Arsenal vs Leicester City: Better late than never, right?

Arsenal may be irreparably sinking, but as we head into King Power Stadium, it’s better to make the right decisions late than never.

You wouldn’t think that this early in the season, I, the optimist, would be talking about how Arsenal have very little hope of returning from the damage that’s been done.

Seeing the captain chased out of the club, a manager who can’t figure out what the right decision is, and players who look just as confused as their leaders (mostly because they have no leaders)… it’s just hard to find a way back.

That said, even if Unai Emery is a fired man walking, it’s not like it’s too late for him to do the things he should have been doing all along. That starts with trusting the players who have earned it and believing in the future of the club.

I used to compliment Unai Emery on his willingness to try new things. It feels like he’s lost that now. Or rather, his “new things” are actually just old things that he’s already tried, and that failed.

Maybe not all of these are obvious to everyone, but they should be.

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For starters, midfield diamonds and back threes don’t work. Maybe they do for other clubs, with other players, with actual tactical nous… but here at Arsenal they don’t work. Unai Emery seems determined to make them work, but he’s dead wrong. They won’t work. Not unless he gets a better grasp on his own managerial responsibilities.

Next, let’s start our best players. Hell, I’m past the point of picking favorites. If you’re going to go down in flames, do it with the guys that have the best individual ability. Mesut Ozil? Nicolas Pepe? Start them. At the very least, you’re giving “fans” less cause for heavy criticism.

Moving on—you have defensive options that don’t involve starting Sokratis and David Luiz together any longer. How they’ve made it this long into the season without being split up is so far beyond me. I would rather literally anyone than I would those two, paired together. I have zero faith in them. In individuality, they aren’t so bad. Find them a good pairing and it’ll be okay. But together? Hell no.

And stop, stop, stop playing Lucas Torreira as an advanced midfielder. If the club had a better foundation around him and we wanted to try something creative like that, maybe I could get behind it. But the club has all of one defensive midfielder and it’s Torreira. Therefore unless you want Torreira to back Torreira, there’s no logical reason to play him so far forward and ask him to attack as much as he is.

There are more. Many, many more. And they don’t all involve Emery either. They involve “fans” too. Stop booing your own players, for instance. But twats will be twats.

And who knows. Maybe there is some hope to salvage this season if Emery can get a grasp on just what the hell he’s doing.