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Unai Emery

GDeep™

League is very weak
Alright Mr. I'm Still Backing Emery To Get Top 4 Over Ole And Lampard
We signed a new spine last summer, spent more this summer than ever before in our history, looking at the squads and experience of the managers, I thought Emery could do it - I was wrong though, he was more terrible than what I thought.

If anything it shows I’m not totally agenda based like your bum squad mates.
 

A_G

Rice Rice Baby 🎼🎵
A-M CL Draft Campeón 🏆
We signed a new spine last summer, spent more this summer than ever before in our history, looking at the squads and experience of the managers, I thought Emery could do it - I was wrong though, he was more terrible than what I thought.

If anything it shows I’m not totally agenda based like your bum squad mates.
If the bum squad said they wanted to give him until the second season to judge him, and then said he deserved to be sacked when he didn't perform, where's the agenda?
 

GDeep™

League is very weak
If the bum squad said they wanted to give him until the second season to judge him, and then said he deserved to be sacked when he didn't perform, where's the agenda?
Accusing the likes of myself of having a Wenger based agenda when I criticise Emery is the agenda in itself.

You all done it, especially @say yes and @yousif_arsenal who was constantly bitter for some reason when people questioned Emery.
 

GDeep™

League is very weak
Emery not getting CL last season has pushed the club back a few years. It was in his hands.

Look at these Bob Wilson quotes before the EL final, everyone could see Emery threw top 4 away, ******.

Reflecting on Emery's first season, the 77-year-old said: "I've been annoyed at times.

"When we played Crystal Palace a few weeks ago and we were starting to pick up after a bad away run, there were seven changes to the team made on the day. When I saw the team I screamed, I actually screamed.

"During my time in football as both a coach and a player I thought this can't be right. Especially against Crystal Palace, they won at Manchester City this season.

"I was so upset with that, I was upset with that choice. He was obviously looking ahead to the Europa League and I understand that it's ultimately got us to the final.

"If we finish in the Champions League because we beat Chelsea, then what a good decision that was. But, I think we could have qualified for the Champions League if he has started the proper side the whole time."
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland


Interesting stuff from Emery. Regardless of if we it would've been better to sign Zaha or Pepe, it's a bit alarming that we went against what the manager wanted. Why didn't we sack Emery in the summer if they board had a completely different vision to him?
 

UpTheGunnerz

Vrei sa pleci dar una una iei

Player:Elneny


Interesting stuff from Emery. Regardless of if we it would've been better to sign Zaha or Pepe, it's a bit alarming that we went against what the manager wanted. Why didn't we sack Emery in the summer if they board had a completely different vision to him?

Great interview, always interesting to hear the other perspective so to speak. Not shying away from his own responsibility in the mess, but also not afraid of pointing some fingers. I really like Mr Emery as a person, seems a very decent bloke.
 

UpTheGunnerz

Vrei sa pleci dar una una iei

Player:Elneny
I really hope to see him back in football soon when it returns. Maybe back to Valencia? He is a Sociedad fan but they seem to be doing very well.
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland
I really hope to see him back in football soon when it returns. Maybe back to Valencia? He is a Sociedad fan but they seem to be doing very well.

Yep he needs a job back in Spain where communication won't be a huge issue. I think it was the main reason for a lot of the problems, it's always gonna be tough when you can't get your ideas across properly and there's a lack of understanding among the players about what is wanted and I believe we saw that in some games.
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland

Also says we lost some leadership losing Cech, Ramsey, Monreal and Koscielny in the same summer. Wanted the latter 3 all to stay.
 

krengon

One Arsène Wenger
Trusted ⭐


Interesting stuff from Emery. Regardless of if we it would've been better to sign Zaha or Pepe, it's a bit alarming that we went against what the manager wanted. Why didn't we sack Emery in the summer if they board had a completely different vision to him?

I’m a club man, that’s what they signed. With Arsène Wenger it was different: he did everything. Now there’s Raul [Sanllehi] and Edu, and I have to trust them to do their job. My job’s the football. The club have people who handle other stuff, although that impacts on the pitch. Some of that hurt us.”

This part from the interview too. I'll always believe Managers should have the main say in transfers tbh, they are the ones who should know best what they want and need.
 

A_G

Rice Rice Baby 🎼🎵
A-M CL Draft Campeón 🏆
“[Initially] he wanted to stay,” Emery says of Ramsey. “He needed to negotiate a new contract and they didn’t reach an agreement. The club had doubts about renewing for a certain sum. Ramsey wanted to feel valued. It was a financial matter; I can’t get involved. And I still didn’t know him well when I arrived. He’s important but I can’t say what they should pay him.
Confirms what we all knew really, Ramsey left for money more than anything.
 

UpTheGunnerz

Vrei sa pleci dar una una iei

Player:Elneny
Think Unai Emery was right about wanting Nkunku also. Explosive season at Leipzig, and i will watch him with a keen eye now when the league starts again
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland
This part from the interview too. I'll always believe Managers should have the main say in transfers tbh, they are the ones who should know best what they want and need.

It's really simple if the manager and the people involved in recruitment are not on the same page then things just won't work. There's very few examples of stuff like this not ending in tears. You can't just sign players when the manager wants other ones. Also the fact that Emery wanted a guy who could have an immediate impact while the board wanted a long term solution also shows a difference in philosophies, perhaps the board were just always looking at Emery as short term. But the whole thing was just a mess.
 

Tosker

Does Not Hate Foreigners
The whole interview:

The plane from Baku flew through the night with no trophy on board and landed at 8am. Unai Emery went home to Cockfosters, slept for three hours, then returned to London Colney, where the players started arriving from midday, called in one by one. His first season at Arsenal was over. It had been “very good” he insists – repeatedly, in fact – only to collapse into a limp finish. Three defeats in seven days – against Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester – then a draw with Brighton cost them a Champions League place; that loss in Azerbaijan denied them the Europa League. Now the analysis began, preparations for the next stage.

Every player came, except Mesut Özil. Emery told them his plans and heard theirs: £130m was spent on signings, eight players in, 10 out, excitement building. But mistakes were made, he admits – from recruitment to the departure of all four potential captains – and within six months he was gone. Something had broken, the situation “unsustainable”, and he was sacked. He had overseen the best start in Arsenal’s history and their worst run in 30 years. As it disintegrated, he knew those games he watched alone and exposed on the touchline, toxicity all around, would be his last.

On 29 November it was official, his departure as unlamented as it was inevitable. Emery, under lockdown in Valencia, would almost rather leave it there. As he recalls his origins at little Lorca and discusses his desire to work again, there is a glimpse of the old enthusiasm, absent in the autumn. And he keeps returning to the “positives” at Arsenal. But that goes with an inescapable sense of injustice at how he has been portrayed, dismissed as a disaster, a figure of fun. And it is hard not to linger on what went wrong.

Starting with Baku. Below the surface were problems, but Emery believes things might have been different had they won and made the Champions League; had they reacted right. That final, those conversations and plans, should have been a start but listening to Emery it feels more like the end. In October 2018, fans had chanted: “We’ve got our Arsenal back.” By November 2019, they had changed their tune, to: “We want Emery out!” And: “You’re getting sacked in the morning.”

“The first season we did a lot well,” Emery says. “I thought: ‘This is my team.’ People said: ‘Unai, we can see your personality in this side.’ There was spirit, games with intensity, energy – Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea – and we reached Arsenal’s first [European] final in 13 years, playing very well against Napoli and Valencia. Finishing third was in reach but we lost four decisive points against Crystal Palace and Brighton.”


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Unai Emery walks away from the Europa League trophy after Arsenal’s defeat by Chelsea in the final in Baku last season. Photograph: Alex Grimm/Getty Images
Emery calls those results “incomprehensible” but tries to make sense of them. A recurring theme emerges. “[At first] things went magnificently; there was a good spirit in the dressing room,” he begins. “[Aaron] Ramsey’s injury, when he was at his best, had a big influence: he conveyed positivity, so much energy. And playing a lot of important games in April without him, we needed 100% implicación from every player.”

Implicación. If there is a word repeated often over the hour’s conversation, it is that. In English it is commitment and it was missing.


“[Initially] he wanted to stay,” Emery says of Ramsey. “He needed to negotiate a new contract and they didn’t reach an agreement. The club had doubts about renewing for a certain sum. Ramsey wanted to feel valued. It was a financial matter; I can’t get involved. And I still didn’t know him well when I arrived. He’s important but I can’t say what they should pay him.

“I believed Xhaka could be captain. And the players voted for him, he was respected in the dressing room.” But why vote? Why not own that decision yourself? “My strategy was 50% me, 50% them. I like to have players’ input, their opinion. There were people with the character to be captain, but you need time and backing. Without the support of certain people or the fans, it’s harder. If Xhaka had Koscielny and Nacho, or Ramsey, he could have eased into it. Emotionally, certain results and attitudes inside didn’t help the team have the commitment and togetherness of before.”


If so, Emery kept his counsel, and he seems to hold back now. He always will, he says – even if that means shouldering the blame. “A coach has to have the strength to take responsibility, to be [in the firing line]. I protect the players and the club protects the manager. I’m a club man, that’s what they signed. With Arsène Wenger it was different: he did everything. Now there’s Raul [Sanllehi] and Edu, and I have to trust them to do their job. My job’s the football. The club have people who handle other stuff, although that impacts on the pitch. Some of that hurt us.”

Maybe him most of all. Emery was exposed. When results turned, he was an easy target. A comedy one, even. Language made it harder to build a relationship with fans or a public persona that might have insulated him. His English became a stick to beat him with, grounds for dismissal. “I had a decent level, although I needed to improve. When results are bad it’s not the same. You lack the linguistic depth to explain. And take ‘good ebening’: OK, it’s ‘good evening’, but when I said ‘good ebening’ and won it was fun; when we were losing it was a disgrace.”

And results were bad. Awful, in fact. It unravelled fast. Emery changed players, formations and ideas but could not change the trajectory or regain control. He watched it fall apart, knowing he would be the one to fall. “It’s difficult,” he says, hands drawing swirls, so much going on. “The energy slips, things drift; everything does, everyone does. Some support you but you feel the atmosphere, relationships [shift]. And that transmits to the pitch. Losing leads against Palace and Wolves reflected our emotional state: we weren’t right. It wasn’t working. I told the players: ‘I don’t see the team I want.’ That commitment and unity wasn’t there any more. That’s when I see I’m on my own. The club left me alone, and there was no solution.”

Jorge Valdano once said there are two types of coaches: strong and weak. And once players realise theirs is the latter, he is screwed.

“Indeed,” Emery says. “At every club, I’ve been protected: Lorca, Almería, Valencia, PSG. At Sevilla I had Monchi. At PSG Nasser al-Khelaifi protected me in the dressing room and publicly. At Arsenal they weren’t able to, maybe because they came from Wenger, who did everything. They’d say: ‘We’re with you’ but in front of fans and the dressing room they couldn’t protect me. Truth is, I felt alone. And the results dictated I had to go.

“But, look, I was happy at Arsenal and I remember the good things. The first year was magnificent, I gave opportunities to young players: Bukayo [Saka] played eight minutes and never touched the ball but that was a first step for a 17-year-old who’s going to be great. Bernd Leno has grown. [Joe] Willock, Reiss Nelson, [Eddie] Nketiah, [Gabriel] Martinelli. Mattéo Guendouzi did very well, Lucas [Torreira]. It’s rewarding seeing them grow. And [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang got 31 goals and was top scorer, [Alexandre] Lacazette scored 19 and gave 13 assists.

“All that was missing was Aubameyang scoring that penalty against Tottenham: two extra points for Champions League qualification. Or beating Brighton and Palace. We couldn’t finish the job and then there were mistakes. I’m self-critical; at certain moments I couldn’t get results. I enjoyed the Emirates. I still follow Arsenal. They’re making changes. [Mikel] Arteta was the right choice … I spoke to him around Christmas. I want the best for him and for Arsenal.”

Emery is keen to work again: “The desire and energy is there. I’m watching football, learning. And if there’s a good project in England, if someone wants me and is prepared to get behind me, I’m available… In England that identification with your team brings the game alive. It’s deeper there, like a church. I was born in San Sebastián and my team is Real Sociedad. That feeling is in my heart and that’s what you find in England. It’s marvellous, the loveliest thing there is.”
 

benjamin86

Established Member
“At every club, I’ve been protected: Lorca, Almería, Valencia, PSG. At Sevilla I had Monchi. At PSG Nasser al-Khelaifi protected me in the dressing room and publicly."
Wonder if this was 1 of the reasons why we brought in Edu?
 

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