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Emery On Way Out of Arsenal?

By Daily Sports on September 17, 2019

It needs blurting out. Arsenal are a club in a considerable disarray as far as their performances in the pitch go and their last match away against Watford in which they blew a 2 goal lead to end up luckily (yes, Watford deserved a win in the game as all the major match statistics show) running away with a 2-2 draw is the latest in a number of uninspiring games by the Gunners.

It needs blurting out as well that Arsenal’s coach Unai Emery has so far not got his team playing at a level that would suggest he is right the man to lead the Gunners forward.

Emery is going into his second year at Arsenal but there is really a certain kind of lukewarmness about his reign so far. The club has not played exciting football consistently since he arrived as they did under his predecessor Arsene Wenger and Arsenal’s defence, much like it was in the latter years of Wenger’s reign, has been a study in porousness to say the least.

Over the years, Arsenal had faced considerable ridicule as a club who only go to the transfer market to speculate and never really are able to offer the bucks to prize away top talents that could take the team to big glory. But not anymore. The last transfer window saw the Gunners owners splash out cash on some big names, including on the ₤72 million winger Nicholas Pepe. This threw the fans of Arsenal into a frenzy of excitement and expectation but five matches into the season the familiar feeling of gloom has set in.

Emery has simply not been able to get his big names gelling together and the manner his team builds from the back us comical in its suicidal nature. Sokratis giving the ball away in a silly manner to gift Watford a lifeline owes much to a rigid build at the back at all costs approach of Emery.

Former Arsenal striker Robbin Van Persie complained before the start of the season about not knowing what to make of Emery’s philosophy. He argued that every great coach has a basic playing philosophy, be it a focus on offensive or defensive football, but that Emery seems to lack one.

Looking at Arsenal under Emery generally, one cannot really dispute Van Persie’s argument. Emery seems not to have settled on a basic formation or starting line-up, constantly changing tactics and starting line-ups. This has confused fans and could be confusing players as well.

Pep Guardiola usually favours a 4-3-3 system, so does Jurgen Klopp. Antonio Conte likes a 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2. What formation Emery likes more is anyone’s guess.

Watching Emery’s Arsenal team play nowadays can be a dreary experience and this is the worst one could say of a coach of a club renowned for its exciting football for decades under Wenger.

Although a straight comparison of Wenger and Emery is maybe unnecessary or unfair, Wenger’s Arsenal, for all its failings, delivered much excitement in the way the team played. Same cannot be said of this Emery side.

The Arsenal board should be looking at this run of poor form with concern and should be seriously considering other top options should Emery fail to dig his side out of the ditch in the next couple of games.

Although it is never nice for a coach to lose his job, the health of a football team takes precedence over all other sentiments. It’s a matter of delivering and when a coach, for one reason or the other, shows an inability to deliver good results and performances after major improvements have been made in the area of buying players for him, then it makes sense that he be asked to step aside.

There’s still time though for Emery to show he can make Arsenal play well and win on a consistent basis. He comes across as a hardworking coach who is struggling to find the right solution for the team to be a formidable force but the time to find a winning consistency is running out for the Spaniard.

Source Daily Sports

Posted September 17, 2019