As I sit here in the post Christmas / Boxing Day slumber, I have a few random thoughts to share about the current state of Arsenal.

For a start, we all surely knew before the season started that it would be one of ups and downs. Highs and lows.

Anyone who would have thought that Unai Emery coming in would immediately turn Arsenal from a side who finished 37 points off the top in 2017/18 to title challengers was unrealistic. There is a longer term project in place. Plenty of rebuilding to do.

After 22 years of Arsene Wenger and 10 of Ivan Gazidis, the entire club is having to re-learn. Learn from Unai Emery, who he is and what he is about. The same with Raul Sanllehi and ASven Mislintant.

Look at what happened to Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill left.

Man U finished the 7th in the first non-Fergie season in 27-years. David moyes had the pre-season champions to work with. Emery is working with a side that finished 6th last season.

What we are now seeing is how much of a state the club, the squad, was in during that last 18 months of the Wenger / Gazidis era.

Emery is being hampered by not having enough quality players at his disposal.

By the time you throw in the injury problems we have at the back, alongside not having enough good defenders, we end up in the defensive crisis that saw Arsenal’s unbeaten run come to an end.

The squad really is a state.

We made some good signings last January, and further good signings over the summer. another two transfer windows will probably have seen a 40% squad turnover in 18 months – with plenty more still to go.

This highlights how bad the squad that Arsene Wenger left was.

Emery is also still learning.

He is not training or coaching a single player that he has dealt with before. A World Cup summer robbed him of some key players. It will take a while for him to learn about the players he has, how to play them, how to get them to tick, and how to get the best out of them.

There have been some odd calls from Emery – both in starters and substitutions – but he will learn from them. Change does not happen overnight and it is miles too early for people to be slagging him off.

This January the management trio of Emery, Mislintat and Sanllehi need to be backed by Stan Kroenke. Even if that backing is simply encouraging them to spend the funds that sit within the clubs bank account.

Saying that, we also need to buy the right players. There is no point buying someone for the sake of it and end up with another £35m Lucas Perez.

This is a building season. Over the next two transfer windows we need a central defender, left back and wide forward. We will not get them all in January. Just one would be nice. We need to buy in January, but not panic buy.

what yesterday’s game against Brighton showed is just how much we miss Hector Bellerin. He may have his critics, but he is a superb right back. The threat he poses on that right flank is incredible. He gives us a lot of natural width. We miss him.

We also miss Nacho Monreal of last season.

The Spanish left back is 33-years-old in January and injuries are catching up on him. Is Sead Kolasinac the answer? Possibly not.

Further up the pitch, Unai Emery clearly does not fancy Mesut Ozil.

The Ozil-circus has affected the start of the Unai Emery era. The manager needs to ensure it does not define it.

One of the odd calls by Emery is his attempt to start Pierre-Emeirck Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil in the same team. It does not work and it feels like he is playing Ozil for the sake of it.

The German’s time at Arsenal is running out. Emery needs to be brave and sell him in the summer. Most fans would back the decision.

Arsenal already have the Ger,man’s replacement within the squad. Aaron Ramsey.

The Welshman has created more goals for Arsenal this season than any other player. He needs to sack his agent, sign a new deal, and get that number 10 shirt.

I am concerned about this weekend and the game against Liverpool. They are rampant at the moment and we could see a repeat of the 2014 5-1 defeat.

It is what it is.

Emery took over a team that finished 6th in the league. That could not win away. That were knocked out of the cup by Nottingham Forest. He has got that team, dragged us up and we are now back in the race for 4th.

The race for 4th is what most fans realistically expected. It is where we are. Best of 4th, worst of 5th.

All that said we are going in the right direction, our best players this season have been the players bought in under Mislintat. Another 2 windows will see 40% turnover in the squad.

Emery is clearly a good coach. He has improved the likes of Bellerin, Alex Iwobi and Granit Xhaka. The likes of Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi have also excelled under him.

There have been plenty to enjoy in the first half of the season.

We destroyed Tottenham in the Premier League and went on a 22 game unbeaten run. We have a great chance of silverware in the Europa League, and the FA Cup is yet to start.

The highlight so far is the youngsters getting bloodied in the cup competitions. Many of which are London boys who have been at the club from kids.

There will be more highs this season, and there will be some lows.

VCC

ps: that away kit is horrible. Bring on Adidas

*GC*

Follow @SheWore

Last season I wrote about anger turning to apathy. I had had enough.  I think I even stoped caring to a certain extent.  I didn’t look forward to going to games, I didn’t enjoy the wins as much as I should have and the defeats just became expected.

I sat in a half empty stadium and would became obsessed with watching Wenger do nothing. I would have got more enjoyment going to the casino and sticking my ticket money on red or black

I wasn’t one of those who wanted us to lose for the greater good, but I couldn’t argue with that sentiment either if I am honest. The defeats no longer hurt, I didn’t even walk out with any anger in the end, I went because it’s what I’ve always done.

But now, I’m actually really enjoying this. On Saturday when the first goal went in I felt that sense of relief that had been missing for so long. I really wanted to win that game.

Lets be honest, we aren’t watching the type of football where you are scared to take your eyes of the pitch. We aren’t talking about moments of pure class that we will remember forever. But we are talking about the game again. We are talking about the result and on the whole, most of us are fairly optimistic.

Unai inherited a legacy that runs deep. The frailties have been massively exposed this year. We know what needs to be done, we know what we need to address. A good manager gets the best out of his side, Emery is doing that right now. The fact that we are seeing a new and improved Iwobi, Welbeck and Rob Holding is something I’ve waited years for. English youngsters improving and becoming an integral part of our future.  Torreira has been the anchor we have been crying out for. He sprays the ball around and makes people move. He’s not afraid of a long ball up the park to mix things up.

There won’t be many teams who fancy playing us right now.  As it stands, we are the only team in the PL who have won their last 5 league games. An Arsenal who battle it out and win ugly is not want anyone wants at this stage.

A defeat will feel disappointing again, but not expected.  We are gathering that urgency now and making winning, a habit. Many will say ‘but we’ve only played, bar City and Chelsea, average sides’. That’s absolutely true, but beating average sides gets you 3 points.

Watford are a good side, bullies,  who won’t give you any time to play your own game. We aren’t retreating like we did in days gone by. We are battling and no longer easy to get off the ball. When Ozil is sticking his foot in you know there is an aggression back in the side.

It won’t be easy this season, we will get taught a few lessons along the way. But I’m smiling again. I’m watching Match of The Day and I’m looking forward to the press conferences. I’m back in love with The Arsenal.

JD