1 month ago
12 Honestly, the Unai Emery debate when it comes to Arsenal really does bore me now. I just don’t understand how it is still a thing.
Emery is doing fantastic things at Aston Villa and I’m happy for him because he’s clearly an excellent manager and he was a pleasure to deal with when he was in charge at Arsenal.
But no matter what he does at Villa and what they go on to achieve, it will not change the fact that Arsenal were absolutely correct to get rid of him when they did.
It was the right decision. In fact, it was the only decision. He just had to go.
The results were woeful, the football was even worse and the Emirates was half empty every other week. He’d lost the majority of the fans and it was blatantly obvious that he’d lost large swathes of the changing room as well.
It just didn’t work out and that happens.
That’s not a slant against Emery. Sometimes things just didn’t fit and that’s what happened with him at Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)Unai Emery was a bit unlucky at Arsenal
He was unlucky as well. He came in at a time when there were so many changes happening behind the scenes. Ivan Gazidis, the man who appointed him, left soon after he arrived and that departure created a power vacuum at the club.
There was a battle behind the scenes that led to Raul Sanllehi taking control and he brought in some players that Emery didn’t really want.
So he had to deal with a lot and maybe if he’d been given the type of power that Mikel Arteta had been given things might have been different.

 
But that argument is all ifs and buts. That’s why I just don’t get why it is still a thing.
The fact is, everyone has come out of it better.
Emery has gone on to do fantastic things, first with Villarreal and now with Villa. While Arsenal have transformed themselves completely having turned to Arteta.
It’s a win, win for everyone and that really should be the end of the discussion.
