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da aposte e ganhe： Arsenal were swept aside despite a solid first half performance on Sunday, and Unai Emery’s post-game comments should be a wake-up call for the fans.
What’s the word?
Emery’s Arsenal continue to be staggeringly inconsistent, as the Gunners fell to a 3-1 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday evening.
The Gunners have now won four and lost four of their last eight games in all competitions, and the performance at the Etihad showed just how big the gap is between the top three and the rest.
After a valiant first half effort, Emery’s side were sucker-punched by Sergio Aguero’s second goal right on the cusp of half-time.
The second half performance then looked like that of a team that had given up on getting anything from the game, and Emery’s comments reinforce the idea that the North Londoners never really believed they could beat the champions.
“They showed their superiority in 90 minutes. First 45 minutes, we held well for the result, defending together and doing some counter-attack, taking chances to be in the match,’ the ex-Sevilla boss told Sky Sports.
“But after 2-1, the second half they showed their superiority. We did not have the chances to get in the box, and the result is clear.
“We want to be in the match every time, but the second half and after the goal, our mentality is not in keeping with going to win the match.”
The boss then went on to say that his side cannot currently compete with Manchester City, Liverpool and painfully, Tottenham, per Football.London.
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What does he mean?
Well, there are two things to note here. The first key point is that Emery believes his team didn’t think they could win once they went 2-1 down, which is a huge concern.
The likes of Liverpool and Manchester City have regularly won points after going behind this season, and the Gunners’ boss claiming that their “mentality” was not right shows exactly how much work is still to be done in the Emery revolution.
Keeping the right mentality is a huge part of managing a top club, and while Emery’s side have usually been a second-half team this campaign, that is worthless if they don’t believe they can do it against the big boys.
The next big talking point is of course his comments on the title contenders, which should be somewhat of a reality check for fans who got carried away during the side’s unbeaten run.
Emery has some genuine world class players at his disposal in the likes of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but there are glaring weak points throughout his squad, weak points that could take several transfer windows to transform.
The gaffer is clearly under no illusions regarding the size of the job on his hands, so fans shouldn’t be either.