'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Letting Arsene Wenger go after 22 years at Arsenal was bittersweet. He was the last of an era in which football managers used to last well over a decade.
The football market, like all other markets, has globalized. Money has flown in from the Middle East to Europe. The competition for a Premier League club is more intense. Every top club spends millions of euros every year to stay relevant. Not a moment is to be lost.
A season is often more than a manager can afford to spend establishing himself. Indeed, current Premier League managers have been at their clubs for an average of barely two seasons.
This is the football we know and love.
It is hard to survive as a manager in the top flight in England; there are six clubs that, at the start of the season, were dreaming of the title. There are five teams which must be disappointed. There are five sets of fans who start wondering mid-season if their manager is good enough.
Unai Emery is one of them.
He brought with him the hope of a fresh start at the Emirates this season, but the Gunners again find themselves in the same top 4 race. There must be a creeping sense of deja vu at the north London club. Same story, same suit, different man.
Even last week, fans and pundits alike had a lot to say about the defensive failings at the club. Away from home, Arsenal have conceded 27 goals this season. Only Huddersfield, Fulham and Southampton have conceded more.
Charlie Nicholas, ex-Arsenal striker from the 1980s, commented on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday -
“I say it all the time. Defensively [they are a] mess, [there is no] leadership and no guidance.”
However, the 2-0 win on Sunday against Manchester United in a pivotal game in the top 4 race suggests something different. Emery's men were fast, effective and ruthless in capitalizing on their opponents' mistakes.
They may not be title challengers just yet, but Emery has proved in the last eight months that he is the hero leading the revolution at the Emirates. Here are some of the reasons why.
#1 Arsenal are better than they were last season
After 30 games last season, Arsenal had 48 points. At the same stage this season, the Gunners have won four games (12 points) more. In fact, with one more win, Emery will have collected as many points as Wenger had at the end of 2017-18 (63).
OptaJoe have pointed out that the points this season have been harder fought. They have won 12 points against top 6 teams this season. Wenger only managed half of that tally in 2017-18.
For years until the last season, the Emirates Stadium was almost always at full capacity. The loss of faith among fans showed in the average of 937 seats that stayed empty in Wenger's final season. This season, the numbers have started looking upwards again.
The 565 seats that have filled up host fans who are supportive of the team. Jamie Carragher noted this in his analysis for Sky Sports -
"...You wouldn't get the stadium like it was today. It feels like there is an intensity in the stadium and a real big atmosphere."
#2 Champions League dreams are alive and realistic
In the last 11 Premier League seasons, clubs have made it to the top 4 if they have, on average, achieved 72 points. With 8 games to go, this means Arsenal only need 4 wins more to secure a berth in the European Cup next season.
Undoubtedly, this is a high-scoring campaign for the top 6, so it is possible that 72 points might not be enough. However, Arsenal have played all of the remaining teams in the top 6, and have a relatively easy run [Newcastle (H), Everton (A), Watford (A), Crystal Palace (H), Leicester City (A), Brighton (H), Burnley (A), Wolves (A)] ahead.
They stand to gain from dropped points when Chelsea travel to Old Trafford, and also when Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United all play against one or both the title contenders. The pressure is no longer on Arsenal; it is on the teams who need to catch up.
Arsene Wenger had left a club only good enough to play in Europe on Thursday nights, but having spent a meagre €81.5 million in the summer, Emery has inspired the team to make a solid challenge for the Champions League. Their win against the Red Devils over the weekend, while Spurs and Chelsea dropped points, has given them an extra cushion.
#3 A clear shift in philosophy
This was always supposed to be a season of rebuilding, trial and error. Subsequently improving was inevitable, but the question was how long it would take.
Emery has tested a number of formations at the club at the club, under the umbrella of "possession and pressing". He arrived with a 4-2-3-1, which shifted to a 3-at-the-back a few months in (sometimes a 3-4-3, at others 3-4-1-2). The Basque tactician has always been ready to adapt; he even fielded a 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond against Chelsea in January. In a post-match interview, he elaborated -
“Our best performance can come with different systems — it depends on the opposition and depends also on our players”.
Emery is unfazed by big names and salaries like that of Mesut Ozil. He recognized the need to look ahead before the season even started, giving opportunities to young players like Matteo Guendouzi, Rob Holding, Lucas Toreira and Alex Iwobi.
In far too many seasons of late, Arsenal would falter in one game in March, and the crisis would snowball. After their Europe League defeat against mid-table French club Rennes, however, the Gunners regrouped and put up a convincing performance on the weekend.
Emery's side, like him, shows a clear willingness to learn. The defensive frailties that have been the source of nightmares for many Arsenal supporters were covered as Koscielny, Sokratis, Monreal and Leno in goal defended resolutely, especially after the second goal against Manchester United.
This is still Arsenal, but it is no longer Arsene's Arsenal.
Jamie Carragher summarised the positive changes brought by Unai Emery to the club -
"If you judge where teams should finish judging on how we see the squad, I think Arsenal should finish in sixth, and at this moment, they're in fourth. That shows the job that he is doing and that shows the change in the team and the stadium."
The pressure is easing off, as Arsenal build and assert their identity, and look to secure a place in the top 4. Success in this campaign will ensure that the Spaniard can continue his project at Arsenal the way he did at Paris Saint-Germain.
Will kids of the next generation later wonder if the Emirates was named after Emery, as many of us wondered if Arsenal was named after Arsene? Probably not - money and globalization have left us with less patience; it is unlikely that 2018-19 will be the start of a 22-year-long stint.
However, it is high time that we stop calling out Emery as the villain at Arsenal, and give credit where it is due. This is a man building a project.
