Unai Emery finally opens up on his tenure at Arsenal and admits to difficult second year.
Unai Emery was made the first Arsenal manager that wasn’t Arsene Wenger in two decades when he joined the Gunners in the summer of 2018.
He helped the Gunners reach the Europa League final in his first season and led them to a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League.
A lot was expected from him and his players in his second full season, but it never really worked out for them.
After a series of poor results, he was finally sacked by the Gunners, he was eventually replaced by Mikel Arteta later that year.
He has been silent about his tenure as Arsenal manager while he looks for a new job. However, he recently opened up to Spanish publication, Marca per SportsWitness and admitted that his tenure was a disaster at the Emirates especially his second year.
“I am clear about my diagnosis and we did good things there. I think we had a good first year, taking two competitions well as Europa League and Premier League,” he said.
“The process was good. When we played possession, we did it; when we had to press, we did it. And we were competitive, playing as the game required. With moments of possession game and moments of three quick touches.”
“This second year, we have not played well; we have not defended well; We have not been competitive; We did not transmit. And I told the players myself.
“There were several problems: four captains; the Özil-Kolasinac case; Pépé’s signing, who needs time since he came from France… We didn’t play well, that’s for sure.”
“That brought us bad results, there was no improvement, the fans focused on me and they threw me out. But I keep the positive things, there were many.
“I had the funeral and mourning. After my sacking, I dreamed a month of things about Arsenal. It was a natural process. And I overcame that. When I no longer dreamed them, I already knew that I had overcome it.”
Nothing really controversial there in my opinion. There were problems for sure and the fans did want him out in the end, but the buck stops with the manager, there are always problems and that is why they are paid millions, to overcome those problems.
Truth is, Emery never did overcome them and he paid the price.