- Arsenal v Aston Villa and the insane range of referee decisions
- Arsenal v Villa at 8.15 Tuesday. Villa’s approach
By Tony Attwood
So we know that Aston Villa have won each of their last nine games by just one goal – which is, I suspect, an all-time record: I can’t find details of any team winning ten games in a row all by just one goal. And unfortuantely the media is no help with statistics like this.
It is certainly an achievement to be commended, in the sense that the games have actually been won, and I am sure Villa are justly proud of those wins. But what do they tell us of their style of play?
The obvious answer is that of doing “just enough.” And that, of course, is a dangerous ploy because just enough can easily slip into not quite enough.
Now, if we consider Emery’s last seven games as manager at Arsenal, what we find is that there were four draws and three defeats. Clearly, during this spell Emery was again trying to do the “just enough” approach but was actually falling a bit short – at least according to Arsenal’s directors. They shuffled out of the place and brought in Arteta.
But it is, of course, possible to make the same argument against Arsenal in that we have just had four games in a row that have been won by one goal – but we must also recognise that this is only four, and four victories in a row by one goal is not that unusual, although for some clubs it can become quite a habit. And at that stage, instead of the 1-0 victory being something that can be explained as “winning even when we are not playing well, it becomes more of a habit. And before you know it, the 1-0 has turned into 0-0.
Emery came to Arsenal as the star man who could succeed Wenger, and go further, having won three successive Europa League titles. Arsenal were in fact going to offer the job to Mikel Arteta but suddenly changed their minds at the last minute, and offered the post to Emery, who of course leapt at the chance. And it is true he took Arsenal on a long unbeaten run and to the Europa League final, but as the club later found out to its cost, he was not organising a regular plan for moving onwards. Rather, it was a case of telling the club to splash the cash on one player, who turned out to be useless.
In fact, the whole Emery style and approach is the opposite of Arteta, who quite clearly (as we can see through his transfer operations and his willingness to give young players experience in the first team) plans not only for the coming months but for years ahead.
What we found with Emery was that his judgement in the transfer window was not just suspect, but if viewed in the long term, utterly bonkers. David Luiz from Chelsea and Matteo Guendouzi gave some indication that he might be able to plot the future, but then £72m spent on Nicolas Pepe suggested otherwise. Pepe is not an awful player but the sum paid for him was crazy in the extreme. It was not just that the player wasn’t worth half that much, but rather that the inevitable media attention and their constant desire to knock Arsenal players was something that Pepe was not ready for. He left, you may remember, on a free.
All of which shows that Emery is not a man who can be relied on with transfers, and indeed his contract was cancelled on 29 November 2019, leaving Arsenal free to appoint the man they should have had in the first place: Mikel Arteta.
But what may be forgotten is that Emery had started well, taking Arsenal on an 11-game winning streak from 25 August 2018. In fact, that turned into a 22-game unbeaten run.
But Arsenal’s drive to the top could not be sustained, and the club finished a rather shameful 28 points behind the champions – and indeed were even behind Tottenham Hotspur in the league. Which is what led him to bid an outrageous fee for Pepe.
Now it seems he is going through the same process with Aston Villa, who currently sit third in the table. But a look at that table shows quite clearly that Arsenal have not only won one more than Villa (and thus lost one fewer than Villa), Arsenal have a goal difference that is +12, superior to that of Aston Villa, which is a huge difference for two clubs so close to each other in the league.
That does not mean this is going to be a walkover for Arsenal, but it certainly looks like it is not going to be a walkover for Villa.
cConveniently forgotten that Emery didn’t want Pepe , the club forced him,when in fact he wanted to sign Zaha.
At Villa he has the backing of the owners to have complete control. They have totally invested in him so he can chose his team on and off the pitch.
It wwould be interesting to know the source of that information Pete