All the signs are there that Emery has lost the dressing room
This is a tough time to be an Arsenal manager no doubt. After all, the fans called for the head of Arsene Wenger after 22 years of service and he left unceremoniously.
Unai Emery happens to be the ‘chosen one’ to replace him but as he has found out, the current set of Arsenal fans are not prepared to wait too long to become a top-four club again.
While Emery has achieved some great feats in his career as a manager, the Spaniard has hardly convinced since he became manager of Arsenal and it seems even his players don’t trust his methods.
Unai Emery allowed the Gunners’ stars to pick their captain earlier in the season in what is a clear sign that the buck doesn’t stop with him at the Emirates.
That exercise has proven to be a disastrous one with the players choosing the underwhelming Granit Xhaka as captain. What that decision shows perhaps, even more, is that Emery doesn’t have control of the dressing room as expected.
Anonymous sources
Reports from anonymous sources, so declare the Independent, also claim that some of the players are bored with Emery’s method and mock him behind his back, this cannot be possible if everyone is on board with the manager.
Emery also showed a lack of control when he couldn’t get Granit Xhaka to apologise to club’s fans.
He is in a dilemma now because of how he handled that situation, would he play Xhaka again? Would he keep him on as captain?
He has also spoken in the past about the whole club wanting Mesut Ozil out of the first team. Yet, he is on the verge of playing the German again.
Until the results on the field improve, the spotlight will remain on how much control Emery has. Right now, it looks like he doesn’t have much control over the dressing room.