Opinion – Arsenal need to be ruthless and sack Unai Emery now

The time to sack Unai Emery is now!

When Arsene Wenger announced his departure from Arsenal in April 2018, many fans celebrated. Some who felt his good days were over and had nothing more to offer, felt it was freedom at last! Or so they thought. Others who felt he was the best thing to happen to Arsenal, felt he was been forced out and he should be allowed to at least lead the team to another trophy; probably another FA cup, before bowing out in style. Whatever anybody thought, a lot of people knew that change was desired, and Wenger stepping down was just the beginning of the desired change.

On 23 May 2018, Emery was appointed as the new head coach of Arsenal; a lot of fans were elated, as many had the opinion that finally, the club was hiring a coach who was truly going to move the club forward, going by his previous coaching jobs. Emery agreed to a two-year deal with the club, with the club having the option to extend his deal for a further year. In his first competitive game in charge, on 13 August, his side lost to Manchester City 0–2 in the Premier League.

After a second consecutive loss to Chelsea on 18 August, Emery recorded his first win as Arsenal manager on 25 August, in a 3–1 home win over West Ham United. After this game, Arsenal won 11 games in a row, their best run of form since 2007. Arsenal then extended their unbeaten run to 22 games. Their 3–2 loss to Southampton in December was the first time they had been defeated in all competitions since August. As if that was not impressive enough, Emery yet again reached a Europa League Final but did not triumph as Arsenal were beaten 4-1 by fellow English finalists Chelsea. The season ended with many Arsenal fans hoping for a better next season but has it been so? The fact that many Arsenal fans want us to sack Unai Emery tells us all we need to know.

Arsenal football club is one of the biggest football club sides in the world but the way the club is being run, makes me doubt if we truly know how big a club we are, in the world of football. Big club sides around the world are known to have one trait, they are known to be ruthless decision takers! Arsenal is not ruthless and I say this with pain in my heart. If Emery were to be a coach of Chelsea or Man City, I am quite sure he would have been long gone by now. It is funny how the Arsenal board seems so comfortable backing a coach who has lost his ability to motivate his players at Arsenal. Emery is a good coach but at Arsenal, he seems to have lost his way. A parting of ways should be a good option for both Arsenal and Unai Emery at this juncture.

Raul Sanllehi recently came out on SkySports to tell the world that the Spaniard is still “the right man for the job” and they will not consider his future until next summer. This may be a good way to show the world that Arsenal is still unified, despite obvious problems, but if we are to tell ourselves the harsh truth, we need to sack Unai Emery now, or else we kiss our season goodbye.

Sylvester Kwentua

25 Comments

  1. According to Ornstein, Emery has a three-year contract without a break clause

    Arsenal need to take a significant amount from the next season’s transfer budget to fire Emery and his staffs

    The only way to cover this huge cost is by selling fringe players like Xhaka, which I suspect that’s what they are waiting for

    1. The easy answer then is to place a Emery on immediate gardening leave and carry on paying him until his contract ends. That way he’s not sacked, yet, but can be barred from the London Colney and the Emirates, drastic action yes but needs must. We’ve already spent a lot of next years budget so we need to be pragmatic about this.

  2. Admin, it seems our club never learns from it’s mistakes:

    The running down by players regarding their contracts – said players being selected out of position – defensive issues ongoing – individual players making headlines for the wrong reasons are part and parcel of our club these days.

    Arsene was as much a part of the above in his last couple of seasons, as Unai Emery is today and, while we seem leaderless out on the pitch, the same can be said for The Arsenal itself in all matters off the pitch.

    When one bears in mind the total overhaul of the backroom staff, the chaos becomes even more of a problem, with eight people recently being let go off and one of the original three musketeers leaving before anyone had a chance to see what he had to offer…and the only real footballing person amongst them in my opinion.

    I can’t see anyone with the ability to understand what we, the common fan, can quite obviously see needs to be done and that is to let UE go – we have no playing identity, no cohesion, players rebelling etc etc.

    It was only Arsene Wenger’s decision and realisation that he, at that moment in time, the job as manager had become to much and resigned, that forced the club into doing something.

    Unfortunatly, they made the wrong decision – it happens in life, but they need to admit this and take action now and not let it drift, as was the case with AW over his last year or so at the helm.

    Act now or suffer the consequences for seasons to come!!!

    1. kEN, Sadly you have said it all and we all know you wrote the total truth. I might quibble with “Wenger resigned” rather than was sacked BUT that is now of no concern to our current plight.

      1. I agree Ken, things are broken and I am worried. There doesn’t seem to be a willingness to admit where we are, let alone do something about it. In theory, there is just enough of a glimmer to say, “maybe we can get by, it will be okay, give it time, people will come around (pick your own similar expression here)”, but in practice no.

        I liked Declan’s idea about letting Emery work on some gardening, that would save the dismissal. Only problem is that he would be putting the annuals out for the winter and moving the perennials into the house (sad humour attempt at linking playing-out-of-position with poor planting decisions).

  3. great post sylvestor, I have to agree with you regards the big clubs being ruthless,look at what Leicester did with Ranieri,he won them the title then got the sack in the following season because no more or less than Emery has done here,I cannot believe Sanlehi and Edu sat at the back of the stand last week watching that capitulation and can put hand on heart and say he is still the man for the job,they are living in cloud cuckoo land.

  4. sorry,not suggesting Leicester are a bigger club just comparing how ruthless they were as opposed how we are.

    1. but with the passage of time and no action roles may reverse…that is my last overly gloomy post today.

  5. Yes,sack Emery NOW before the rumblings
    and rumours regarding our top players turns into
    fruition regarding dissatisfaction and wanting to leave.

  6. Same goes for the players refusing to sign new contracts. As much as I love Auba and Laca, if they won’t play ball then sell them for a decent profit and replace them with Martinelli and Nketiah. Rumours that both Leno and Torriera want out too, get shot and replace them with Martinez and Chambers (who are better players) then start again! I’m fed up with all the indecision at present. If you’re not a committed Gooner, you can fück off.

    1. Agree wholeheartedly with what you said, we’re always clinging on to players whose hearts just aren’t in it anymore and come off as insecure and scared. Sell ruthlessly and replace accordingly, and I’m also glad we have a ton of young English players coming through the ranks, recruiting foreign is good and all but they just don’t have the same sense of pride and loyalty for the badge

      1. You nailed it with “pride & loyalty”. None of the players on the pitch fight for the glory of the club.Even if Unai is a failed coach, the captain should marshal his men for a fight to win attitude. Do not get me wrong, but in my opinion, ever since our club payed a certain player the mega bucks, everyone’s potential and desire dropped. Even Ox left for a lower compensation, after noticing the drop in attitude towards winning. Giroud should have been retained, at least he offered us something different from the bench.For all the hype, Laca & Auba, have failed to win us anything. Pepe and Mesut sail in the same ship, Socrates, Granit should never have been at AFC, in the first place. The board should identify the next coach who can build the team around Guendozi. The future is bright with Tierney, Saliba, Bellerin, Chambers, Holding, Willock, Gabriel, Saka, Nelson, Eddie. Remember the good football Arsene gave us with the younger players, we can try and groom our youngsters into something with the right coach. It is just those overpaid experienced donnas who play without pride or passion. I would rather have a young determined team play and settle for 4th spot, than have those cheating the club with subdued performances. Or we hire a no nonsense coach like Jose and kick the lethargy/mediocrity out of the seniors. Even for a year would do. I would like any of the above options,except that my opinions count for nothing to those in power at AFC.

    2. Ask yourself a question, would you commit your future and professional career to club where you witness it sinking into discombobulated disarray. The players are not the ones to blame for the present state of the club. The blame lies squarely with the manager and those who support him. If the board do not fire him quickly, it will become their fault also. The players are just voting with their feet. Which in my view is fair, as they can see how well run clubs with talented players are supposed to be doing, unlike at Arsenal right now.

  7. Have to disagree with the author of the post here. Ozil said it susinctly, to his face, “you are not a coach”
    He was Raul Sannlehi appointment and he is the one backing his fellow countryman. Between them they know very little about football and even less about the English game and the premier league. They should both be kicked out before they completely ruin the club we all love

  8. Maybe we should’ve given Emery the players he wanted.. he never wanted Torreira and he has been proven right. He’s physically not right for the Premier League. Too slow and too slight to anchor the midfield defensively.. absolute whiner when he gets touched too. We have to accept that we have a bang average midfield. I’d swap Xhaka and Torreira for Ndidi and Tielemans tomorrow. We need to find some might in the middle.. we’ve conceded more shots than most in the league, but if you look, they’re mainly in the 18-30 yard area.. the area where our midfield should be stopping shots! We have one of the best strike forces in the league.. but one of most prominent through ball players is David Luiz.. our centre back! If we can shift Xhaka and Torreira in January and get a bit of physicality in the middle, we’ll start improving.. Liverpool don’t have quality centre midfielders, but what they have are all strong and mobile.. Xhaka is not mobile, Torreira is not strong or mobile, Guendouzi isn’t strong and neither are Ceballos or Ozil.. Willock could be but he’s still young and hasn’t developed strength-wise! The centre point of our team is awful and everything around it is suffering!

    1. Agree with everything you say about the midfield it all starts there. But first we really really really need to get rid of this spineless manager

    2. The players emery wanted didn’t fit in the profile of players the club wants going forward and they also didn’t fit in to the philosophy of the club. The first red flag should have been the manager wanting the total opposite of players than the club were looking to recruit, old journeymen that would graft for a season or two, as opposed to young technically gifted players that would be developed and sold at a profit later on. If he didn’t agree with the players then he definitely wouldn’t be able to get the most out of them, that means his footballing philosophy is also totally different from the one we have at Arsenal. I’m sure he said all the right things in the interview by how the management didn’t do their due diligence and research his actual background is beyond me

    3. @Paul
      Emery is the coach, nothing more. People can blame him all they want, but won’t change the fact that the club is rotting from up top on down. Emery wanted players that would fit into his system of play, the board ignored that and brought players based on their sell back value. 72 mil could gave got us a more competent group of defensive players. We spent it on a lightweight winger because someone saw him dazzle on YouTube and figured he’d be worth more in the future. The board and management are clueless as to what’s really needed. They’re still high giving and patting each other on the backs for bs’ing their way into another cushy job… Bunch of muppets

  9. I’m fine with that if we get a top manager like Allegri, Enrique etc

    But if we get someone like Brenda, Arteta, Llungberg, Henry as a permanent manager, then that’s not ruthless. It’s stupid and UNAMBITIOUS

  10. We need to get our identity back, not have one forced upon us like the religious dogmatic insistence of playing out from the back which has had the affect of destroying our playing style and made us inefficient and ineffective as a team. Steve Gerrard with Freddie Lumberg would be the ideal long term replacement. I do not want another Spanish alliance (Artetta) unless it was Guardiolla himself. Because he doesn’t consider himself subservient or inferior to Real Madrid and Barcelona.
    Unai Emery just comes across as too weak for this job, and he had imprinted his weakness on the team

  11. I don’t agree that our midfield is poor . No! Can we cast our mind back to our match against Liverpool and Spurs at th Emirates last season? What about our match against Spurs away last season? You praise Liverpool’s midfield and others that don’t concede goals like us but did not consider how they play as a team . In these teams, everyone becomes a defender once they lose the ball. They press every opposing player with the ball while Arsenal players retreat (backing their goals) towards their own penalty box! This has been the pattern of play . Wingers of opponents are not closed down and are allowed to cross into our box. Unai was talking about intensity when he started last season. When last did you hear that word last?
    The problem with Arsenal for years before Wenger left is coaching. It’s only in Arsenal that internationals bought for millions of pounds are not good but they do well with their countries. Stop blaming Arsenal players !

  12. Arsenal fans have been blaming. Xhaka for every loss in the last games we have lost so place the problem where it deserve

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