Tag Archives: Unai Emery

Trust in Arsenal’s new axis of power

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We all love a good debate about who we should and shouldn’t sign.

Every time we are linked with a player, there are some who want him, and some who think he is the wrong man.

Bernd Leno is on who has split the opinion.

I have seen some say that at 26 and with 300+ games, he is the type of experience keeper that we need – whilst still having youth on his side.

That having played so many games, of course he will have some mistakes on his show real.

There are others who point at that there are reasons behind him not being with Germany at the World Cup. That he is not much better than David Ospina.

Both sides probably have a valid argument. And ultimately they are opinions built on having probably seen him no more than 20-30 times.

Some are calling for Jack Butland. A player those in England have seen a lot more than them Leno. But he also has errors to his game. He scored a ridiculous own goal against Leicester last season:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W12acl0jVPw

Ultimately, you could put forward a case for and against buying both.

My opinion on those coming in is fairly simple.

In Raul Sanllehi, Sven Mislintat and Unai Emery, we have a new axis of power at Arsenal. And we need to have faith in what they are doing, and who they are signing.

Sanllehi held a similar role at Barcelona.

Whilst in Spain, he was directly involved in some of biggest transfers in Europe.

He was the man who bought Neymar to Barcelona and in 2014 led the talks to sign Luis Suarez. He also helped bring in Ivan Rakitic and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

You then have Mislintat. Bought in from Borussia Dortmund to oversee recruitment.

He is credited with creating the pipeline of young talent at Dortmund which has produced the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Shinji Kagawa and Ousmane Dembele.

He is one of Europe’s most respected player recruitment experts.

It was Mislintat that brought Aubameyang and Henrik Mkhitaryan to Arsenal. He also returned to his old club to sign Sokratis.

Having spent all of his career in the Bundesliga (and being German), you have to think he has watched Leno more times than an Arsenal fan. He is the expert.

Finally we come to Unai Emery. After Pep Gaurdiola, he is the most successful manager in European football in recent years.

Having won 3 Europa League’s in a row with Sevilla, he went to PSG where he won 5 trophies in 2 seasons.

At Sevilla he had to work to a budget. Developing talented players, improving them. Organising them. Making the whole greater than the individual.

In the move to PSG, he dealt with the bigger egos. Edison Cavani. Neymar.

He has had success everywhere he has been.

Maybe we as fans need to forget about the past and look at the future.

Trust in the new men that they know what they are doing. Back who they are bringing in.

Also back whose contracts they are renewing (and whose they are not). I saw one idiot claim that he wanted Granit Xhaka to “break his legs at the World Cup” moments after his new contract was announced.

Let’s get back to supporting The Arsenal. Backing the team. Giving the new men a chance and trusting their decisions.

And if you are unable to do so, maybe it is you that is the problem, not Arsenal.

Keenos

A Wife and Two Break-Ups

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Every relationship, whether hellish or hospitable, has a leading-on period.

Firstly your wild side wants to charge in, Theo Walcott-esque, with little idea for the end product. I imagine the train of thought goes something likes this, “Do it. Do it. Kick it. Run. Run faster. Fetched!” But when the time comes to commit to the final ball, the doubts can be consuming. “But how could she possibly control the cross with those prison toothbrush toenails?” The drawbacks defer you and, in Walcott’s case, a blind get-out punt into the away stand follows.

Two men fell victim to such romantic hesitations this week.

The first was the North Korean leader, whose courtship became all too high-maintenance in its nuclear lustings and the banquet of ‘hostesses’ at an unnamed Singaporean suite was cancelled in lieu of the Donald’s break-up.

The second was none other than our scorned Spaniard.

It is easy to sympathise with Mikel Arteta, who’d practically half-Odemwingied in his desire for the position as journalists touted it as ‘basically a done deal’. But like a cruelly guarded affair, Ivan Gazidis was wooing his mistress before breaking off the marriage.

Many were so infatuated by Arteta’s mystery that there was no other option and it meant enthusiasm towards Unai Emery’s appointment was initially rather muted. However, the truth is, for the board at least, Arteta was too fresh and too unpredictable. It was one of love’s old clichés – ‘the right person at the wrong time’.

However, I have no doubts the Club came to the correct decision. Not necessarily in choosing Emery, but in appointing him over Arteta.

Arsenal are in an unstable period. Our leader and, to an extent, our philosophy has irreversibly changed and it’s essential we’re guided by someone proven in handling such a situation. Even with a heavy heart, it was right to second-guess the Spaniard.

Admittedly, Emery did somewhat lose his allure in France and the recent revelation that it was Neymar who was the boss in Paris is a slight cause for concern. However, his achievements at Sevilla indisputably showed that he’s a serial winner.

Emery’s approach is meticulous, hands-on, and he’ll work within the Club’s temperamental new structure. It may not quite be the new wife we supporters hoped for but it’s still the drastic change we desired.

It’s inevitable that after these years of repeated heartbreak, we’ll enter any new relationship with trepidation. But now the leading-on period is over and we’ve committed so there’s nothing to do but blindly charge in à la Theo.

Tom

10 reasons why Unai Emery is the right man for Arsenal

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  1. At 46, Unai Emery is one of the best managers under 50 on the planet
  2. But having taken his first managerial role at 32, he has 16 years experience
  3. At Valencia, he finished 3rd on three consecutive occasions, despite having a restricted budget
  4. In his time at Valencie, he bought through a group of young players and turned them into stars – the likes of David Villa, David Silva, Juan Mata & Jordi Alba
  5. At Sevilla, he won the Europa League on three consecutive occasions, despite having a restricted budget
  6. Sevilla Director of Football Monchi, would deal with transfers, mostly bringing in young or unproven players, while Emery as a coach would make them better
  7. At PSG, he had to deal with huge ego’s, the likes of Neymar and Edison Canvani
  8. 5 trophies in 2 years. Has any manager won more in the last two season?
  9. He likes to play possession football, but also press up high. His team has always had space for a magician – Silva, Mata – like Mesut Ozil
  10. If everyone’s minimum target next year is “challenge for the Europa League; return to the top 4” there is no better candidate with a proven track record of doing just that

Keenos