Arsenal have Tottenham-level expectations this season – the aim against Chelsea is to avoid humiliation
The general feeling amongst fans is that Emery has a lot to do without the tools to make a go of it, but he still needs to show that his side can perform better than the team did last season
UNAI EMERY has a target on his back.
The pundits and ex-players have seen this movie before, and the man in the original screenplay was David Moyes.
The Spaniard didn’t come to the Emirates with a top-tier reputation.
He was the guy that lucked out with the PSG job that elite managers wouldn't touch and sadly was the person that tanked two seasons in the Champions League with the most expensively assembled squad of all time.
I think the general feeling amongst fans is that Emery has a lot to do without the tools to make a go of it.
No one believes the exercise in post-Wenger recovery is going to happen overnight.
I genuinely feel most of us have Spurs-fan levels of expectation this season - a bit of progress would be lovely.
The team needs to pull through the Chelsea game this weekend without humiliating themselves, if they can take anything more than a point, it’ll be a significant success.
Maurizio Sarri is one of the most exciting managers in the world and has a squad far more disciplined and tactically educated than the group Emery adopted.
The main hope we have is Chelsea don’t look as sharp as Manchester City, combined with the distant optimism that maybe his players don't understand their new managers complex systems.
Arsenal's next six fixtures
- Chelsea v Arsenal: 17 August
- Arsenal v West Ham: 25 August
- Cardiff City v Arsenal: 2 September
- Newcastle v Arsenal: 15 September
- Arsenal v Everton: 23 September
- Arsenal v Watford: 29 September
- Fulham v Arsenal: 7 October
- Arsenal v Leciester: 22 October
After Chelsea, Arsenal have a relatively easy run of eight games.
By the end of that streak, we’ll know if the players have warmed to Emery's ideas, we’ll have seen if the new signings were any good and we’ll have a much better idea about whether the top-four is a realistic target this season.
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