Supporters of many different clubs talk about the ‘way’ their teams must play, yet it seems in the age of high finance such scruples are fading away and success by any means will sufficeThe Arsenal way. The Manchester United way. The Tottenham way. The West Ham way. Every supporter wants their team to be successful but also play with a certain style that is supposedly unique to their club. Yet in the multimillion-pound industry that football in the 21st century has become, are we all expecting a little too much?Petr Cech’s acknowledgement this week that the former manager Arsenal Arsène Wenger cared more about the aesthetic beauty of his teams than their effectiveness was the kind of candid admission professional...
Ramsey needs to discover his inner Lampard, Shaqiri deserved more time and Traoré has become a specialist substitute Related: Unai Emery’s system beats out a dull rhythm that fails to entrance | Jacob Steinberg Related: The Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos Related: Record-breaking Jorginho the beating heart of Chelsea’s mangled midfield | Barney Ronay Continue reading...
Arsenal’s predictability in possession against Everton meant they were reliant on bursts of inspiration from their strikersHow did Arsenal secure their fourth consecutive Premier League win and the first clean sheet of the Unai Emery era? Was it with solidity in defence, enterprise in midfield and breathtaking invention in attack? Were there signs of a team slowly getting to grips with their new manager’s demands after a summer of seismic change? Could it be time to declare Arsenal are back?Not quite. Slow down, step back. Resist the urge to look at the result and declare that this was a routine stroll for a rampant side. Listen instead to Marco Silva, who pithily observed this is football. It is not always...
Everton haven’t won at Arsenal for more than 20 years – Silva would put down a marker with a result this weekendThe last time Everton won at Arsenal the manager in the home dugout was Bruce Rioch, Newcastle were runaway league leaders and Kevin Keegan was still a couple of months away from his famous “I’d love it” outburst.Attempting to break the 22-year hoodoo on Sunday is Marco Silva, the fourth Everton manager to take up the challenge in the last four seasons, and at least the Portuguese can say he has first-hand experience of finishing in front at the Emirates. Related: Richarlison: ‘Neymar is an idol of mine ... I’ve imitated his haircuts’ Related: Everton’s Marco Silva unfazed by...
The Arsenal chief executive is departing after nearly a decade and says he is energised by a move to Milan. Did he decide the gap to the top at the Emirates was too big?Ivan Gazidis loves to talk about process, about journeys, about minutiae, and he was in his element at Emirates Stadium on the day that Unai Emery was unveiled as Arsenal’s new manager.It was 23 May and the chief executive went into extraordinary detail about how Emery had been chosen to succeed Arsène Wenger. He brought up challenging discussions, long lists, short lists, detailed personal references, outside perspectives and the analysis of “tens of hours of video tape on the three finalists that we eventually narrowed it down...