CLOCK IS TICKING ON ARTETA’S REIGN
Emburey pinpoints root of India’s resurgence
MIKEL ARTETA looks at clubs like Leicester and appreciates the jobs they have done over the past two or three years. The Arsenal boss sees the building blocks they put in place and the rewards they are now reaping as a result.
Arteta knows his Gunners need to lay similar foundations but isn’t blind to the fact they need to get a shift on too.
Because if they don’t, they will fall behind the likes of today’s opponents and even further off the pace being set by Manchester City and Liverpool.
Arteta said: “There are a lot of clubs who have done that in recent years.you have to be constantly evolving that squad and if you haven’t done that for a year or two, you get caught up by other clubs.
“You see what Liverpool have done in a few years and the team they were able to develop.
“Manchester City have two teams but why? Because for the last four or five seasons things have been done consistently and they are in a position that they can still do that.
“It’s work that doesn’t happen overnight, unfortunately, when the level is so, so high.
“So a lot of good decisions have to be made and have to continue to be made progressively to keep evolving our squad in the right way to be able to compete and still be sustainable financially.
“We are in a rebuilding moment. But at the same time, this club cannot stop.
“This club cannot be thinking this is a project.we have to win and we have to be one of the top teams in the country – straight away.there is no time to do that unless you are winning.”
One man who will be a central figure for Arteta is Kieran Tierney and the manager hopes the winning mentality his left-back brought from Celtic will permeate the squad.
Arteta added: “The right words would be determination, passion and energy – that’s all about Kieran. How determined he is in every action, how much he puts into every game and the energy levels he provides to the team.
“He was a threat again against Benfica on Thursday. He gives us something different on that left side and scored a great goal.”
Willian’s contribution to that 3-2 victory, which saw Arsenal through to the Europa League’s last 16, was also welcome.
Arteta said: “He is a player who we all like. Hopefully,thursday’s performance is going to give him the platform and belief that he is a really important player.”
INDIA have Joe Root’s side in a tail-spin following their humiliation in Ahmedabad. But John Emburey believes that England only have themselves to blame – because he reckons that beating the hosts on home soil in 2012-13 changed the course of Indian cricket history for good.
Since that win, when Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar outperformed the home side’s spinners, no other team has travelled to India and returned home victorious.
After dominating the opening Test of the series in Chennai, it looked as though England could repeat that feat but Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel have crushed those dreams in the two Tests that have followed.
“From the day that Swann and Panesar toured there and we won, then pitches in India have turned,” said former England spinner Emburey (right).
“England cleaned up because of those two – they completely outbowled the Indian spinners because they were better bowlers at the time.
“Now Ashwin is a much more experienced bowler, a much more complete bowler.
“He doesn’t travel so well, he doesn’t do so well outside of India – but you get him on a turning pitch and he becomes very, very dangerous.”
Ashwin and Patel now have 42 wickets between in this series, an astonishing figure given the latter missed the first match.with the finaltest also taking place at the Motera Stadium, England can expect a similar surface to the one which undid them last week.
“The most important thing from these Indian spinners is the pace that they bowl,” added Emburey.
“We tend to give it more flight but they bowl that little bit flatter.
“Look at Axar, he’s not someone who flights the ball, he has a lowish arm and he pushes the ball through.
“The majority of his balls don’t turn – he has taken almost all of his wickets with straight balls.the England batsmen have to go to think of a method and work out how they’re going to play him.
“Pace is key and I think our bowlers bowl that bit too slow.
“That’s not a criticism because (Jack) Leach and (Dom) Bess have never been to India before.
“But pace is crucial.when you get on a pitch like that, all you’ve got to do is bowl maidens and the pitch will do the rest for you.”
That’s what Root and Leach did so successfully in India’s first innings in the third Test.
Now they need a little bit of help from the batsmen.