Three reasons why Unai Emery didn't deserve to be sacked

It’s happened, the day the majority of Arsenal fans have been waiting for since the summer has come around. After 18 months in the job, Unai Emery has been sacked as manager of Arsenal football club. The final straw of Emery’s tenure was a 2-1 defeat at home to Eintracht Frankfurt, adding to a seven-game winless streak.

As things stand, Nuno Espirito Santo, Mikel Arteta and Massimiliano Allegri are the favourites to sit in the hot seat next. For now, ex-player Freddie Ljungberg will step in as an interim manager until the higher-ups decide on a suitable replacement.

It may have been Arsenal’s worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign, but it’s clear as day that the Spaniard should not have lost his job. The 48-year-old never conducted himself in anything other than class and dignity, only to be rewarded with the opposite.

Here are three reasons why Unai Emery didn’t deserve to be sacked.

#3 He needed more time

Was Unai Emery afforded enough time?

We live in a world where patience is no longer a virtue, instead, things are expected instantly. Rome wasn’t built in a day. You can’t expect a man to transform a club that has already been moulded in the image of one man for 22 years. Unai Emery only had 18 months at Arsenal, barely enough time to build his dynasty in a foreign land. When the Spaniard first arrived, he was tasked with one of the biggest rebuilding jobs in Premier League history.

If we delve into the statistics, Unai Emery picked up the same amount of points in his 51 league games as Arsène Wenger did in his last 51. So, by no means at all did Emery do worse than the Frenchman, he was in fact just steadying the ship. Unai Emery was handed a 2-year contract and two years is the minimum any manager at a top club needs to imprint his philosophy in an ever-evolving league.

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#2 He gave young players a chance

Emery was committed to giving young players a chance

No manager at a top side has given more young players first-team chances this season than Unai Emery. The Spaniard stayed true to the ethos of the club and thrust his faith into the hands of kids. To adopt such an approach requires courage and shows Unai Emery was committed to the long-term future of the club. Such was the 48-year-old’s commitment to the club, he had a vision of the players he could see representing this club for a decade to come.

Arsène Wenger was known for giving talented young players a chance, especially in the Carabao Cup, but Emery has taken that one step further by playing them in the most-watched league in the world. The likes of Bukayo Saka, Joe Willock, Gabriel Martinelli, Reiss Nelson and Matteo Guendouzi were all shown ample amounts of faith by the Spaniard, thus establishing them as first-team regulars.

#1 The players let him down

None of Arsenal's marquee players performed well under Emery

In football, it’s always much easier to sack a manager than to sack a whole squad. That’s why in most cases, regardless of whose fault it is, the buck stops with the coach. And in a day and age where players have never been more powerful, the rate of managers getting sacked is at an all-time high. Unai Emery has just become a victim of this disgusting modern trend.

Player power has once again prevailed, and these underperforming players have lost an honest man his job. Not one single player in that dressing room can honestly say they’ve performed at their best this season, except Matteo Guendouzi. The players showed through their attitude and effort that they didn’t want to play for Emery, thus resulting in poor performances.

If that wasn’t enough, we’ve seen multiple reports emerge that players were mocking the Spaniard on the training ground for his pronunciation of words in English. What has happened at Arsenal is a disgrace and Emery didn’t deserve to get sacked, these players should have.