Arsenal vs Southampton: Do or die… but death is a slow process

Arsenal are always expected to beat Southampton, now more than ever, so if Unai Emery doesn’t, then bad things will follow, perhaps culminating in canning. Perhaps.

I’ve come back down to earth after being on the #EmeryOut bandwagon for a couple of weeks. This last week or so, I’ve been firmly planted in the #ChillTheFOut camp that believes that Arsenal aren’t nearly as worse off as people are making it out to be, and that Unai Emery does, in fact, need more time than 16 months.

That doesn’t make me a passive fan, it just makes me someone who prefers to support rather than rip apart. What an atrocity.

Anyway, with Southampton up ahead, I do have to face some hardcore truths. The first of which being that no matter what the state of the club is, Southampton are far, far worse and to take anything but there points from them is a complete and utter failure that probably should result in immediate action.

And it might, if we lose (or draw). But maybe not so immediate. Some think that Emery should have been canned awhile ago, after one of the many “do or die” matches we failed to “do” and thus, should have “died” because of.

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But those matches are still adding up. All the missed points are adding up, and they are adding up against Unai Emery, whether you see that or not. Everyone is constantly being evaluated, including Emery, and the fact that he hasn’t been fired yet doesn’t mean that he isn’t under the microscope from the higher ups.

Southampton is one more notch in one direction or the other. And yes, it has to be said that to not take three points is a highly punishable offense, but that doesn’t mean that the punishment will be dolled out right away.

If the time comes when Unai Emery is fired, it won’t be because of any one thing. Arsenal aren’t the type of club that put the fate of a man up against one obstacle. It’s a long process, for better or worse, and if Southampton doesn’t go our way, chances are it will eventually lead to Emery’s termination.

As will Leicester City. And Crystal Palace, and a handful of other ‘do or die’ situations that contributed.

Whether you care to admit it or not, this is the better way to do things. No snap decisions, no emotional responses. Build a dossier. That’s what everyone is doing these days, right?