‘He is the main reason why I left Arsenal,I will never forgive Him’: Unai Emery named £72m Arsenal player among “several problems” that cost him his job during His time at EMIRATE
Unai Emery ’s spell at Arsenal already feels like a lifetime ago, with his Aston Villa team flying and his reputation once again on the rise.
Rewind to November 29, 2019 and Emery was being relieved of his duties by Arsenal “due to results and performances not being at the level required”. He had just presided over a seven-game winless streak – the club’s worst run of results since 1992 and looked a defeated man.
Emery lasted just 18 months at Arsenal, having arrived as the Gunners’ chosen man to take the club forward out of the Arsene Wenger era. He had initially spoken a good game about his exciting, proactive style of football but things soon unravelled, with pragmatism coming through to create a muddled approach. His leadership style also created problems in the dressing room, while his decisions around the captaincy exacerbated things further.
With Villa fifth in the Premier League thanks to a fluent and exciting brand of football which has seen them win 16 successive games at home in all competitions, it is hard to square the Emery then with the current version. But just 1,450 days separate the Emery of now with the one who was sacked by Arsenal.
‘Several problems’
Emery won 43 of his 78 games in charge of Arsenal – a percentage only marginally worse than his current one at Aston Villa. But the situation could hardly be more different. There was no clear vision and united dressing room back then.
When he arrived at Arsenal he told Sky Sports of his philosophy: “Our style with the ball is to be protagonists, to do things with combinations, to control the match with the positioning of the ball and then, when we have the space, to be aggressive going forward. Defensively, the first thing is to be organised and recover the ball quickly.”
There were flashes of that, but never consistently. The muddled style wasn’t helped by the captaincy situation. Granit Xhaka was selected by a team vote to lead a five-man leadership group, which also contained Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hector Bellerin, Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil. But Xhaka was stripped of the armband just weeks later after an angry confrontation with supporters and Emery’s own authority took a hit with it.
Then there was the flop of Nicolas Pepe. Signed for a club-record £72million in the summer of 2019, the Ivory Coast international did not bring the “pace, power and creativity… [and] more goals,” that Emery hoped he would. In 16 games under Emery, Pepe provided three goals and four assists, but wasn’t the transformative signing his manager hoped he would be.
“I am clear about my diagnosis and we did good things there. I think we had a good first year, taking two competitions well as Europa League and Premier League,” Emery told Marca a few months after being sacked. “The process was good. When we played possession, we did it; when we had to press, we did it. And we were competitive, playing as the game required. With moments of possession game and moments of three quick touches.
“This second year, we have not played well. We have not defended well. We have not been competitive, we did not transmit – and I told the players myself. There were several problems: four captains; the Ozil-Kolasinac case; Pepe’s signing, who needs time since he came from France. We didn’t play well, that’s for sure.”
Pepe is now plying his trade in Turkey, having been sold to Trabzonspor at a knock-down price over the summer. Overall, he contributed 27 goals and 21 assists in 112 appearances for Arsenal, who also sent him out on loan to Nice last season.
