Lessons for Emery and Arsenal in their first game in charge

Unai Emery got a baptism of fire in his first game in charge of Arsenal Football Club. His team went down 2-0 against a well-oiled City machine that looked more than determined to retain the title they won last season.

There was a lot of fanfare following Emery's appointment as the man replaced Arsene Wenger, who had been at the club for nearly 22 years. Arsenal made their managerial appointment early with a view to give time to the new man to work his way during preseason.

Indeed, Emery had the majority of his players since day one of pre-season, imparting his ideas, his philosophy into his inherited team.

Throughout his press conferences, the Spanish coach was clear about how he wanted his new team to play, with high energy, high pressing and tactical diversity. During pre-season games, all that was evident. Though not perfect, it was clear that Unai Emery's ideas were beginning to take effect.

Good enough, his players looked happy and showed the willingness to learn and buy into the philosophy of their new boss. Then came the real test, Unai Emery's first competitive game in charge, against the mighty Manchester City.

The fixture was extremely cruel for the new man at Arsenal, pitting him against the defending champions, City and then a week later, he faces London rivals Chelsea. It would have been ideal for Unai Emery to start with two or three mid table teams against whom his tactics would prove an immediate success, so that by the time his team would face the likes of City, his players would have mastered most of the elements of his philosophy.

Chelsea, for instance had an absolutely ideal team to open their campaign against-Huddersfield. Against Man City though, however prepared they may have been, Arsenal were always going to be found wanting.

Man City were imperious against Arsenal

When the line-ups came out, many were surprised to see Uruguayan midfielder, Lucas Torreira missing. He was heralded as the man Arsenal had been missing since time immemorial, the man to provide that screan in front of the back four.

Against City, he was almost unanimously expected to start. His performance for Uruguay at the World Cup in Russia had Arsenal fans smacking their lips. He was left out of this game in favour of young French midfielder, Matteo Guendouzi.

It was such a brave decision by Emery, given that Guendouzi was playing second division football for Lorient a few months ago. The player himself exhibited a great deal of poise in a game that was clearly his biggest in his short career.

He made a few mistakes, the highlight of which being the misjudged ball that sent Sergio Aguero clear on goal. Petr Cech was able to superbly save the goal bound shot to keep Arsenal in the game.

Such a mistake would squeeze the remaining grain of confidence from a rookie, but Guendouzi remained himself composed and continually applied himself to receive the ball from his defenders from time to time.

It would have been foolhardy to think that Arsenal would match City pound-for-pound. Pep Guardiola has built his team for two seasons going into the third. The majority of the players are his own signings. They were only continuing from where they had left off last season.

The team that started for City had only one new player, Riyad Mahrez and the rest were there last season. Arsenal were only starting their new journey under a new manager after a long while. New manager, new coaches, new philosophy, new era, new changes. In this one, there was going to be only one winner.

Arsenal tried their best. No one can really fault them for lacking effort. Despite going 1-0 down to Raheem Stirling's rasping drive, they tried to match City's pressing game. In the second half, they faded away as City dominated.

Petr Cech clearly showed his discomfort with playing out from the back, at some point almost shooting into his own net as he tried to pass sideways. Unai Emery thought the Czech would provide the much needed experience for a game of that magnitude, but it was evident that he was not comfortable passing the ball rather than hoofing it forward.

The quicker Leno starts playing, the better, as the German looks more adept to playing with his defenders, unlike Cech who, throughout his career, has been asked to launch forward.

Petr Cech looked uncomfortable playing out from the back

If Emery could trust Guendouzi for such a critical position, in a game of that calibre, then he should do the same with Mavropanos to partner his compatriot Papastathopoulos or Holding because Mustafi is clearly not up to the task. He was all over the place in the opener game.

When Torreira comes in against Chelsea and the subsequent games, it should be Granit Xhaka to give way. He was horrible in this game, giving the ball away more times than any other player on the pitch. In the wide areas, Arsenal played Henrik Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil.

These players are good, but they are not the most suited for those roles. Their defensive side of the game is questionable and neither do they have pace in abundance. Emery should find a way to add pace to his side. Playing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the left with Lacazette in the middle could help.

All in all, the game was an eye opener for Unai Emery. It showed how much work he has to do to put his message across so that in the subsequent games, Arsenal will be able to put up a better showing, starting with the weekend game against Chelsea