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Unai Emery's tenure at Arsenal came to an end last week, as his side fell to a 2-1 defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt at the Emirates. The Gunners were winless in their last 6 games coming into the UEFA Europa League fixture against Frankfurt, so the fans expected Emery and the squad to pull themselves together and get the win after a horrific display at home to Southampton just a few days prior.
However, despite taking the lead at half time, two second half goals from Daichi Kamada saw Arsenal lose to Frankfurt and within 24 hours after the game, the club announced that Unai Emery was relieved from his duties.
Unai Emery was apparently on 'thin ice' since the 2-0 defeat to Leicester City at King Power Stadium and the former Valencia man had a chance to prove himself at home against relegation candidates Southampton. Unsurprisingly, Arsenal came up with a terrible performance yet again and had to rely on a 90th minute equaliser from Alexandre Lacazette to earn themselves a point at home to Ralph Hasenhuttl's men.
So, what went wrong for Unai Emery this season at Arsenal? What caused such a dip of form and why couldn't the Spaniard untangle the mess? Let's take a look at a few major reasons which caused the sacking of Unai Emery, and what he could have probably done to prevent it.
#3 Pragmatic style of play
One of the biggest concerns this season has been Arsenal's pragmatic style of play. If we go by the literal meaning of the word pragmatism, it means finding solutions based on practical considerations. However, having a pragmatic style of play in football basically means to play to the opposition's weaknesses instead of focusing on your own team's strengths; a cautious, defensive and conservative approach, even against low tier teams.
This argument is supported by the fact that Arsenal did not win any game with a goal difference of more than one in the league this season, which is a big reason to worry. The Gunners are the only team amongst the top six to have a negative goal difference, despite having the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alex Lacazette, Mesut Ozil and Nicolas Pepe in their rankings.
After 14 games, Arsenal are the team to have scored the least goals amongst the top six, as well as conceding the most, which just goes out to show things were going completely downhill under Unai Emery and his approach. The ruthless Unai Emery of last season was nowhere to be seen and the reason why he decided to change his approach despite getting results is still unclear.
#2 Baffling team selections and substitutions
Unai Emery has been tinkering with different formations and line ups from the start of the season. The Spaniard used five different formations in the 14 league games he oversaw
Unai Emery's fluctuating tactics and formations drove two major conclusions. Firstly, that he did not know his best XI, and that he ran out of depth. Emery did not seem to have trusted a specific formation for more than 3 games in a row and also kept changing the personnel, which led to more doubts amongst players and the board about Emery's ability to turn the season around.
Going by the most recent example of how Unai Emery managed to put the whole fan base into meltdown with one decision, is when he decided to bring on Lucas Torreira for Mustafi against Eintracht Frankfurt, in a game where Arsenal needed goals. He also took Mesut Ozil off for Gabriel Martinelli, leaving Nicolas Pepe and Alexandre Lacazette on the bench, and eventually losing the game.
In the game against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates, Arsenal were level at 1-1 agains Wolves and the players needed a bit of spark from the bench to get a winner with a couple of minutes left. Unai Emery, judging the situation, brings on Sead Kolasinac for Kieran Tierney in what was his last substitute for the game, leaving Nicolas Pepe on the bench for the whole of 90 minutes. That pretty much summed up how Arsenal were going backwards under Emery.
Arsene Wenger was someone who never changed his style and stuck to his philosphy despite getting poor results in his later years, whereas Unai Emery kept tinkering with formations despite getting good results and made life difficult for the players. A manager clearly needs to balance out on this aspect to achieve short term as well as long term success.
#1 Terrible away form
Although Arsenal started the season very positively, with an away clean sheet plus win at St. James Park in the first game of the season, followed by a 2-1 home win against Burnley. However, it has all been downhill since then.
Last season, Arsenal kept a grand total of one clean sheet in away games in the league. The way Unai Emery's men commenced the 2019-20 season suggested that Arsenal were determined to achieve their objectives, but it hasn't been the case until now. With a negative goal difference after 13 league games, Unai Emery had clearly failed to impress the board, which is why a change was necessary.
The major worry for Arsenal fans was Emery's difference in approach in home and away games. At the Emirates, the Spaniard was not afraid to play attacking football. He always set his team out to win games at home, even if it is a 'top six' club they're playing. However, away from home, Emery set his team up to defend for the 90 minutes. He limited the team's attacking options, often playing a 3-4-3, which was one of the reasons why Arsenal are one of the worst teams on the road.
