It is very easy to dismiss what Unai Emery has said about his time at the Emirates because quite a few Arsenal fans simply dislike the man but it does not mean he is wrong.
There is no point debating what Emery said about Mesut Ozil, he said nothing that we do not already know about the German and minds will not be swayed one way or another.
However, what he had to say about Nicolas Pepe is a worry, a big worry.
Emery did not want to sign Pepe, he wanted to sign Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace instead, according to the interview he gave in the Guardian.
It will never work when a manager is ignored, he is the one that has to coach the players, instil his tactics and vision and if he does not want a player then forcing that player on him will never end well.
That does not mean that Emery gets exactly the player he wants, the club has to think about more than just what happens on the pitch. They have to take into consideration resale value, the economic impact on the club and so forth but to ignore the manager’s wishes is simply untenable long term.
The manager has to have the power of veto, he is the one that loses his job if it goes wrong, whereas the player can be awful on the field and even a disruptive influence but he will not lose his job and can instead just sit on his backside and keep collecting his wages week in and week out.
Things are ok under Mikel Arteta right now, not great, but ok, however, that will not last long if the head honchos insist on signing players that the manager is not keen on.
Yes, it is a big worry that the manager is basically forced to work with players that he did not want and on the face of it, that is exactly what happened with Nicolas Pepe.
