As you can imagine, this is going to be an Unai Emery centric article… but can you blame me? It’s difficult to talk about anything else without confronting the managerial issue right now. And currently, it’s the most important thing to do when so many of us are hurting from what is one of the most difficult time’s in our club’s history.
Firstly, I have absolutely nothing against Emery as an individual, a head coach, or professional, and I don’t think any fan should hold anything against him as I know he is trying his utter best at the club. Unfortunately, his best just isn’t even close to being good enough. I heard chants of “We hate Emery” in and around the stadium at the Southampton game, in which I find massively ignorant and despicable. I can understand fans frustrations at what has unfolded at this club but ‘hate’ is a very strong word and one that is far too strong to apply to Emery as head coach of Arsenal. He’s just a man employed to do a job of which he’s not the right fit and is seemingly out of his depth for. There’s nothing hateful in his actions… nothing at all.
Against Southampton, our confidence, tactical approach, cohesion, competitive mentality, and team spirit looked completely non-existent for the majority of the match. As much as I hate to swim with the tide of punditry clichés but it looked like a team of players not playing for their manager, and consequently a manager who’s lost the dressing room. Commenting on SkySports post-match analysis of West Ham vs Spurs, Roy Keane mentioned that “sometimes players just need to hear a different voice”, after Spurs claimed their first win away from home since January under new manager Jose Mourinho. As much as it pains me to say but Keane is right. Spurs have clearly been lifted by the change (whether it helps them in the long run is another matter) and this looks to have given them a new lease of life. Spurs suffered some dreadful results toward the latter stages of Mauricio Pochettino’s career and they made a change when it mattered the most.
The Arsenal players could certainly do with hearing a new voice and my gut feeling tells me that we are currently in the process of making that necessary change. For the fans that think we should have sacked Emery after the loss to Leicester, or perhaps even sooner than that, then I may have agreed on it being a good decision… granted we found the right replacement. That’s exactly why I feel the club is taking their time to make a decision right now and it makes sense from an executive perspective.
We showed promising signs last season so optimism and positivity within the club were at a high during the early period of Emery’s Arsenal career. Also take into account that the Spaniard came to the club as a fairly successful manager having won three Europa Leagues and numerous domestic trophies with PSG. Along with the exciting victory against Spurs and the 22 unbeaten run of games, enthusiasm within the fanbase was positive. I feel this all goes a long way to explaining why the club gave him another chance to make improvements after the international break.
As painful as all the supposed hesitation from the board to sack Emery appears right now, I can understand the importance in taking their time to make the correct appointment. The last thing they want to do is get it wrong and inflict further misery upon the club. Considering the mistake they made in hiring Emery, they need to make sure they get this one correct, which takes time and deliberation. We can’t afford to make knee-jerk decisions like ‘them lot down the road’. After the Southampton game, there must have come a point at board-level where almost everything had reached breaking point. Abject performances on the pitch, fans baying for the manager’s blood, and a rising increase in empty seats, must have all captured their attentions.
As fans, we might have to be beyond patient, even to a point of bearing the possibility of Emery being in charge for the next match or perhaps more… but I firmly believe a change is in the cards. To carry on this way just doesn’t match the ambitions of a club that clearly stated in several interviews over the summer that they intend to regularly qualify for Champions League football again. It doesn’t marry with the desire of a club that spent £70+ million on one player regardless of it being paid in instalments. And it certainly doesn’t meet expectations of the fans of a club that have won 13 league titles, a record 13 FA Cups, amongst other prestigious honours.
I believe we have people in charge that are fully aware of where we are right now. I also believe, as mentioned before, they are doing the right thing by taking their time in choosing the best replacement for Emery.
For all you fellow Gooners in pain out there… I know it’s difficult to watch this team amidst everything Arsenal is going through but believe me this won’t carry on much longer. And if it does, I suggest giving up following sport all together, giving up all hope in life, and giving up on retaining any strand of decency you once held… by supporting a team like West Ham, MK Dons, or Tottenham Hotspur.
The Highbury Daze 