I was going to post this in another thread but decided it may be worth a thread of its own :
I thought it worth taking a closer look at his (short - effectively 14 months of actual management time in action since he arrived in July) time at Arsenal (the one 'blot' in his career). If we're not getting Xabi (my first choice) then I'd prefer Emery, he's managed (well) big clubs, big players and has had huge European success as well as laying the groundwork at Arsenal for their team today (Saliba, Martinelli, Saka).
And note this from ESPN on Emery's only full season at Arsenal : many of Arsenal's most memorable big-game performances this season have featured an emphasis on pressing tactics and playing out from the back.
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Firstly the players he brought in (amongst others, but there weren't a lot in 3 transfer windows) : Saliba, Martinelli, Tierney and Leno (we won't talk about Pepe). 4 players between £20m and £25m plus Pepe who flopped at ca. £72m. A few smaller purchases.
His first team on arrival (serious issues right through the team/squad):
Czech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ramsey, Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang.
His last team when he departed 1 year later : Martinez, Chambers, Mustafi, Sokratis, Tierney, Luiz, Xhaka, Willock (Ozil), Martinelli, Aubameyang, Saka.
What is interesting here is that Emery brought in both Martinelli (signed for the Youth team but Emery debuted him at 17 yo) and Saka (from the academy) debuted a few days past his 17th birthday, as Emery had already started the transition away from an aging squad.
It is noticeable is how he completely revamped (ha - see what I did there) the team in just 1 season but was not given any time to develop it. Imagine if we'd ditched Klopp after his first season (Klopp 8th and Emery was 6th, in their first season), whilst he too totally turned over the team, only 5 starters remaining for the next season.
Emery was far from a complete flop there either (Emery won 43 of his 78 games in charge of Arsenal – a percentage only marginally worse than his current one at Aston Villa, and taking them to the EL final).
Arsenal won 1.85 points per game during his time there (he's averaging 1.90 pts at Villa) averaging 2 goals per game. Finishing 5th in his first season in charge (Wenger 6th the season before) with a terrible managerial setup (see the comments below on Gazidis) and squad. For comparison Klopp had 1.60 / 2.00 / 1.97 points per season over his first 3 seasons.
He was also unlucky in that full season, defensively losing Koscielny in the first half of the campaign and there were also season-ending injuries to Rob Holding (15 starts, zero defeats) and Hector Bellerin.
He was sacked after, having started with 1 defeat in the first 8 games (to us, 3-1) Arsenal then had a 7 game winless streak (D4 L3).
MEDIUM article : The problem for Arsenal for a long time was their recruitment. Emery wanted to play attacking football, he wanted to be a protagonist and play out from the back, just like he did later at Villarreal and now at Aston Villa, but he didn’t had the players do it well, so he tried to find another ways until nothing worked.
Ivan Gazidis the CEO of the club at the time when Emery was appointed, wanted to change the whole structure of how the club works after the Arséne Wenger area. Preparing for the inevitable departure of Arséne Wenger, he brought in Sven Mislintat to the club to be the head of recruitment, and he also got Raúl Sanllehi for the role of Head of Football and he still wanted a technical director. He wanted to move away from the model of Wenger’s time where one man controlled everything. Unai Emery came just to be the head coach, not a manager. He was responsible for preparing the team but not much else. But Gazidis left the club just a few month later, and left a huge power struggle behind him between the members of the new structure. Arsenal was a mess, the squad was badly structured for years so was their recruitment.
ESPN : interesting comments.
One of the biggest positives of Emery's first year in charge has been Arsenal's improvement in the big games. In total, they have accrued 12 points from 10 Premier League meetings with their top-six rivals, giving them a superior record to Chelsea, Manchester United or Tottenham. It is twice as many points as they managed in Arsene Wenger's final season and more, too, than in any of the three campaigns before that.
Their old problems resurfaced in the 5-1 thrashing by Liverpool at Anfield in December, but that defeat stands out as an anomaly rather than the norm.
The victories at home to Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United were hugely encouraging, and Emery's men were unfortunate not to add Liverpool to that list, drawing 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium in November. Arsenal gained more points from home games against the top six than in any of their previous 10 seasons.
There could easily have been victories away from home, too. Arsenal were unfortunate not to beat Spurs at Wembley in March, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's late missed penalty proving costly, and they will also reflect on the 2-2 draw with United in December as two points dropped.
Emery has instilled belief in his players where it was previously lacking. But it has not happened by magic. It comes from a level of tactical preparation that Arsenal lacked under Wenger. Instead of playing into the hands of their top-six opponents, Arsenal are now set up to exploit their weaknesses and the players clearly buy into it.
The new-found belief was most apparent at home to Spurs, when they roared back from 2-1 down to claim an electrifying 4-2 win. Emery was rewarded for his boldness that day, his half-time changes paying off emphatically, and it was also a demonstration of the aggressive, high-pressing tactics which have become a feature of Arsenal's best performances.
I thought it worth taking a closer look at his (short - effectively 14 months of actual management time in action since he arrived in July) time at Arsenal (the one 'blot' in his career). If we're not getting Xabi (my first choice) then I'd prefer Emery, he's managed (well) big clubs, big players and has had huge European success as well as laying the groundwork at Arsenal for their team today (Saliba, Martinelli, Saka).
And note this from ESPN on Emery's only full season at Arsenal : many of Arsenal's most memorable big-game performances this season have featured an emphasis on pressing tactics and playing out from the back.
----------
Firstly the players he brought in (amongst others, but there weren't a lot in 3 transfer windows) : Saliba, Martinelli, Tierney and Leno (we won't talk about Pepe). 4 players between £20m and £25m plus Pepe who flopped at ca. £72m. A few smaller purchases.
His first team on arrival (serious issues right through the team/squad):
Czech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ramsey, Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang.
His last team when he departed 1 year later : Martinez, Chambers, Mustafi, Sokratis, Tierney, Luiz, Xhaka, Willock (Ozil), Martinelli, Aubameyang, Saka.
What is interesting here is that Emery brought in both Martinelli (signed for the Youth team but Emery debuted him at 17 yo) and Saka (from the academy) debuted a few days past his 17th birthday, as Emery had already started the transition away from an aging squad.
It is noticeable is how he completely revamped (ha - see what I did there) the team in just 1 season but was not given any time to develop it. Imagine if we'd ditched Klopp after his first season (Klopp 8th and Emery was 6th, in their first season), whilst he too totally turned over the team, only 5 starters remaining for the next season.
Emery was far from a complete flop there either (Emery won 43 of his 78 games in charge of Arsenal – a percentage only marginally worse than his current one at Aston Villa, and taking them to the EL final).
Arsenal won 1.85 points per game during his time there (he's averaging 1.90 pts at Villa) averaging 2 goals per game. Finishing 5th in his first season in charge (Wenger 6th the season before) with a terrible managerial setup (see the comments below on Gazidis) and squad. For comparison Klopp had 1.60 / 2.00 / 1.97 points per season over his first 3 seasons.
He was also unlucky in that full season, defensively losing Koscielny in the first half of the campaign and there were also season-ending injuries to Rob Holding (15 starts, zero defeats) and Hector Bellerin.
He was sacked after, having started with 1 defeat in the first 8 games (to us, 3-1) Arsenal then had a 7 game winless streak (D4 L3).
MEDIUM article : The problem for Arsenal for a long time was their recruitment. Emery wanted to play attacking football, he wanted to be a protagonist and play out from the back, just like he did later at Villarreal and now at Aston Villa, but he didn’t had the players do it well, so he tried to find another ways until nothing worked.
Ivan Gazidis the CEO of the club at the time when Emery was appointed, wanted to change the whole structure of how the club works after the Arséne Wenger area. Preparing for the inevitable departure of Arséne Wenger, he brought in Sven Mislintat to the club to be the head of recruitment, and he also got Raúl Sanllehi for the role of Head of Football and he still wanted a technical director. He wanted to move away from the model of Wenger’s time where one man controlled everything. Unai Emery came just to be the head coach, not a manager. He was responsible for preparing the team but not much else. But Gazidis left the club just a few month later, and left a huge power struggle behind him between the members of the new structure. Arsenal was a mess, the squad was badly structured for years so was their recruitment.
ESPN : interesting comments.
One of the biggest positives of Emery's first year in charge has been Arsenal's improvement in the big games. In total, they have accrued 12 points from 10 Premier League meetings with their top-six rivals, giving them a superior record to Chelsea, Manchester United or Tottenham. It is twice as many points as they managed in Arsene Wenger's final season and more, too, than in any of the three campaigns before that.
Their old problems resurfaced in the 5-1 thrashing by Liverpool at Anfield in December, but that defeat stands out as an anomaly rather than the norm.
The victories at home to Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United were hugely encouraging, and Emery's men were unfortunate not to add Liverpool to that list, drawing 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium in November. Arsenal gained more points from home games against the top six than in any of their previous 10 seasons.
There could easily have been victories away from home, too. Arsenal were unfortunate not to beat Spurs at Wembley in March, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's late missed penalty proving costly, and they will also reflect on the 2-2 draw with United in December as two points dropped.
Emery has instilled belief in his players where it was previously lacking. But it has not happened by magic. It comes from a level of tactical preparation that Arsenal lacked under Wenger. Instead of playing into the hands of their top-six opponents, Arsenal are now set up to exploit their weaknesses and the players clearly buy into it.
The new-found belief was most apparent at home to Spurs, when they roared back from 2-1 down to claim an electrifying 4-2 win. Emery was rewarded for his boldness that day, his half-time changes paying off emphatically, and it was also a demonstration of the aggressive, high-pressing tactics which have become a feature of Arsenal's best performances.
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