far of the 'style' Emery is trying to implement.

High paced, quick to press counter-attacking football. Not to dissimilar to Klopp - although perhaps a little less gung-ho.

Emerys ability to analise the opposition and make tactical changes based on what he is seeing is TOP TOP class. I dont think I've ever seen a manager this astute in that respect. (although Allegri at Juve is also excellent)

I feel that for this team to REALLY challenge the likes of City and Pool we need better centre backs. Mustafi, Sokratis, Holding etc.. are all decent but we lack a truly World Class central defender. You see what an impact Van Dijk has had at Liverpool or John Stones at Man City. We have a few positions we need to strengthen but for me CB is the area that can have the biggest impact.

 

I actually think Sokratis is more than good enough and certainly as good as John Stones.

But in the Summer if we get back in the CL then throw money at Skriniar, Koulibaly or Gimenez (I wish).

But I think we also need a left back. Monreal is old and Kolasinac is not defensively sound. Rodriguez?

And we still need a classic goal threat of a wing forward (Dembele?!?!?!).

 

How many chances will he give the Goalie, he has cost us many goals... Cech's crime was to have an injury - He needs to replace this fecking goalie, before the season goes up yet again in smoke before Christmas. I wonder, what the difference between his record and Wenger's worst record is. Fair enough we were unbeaten for a while, there were a lot of silly draws as well!

 

Disappointing end to our good run. Had to happen eventually so no complaints. Best response would be to smash the spuds on Wednesday.

 

As satisfying as it would be, it won't make up for that dross performance where we lost 3 points in the league thanks to our makeshift centre-halves and Leno's error of judgement. The League Cup is irrelevant to me.

We need to win as many league games as we can. Starting with Brighton away. Only that will make up for the loss today.

 

Also, Leno really needs to work on dealing with crosses and long balls. It's a glaringly obvious weakness in his game.

His distribution and shot-stopping is top notch. But any team that looks to get it wide or lump it long, he doesn't seem to know how to take control of those situations.