Should Arsenal Back or Sack Emery?
Football is a funny old game, isn’t it? So much can happen in such a short space of time. Just like that, Mauricio Pochettino was given his marching orders by Daniel Levy last Tuesday following Tottenham’s dismal start to the season after five years in charge. Before the recently vacated seat had time to get cold, the self-proclaimed “Special One”, José Mourinho, immediately replaced the Argentine.
Spurs were in fourteenth place with just 14 points out of a possible 36, plus they were 12 points from the top four and 20 points from the league leaders, Liverpool. For Daniel Levy, this was clearly unacceptable. A heartless move? Perhaps. However, after witnessing some of Spurs’ best football over the last five years, the bar has been set by Pochettino himself. Following a real lack of investment into the team, a subsequent downfall was inevitable. Long gone are the days of clubs giving their managers time in allowing them to change things after a bad spell. Pochettino should have been given the time as well as the resources and support to rebuild; nonetheless, it clearly shows just how ambitious Daniel Levy is and unfortunately, managers not being given any time is the climate of the modern game.
Following Levy’s decision to sack Pochettino, many people are now wondering which manager will be next in the firing line. I am no betting man by any means, but if I were my money would definitely be on Unai Emery. In fact, according to Sky Bet, the odds of Emery getting the boot are 5/1, which places him in second place ahead of Manuel Pellegrini, Quique Sanchez Flores, Ralph Hasenhuttl and Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
The dark cloud that engulfed Arsenal in Arsène Wenger’s last few years has returned to The Emirates, along with the feelings of discontent amongst their fan base. Arsenal are no better now than they were under Wenger. In fact, I will go as far as to say that they are worse off; despite spending more along with the changes they have made in the boardroom with the introduction of former player, Edu, as the Technical Director, and Raul Sanllehi, as the Head of Football. The evidence speaks volumes and does little to justify Emery’s cause.
Arsenal’s biggest kryptonite is their defence, an issue that has stared them in the face for many years. You would have thought that Emery would have taken a leaf out of Jürgen Klopp’s book when he fixed Liverpool’s once leaky defence with the acquisitions of Virgin van Dijk and Alisson for a combined fee of £141.8 million. Nevertheless, despite Arsenal’s obvious defensive woes, Emery has done little to rectify the issue and this season it has deteriorated. Yes, he signed David Luiz in the summer from Chelsea for £8 million but let’s not kid ourselves: he is average at best. Based on Chelsea’s current form, Frank Lampard’s decision to flog him was accurate and The Blues have not looked back since the Brazilian’s departure.
After just 13 games, Arsenal have conceded 219 shots in total, which is 17 shots per game on average. To add insult to injury, these are the highest figures in the top half of the Premier League table! Yes, unbelievably, the 13-time league and FA Cup champions have conceded more shots on goal than both Wolves and Sheffield United! Please take into account that neither of them were even in the Premier League two years ago.
Arsenal also have conceded 19 goals this season and currently have a goal difference of -1, which is their worst defensive record since 2011/12. At the same time, defence is not their only problem; surprisingly it is their attack as well. Considering that the Gunners spent a combined total of approximately £216.9 million on Mesut Özil, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicholas Pépé and are no better than the twilight years of Wenger’s reign, this leaves many in the world very perplexed. Not forgetting the fact that new captain, Aubameyang, won the Premier League Golden Boot last season with 22 goals.
Why this has happened? It is due to Emery’s pragmatism. This has shackled Arsenal’s creativity and stripped them of their slick, free-flowing, attacking and entertaining brand of football that they have become renowned for in the past 20 years. According to Opta Stats, prior to their 2–2 draw against Southampton on Saturday, Arsenal ranked seventh in total shots (174) and ninth with 24 goals scored since 5th April. To call this an abject failure, especially with the abundance of attacking talent in Arsenal’s team, is quite possibly a contender for the understatement of the year.
To make matters worse, The Gunners are currently in eighth place with just 18 points, which is also their lowest number in the past 10 years. So, their goals conceded are up and their goals scored and points are both down. Shocking.
Overall, these are extremely damning statistics. The evidence is overwhelming and it is clearly illustrates how Arsenal have regressed under Emery, even though he has been at the club for over a year and spent £137 million in the transfer window.
Furthermore, the North Londoners still lack an identity under the Spaniard and their football has become increasingly vulgar. It is anyone’s guess as to what Arsenal’s style of play is due to Emery chopping and changing his team as well as his tactics every week. It also does not help when you realise that Brendan Rodgers and Frank Lampard have made their respective teams, Leicester and Chelsea, vastly superior than Arsenal and have given their clubs an identity in a much shorter time.
These factors combined have subsequently resulted in the feelings of despondency as well as vexation creeping into Arsenal’s dressing room and slowly gaining a stronghold over it. Granit Xhaka’s future is still in limbo following his substitution against Crystal Palace at home 26 days ago, where he told the Arsenal fans to “f*** off” after they mercilessly jeered, booed and verbally abused him after another poor performance. Consequently, Xhaka has been stripped of the captaincy and left out of the team for the past five matches. In addition, Lucas Torreira’s future is also in question due to Emery not playing him regularly and deploying the Uruguayan in a #10 position as opposed to his preferred defensive midfield role.
Moreover, both Aubameyang and Lacazette’s contracts are up in 2021 and 2022 and with the increasing threat of Arsenal missing out on Champions League football for the fourth consecutive season, they may very well refuse to extend their contracts and leave. This will be incredibly damaging for The Gunners, especially since the majority of their goals come from those two.
Also, Lacazette along with the second-choice keeper, Emiliano Martinez, have expressed their dissatisfaction towards Emery by liking posts on social media that have called for his dismissal.
You would have to be blind, if not incredibly foolish, not to see that Arsenal are not far away from being in a complete state of chaos. So now the million-dollar question is: should the Arsenal board follow Daniel Levy’s example and fire Unai Emery? Based on all of the evidence, the answer is a resounding yes. Although the Spaniard has had significantly more funds to spend on transfers than his predecessor has, The Gunners have regressed tremendously under Emery. Arsenal are worse now with the likes of Özil, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Pépé, Torreira and Matteo Guendozi than they were in 2012/13 with Andrei Arshavin, Mikel Arteta, Johan Djourou, Marouanne Chamakh and Gervinho, which speaks volumes about the current state of the club.
Some may argue that sacking a manager midway into the season does more harm than good, however this is arguably dependent on the club. Two strong examples of this would be Chelsea replacing Felipe Scolari with Guus Hiddink in February 2009, along with Liverpool’s appointment of Klopp in October 2015. In addition, Leicester City’s recent appointment of Rodgers in February this year shows that it can be a success.
It also highlights the ambition of Arsenal’s board, or rather the lack of it. If they are truly a big club, then why will they not follow the example of Bayern Munich, Chelsea (in recent years) and Tottenham and sack Emery? They will need to act thick and fast because the club is currently in turmoil and there is little signs of any improvements, especially since Arsenal have only managed just two wins in their last 11 games in the Premier League.
The North Londoners have some very tricky fixtures throughout the month of December to New Year’s Day being away at Norwich, West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton and at home against Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United. Based on their current form, it does not look like they will obtain more than 10 points from those fixtures. If that does end up happening then The Gunners could possibly find themselves in the bottom half of the table by January, which will be extremely calamitous for the club.
Spurs have already snapped up Mourinho, Luis Enrique is now the manager of Spain and Barcelona are currently involved in a tug-of-war with Real Madrid over Pochettino, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. The list of top class managers that are available is decreasing very swiftly so action by the Arsenal board is needed very soon. If things continue the way they have been all season, then they could find themselves in a very awkward position later on, one that could end up costing them a place in the Champions League and £40 million in the process.
Edits made by Lisa Berrie
