Life after Wenger | Ornstein: Arsenal set to appoint Unai Emery

[Wilshere1010]

Emery got Almeria promoted to La liga for the first time ever and then finished 8th in the following season, massive achievement.. He went to Valencia who were in deep financial problems at the time and in his second season there he managed to get them back in Cl with a 3rd place finish.. He ends up losing Villa and Silva(maybe others too, I can't recall) yet still finishes 3rd the next season even after losing his best players. He finishes 3rd 3 years in a row under serious financial restrictions and dealing with losing his best players. After he left Valencia has struggled(got 4th this year though).

What he did in Russia is irrelevant really.. Winning 3 Europa leagues with Sevilla is nothing to downplay, to come back from down 1-0 at half time to Klopp's Liverpool in the final is especially impressive. All his previous work made him attractive enough for PSG to want him(and if we were linked with him back then majority here would be all for it). Things didn't go the way he would have wanted there, but it's a tough job. Who's to say he hasn't learned from it and become a better manager because of that experience?

I find the PSG criticism quite harsh also. He's been criticised for losing the title to a very good Monaco side who got 95 points, but they were just excellent that year and it shouldn't taint Emery's rep. Poch is a very good coach (but a bottler) who lost the title to a Leicester side much weaker than Monaco on paper, yet his reputation is still intact.

Lost this year to a Madrid side that has won 3 UCL's in the last 4 and ALWAYS seems to find a way to win in Europe, no matter the opposition. Freak side. The Barca bottle job is worrying, but it shouldn't be forgotten he was up against a combination of one of the best attacks of all time and the full force of UEFAlona.

Outside of that, his record is solid, his Almeria and Valencia spells particularly impressive to me. Even the 7th place finish in the league came as a result of him focusing his efforts on the Europa League and probably slipping a position or 2 because of that.

 

[tap-in]

Presnel Kimpembe's another great young player who benefited massively from Emery taking over at PSG. Even in an environment where you're supposed to win every single game Emery's managed to develop and integrate young players.

Excited to see what he can do with the likes of AMN and Nelson.

Yes me too, I've started to like AMN more and Nelson I feel has huge potential, also Nketiah.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

We're getting a manager who just won the treble for PSG nobody can moan. Serial winner, my winner.

 

[albakos]

Yes me too, I've started to like AMN more and Nelson I feel has huge potential, also Nketiah.

Who knows, maybe he can turn Iwobi into a good player.
The potential is there, but with him it was similar to Ox. The problem is in the brains.

 

[Rex Stone]

He did an exceptional job at Almeria as well, found a very good piece from Sid Lowe after they beat Real:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2008/feb/04/europeanfootball.sport1

Here's an idea:

What made the victory so impressive wasn't the way Almería set about Madrid, denying time to Guti; the way Diego Alves leapt from side to side saving shots, then leapt up again to kiss a picture of the virgin; or the way Álvaro Negredo made Fabio Cannavaro look like a pub player. It wasn't even the fact that Bernd Schuster managed not to whinge or that José Ortíz, the sole survivor from Almería's Third Division days got a run out. No, what was most impressive was that this was no one-off, that victory over Madrid was Almería's fourth in a row and took them into eighth place, just two points off a Uefa Cup slot"

Why did he have a picture of @THunter?

 

[Vinci]

He did an exceptional job at Almeria as well, found a very good piece from Sid Lowe after they beat Real:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2008/feb/04/europeanfootball.sport1

Here's an idea:

He's just a natural manager. Rolled into to the job at age 34 and got the most out of his squads. The hours and hours of video's seems a bit much, but no doubt he has altered/perfected that over the years.

In that Almeria team Negredo had his breakthrough as well. Touched on it earlier, but Emery has some magic touch with strikers. Considering we already have two very good ones here, it will be exciting to see what he can do with them.

 

[BobP]

1. Props to Balague, Ornstein, and Dank. The only guys who were brave enough to stick their necks out and speak the truth when everybody else was calling Arteta to Arsenal a done deal.

2. I think people are underselling Emery. Guy is a perfectly capable manager who has demonstrated his ability to get clubs punching above their weight. He's only 46, a baby in managerial years, and has already won a host of trophies. Does he have downsides? Sure he does, what manager doesn't. I mean Wenger was sacked by Monaco and then went to manage in Japan. But I think if you properly contextualise Emery's work at Spartak and PSG you'd see that the problems he faced preceded him and were therefore largely out of his control. It's also important to note once again that he's only 46 and will, I'm sure, have learnt from those 'failures'. Nonetheless, he comes in as a manager who has experience working within the continental model and I think if he is allowed to settle in and acquire a rhythm he could become a very good manager for this club.

 

[cesare]

Reminds of of the bastardly move by United when they announced/leaked Mourinho right after LVG won them the FA Cup.

I doubt we would ever stoop to that.

Agreed. Was just trying to point out that the timing of this whole thing and the Arteta circus seems to have warped people’s perception of Emery.

 

[Dammit]

The fact that opposition fans have stopped laughing at our managerial appointment saga really pleases me. With Arteta at the helm we would have been the next laughing stock in England after Moyes' boys. For this alone it's well played by the board. Emery also looks a class act and I'm really excited.

 

[albakos]

2. I think people are underselling Emery. Guy is a perfectly capable manager who has demonstrated his ability to get clubs punching above their weight. He's only 46, a baby in managerial years, and has already won a host of trophies. Does he have downsides? Sure he does, what manager doesn't. I mean Wenger was sacked by Monaco and then went to manage in Japan. But I think if you properly contextualise Emery's work at Spartak and PSG you'd see that the problems he faced preceded him and were therefore largely out of his control. It's also important to note once again that he's only 46 and will, I'm sure, have learnt from those 'failures'. Nonetheless, he comes in as a manager who has experience working within the continental model and I think if he is allowed to settle in and acquire a rhythm he could become a very good manager for this club.

You make a good point.
Wenger also came here as a 46-years old, with obviously less honours than Emery had so far.

I am not saying Emery will be better than Wenger in overall picture, Emery will not be here for such a long time, but looking at more perspective, I am inclined to believe that Emery is a very good appointment for this stage.

Hopefully our fanbase as well as AFTV mongs are patient and not get on his back even before a ball is kicked.

 

[MagicParis]

Hi, I think some of you want to know more about Unai Emery. During his 2 years at PSG, this is the most complete interview you could find.
Here it is . (too long for a comment post, don't know how the image system works here)
https://issuu.com/magicparis/docs/tactical_room_emery

I did my best, sorry in advance if there are english mistakes. If anyone want a pdf version, just ask.

 

[bingobob]

We had Arsène at Arsenal and now we have Emery at the Emeryates . Taxi.

 

[Flying Okapis]

To be fair to the board the managerial options do seem somewhat limited;

Allegri staying at Juve
Jardim appears to be staying put
Arteta, Vieira have their issues
Luis Enrique if true demanding stupid wages
Sarri to Chelsea or staying put
Simeone staying put

Emery is actually quite a realistic appointment for what is out there. I do feel we should have joined the managerial merry go round when Klopp and Pep were available years ago but it is what it is and this is the current manager market we are in.

Hoping for the 'announcement' this week so we can move on and then have the same 'good enough vs not good enough' arguments in the transfer threads..

 

[JuanCarlosValeron]

He may not go around hugging all his players, pumping his fist when his team manages to put pressure on, but Emery is one year older than Pochettino who was sacked by Espanyol, with a lot more experience and trophies to show for his troubles. I am sure Emery will be able to more than hold his own in a league not exactly renowned for its tactically astute managers. Contrary to what many people believe, we have an abundance of interesting players who may very well flourish under the right manager.

The less said about the process the better. Krang is not able to run a bath, let alone a football club.

 

[Kingslayer]

I wanted to attract a top manager like Allegri, Jardim or Simeone . . . or take a risk with a young manager with innovative ideas. Both of those options are exciting. A real shake up. The latter a thrill ride.

Compared to the drudgery we've been served the past two years, anyone who comes in and actually makes a positive change to our play, even a small one, is being innovative and is a real shake up.

 

[YeahBee]

Anybody know of any good relationships he had with psg or Sevilla players?

Did he have mustafi at valencia?

 

[HairSprayGooners]

Anybody know of any good relationships he had with psg or Sevilla players?

Did he have mustafi at valencia?

Mustafi was 16/17 when Emery first joined Valencia. He joined Valencia in 14/15 so no.

 

[Kingslayer]

"Just sits around watching videos all day for £5m a year, fam!"

 

[bingobob]

I am more in favour of Emery than Arteta. He won the treble this season. He was very unlucky in Europe. Topped the CL group with Bayern in it and got rewarded with a draw against Real Madrid. Bayern finished second and got Besiktas. That is where you need luck to go your way. Last year against Barcelona they pumped them in the first leg and a Suarez dive and typical Barcelona cheating cost them.

He has a solid enough record. Not inspiring but not uninspiring either. Enough success at good clubs and a modern super club. Let's see how things go.

 

[dashsnow17]

What will be key for Emery is getting the players to buy into his methods. He'll be very demanding and essentially ask them to put in the work in order to get rewards. At PSG basically a clique of players just never accepted him and weren't prepared to adopt his methods.

Because at Arsenal we're a bit down on our luck and there is obviously the need to improve rapidly, the players should be much more ready to adopt some new methods. They will be more desperate to learn. If everyone buys into it then i'm sure we'll see improvements. Hurrah!