Communication is important but is it a huge problem if the manager struggles with English?
I have read some comments on here about Unai Emery’s poor grasp of the English language but I am not so sure it is as big an issue as is being made out.
Tactics and strategy can be intricate and so good communication are essential but Emery has an assistant in Freddie Ljungberg that speaks English almost flawlessly. Surely part of the assistant manager’s job is to ensure that the players have understood what is expected of them?
Then there are the players themselves. How many of them understand English perfectly?
Let’s look at the last Arsenal game against Leicester City. There were just three British players that featured in the game and five if you include all the subs. That means there were 12 players whose mother tongue is not English.
You also have to remember that these players have been with Emery for up to 18 months, some less, of course, surely by now, they understand all the complexities that Emery is trying to get across.
There have been managers previously that could not speak the language properly, as an example Maurcio Pochetino at Tottenham. He used a translator when he was at Southampton and only got better at English when he took up the Spurs job. Even now it is hardly proficient.
Every league worldwide employs managers from foreign countries that do not speak a word of the language of that country.
Some will argue that after 18 months he should be speaking better English. That may be so but who knows what the issue is. He could have some sort of learning difficulty when it comes to languages, he could have a speech impediment, we simply do not know.
Finally, I have to say this, I personally have no problems understanding him, yes his English is broken but if he told me not to give the ball away I reckon that would sink in fairly easily.