The Unai Emery Evolution.

Unai Emery touring the Emirates for the first time with Ivan Gazidis after he was announced as Arsenal manager.

Unai Emery was selected to take the Arsenal ship this season after former Captain of the ship; Arsene Wenger, decided to relinquish his position of leading the team after more than 20 years of service to the Arsenal family. The big question was ‘will Arsenal survive the change?’. How will the players react to the change in tactics and how fast would that change be after playing virtually most of their Arsenal careers under Wenger.

Unai Emery took charge of his first training session.

Things did not really get off to a good start as Arsenal lost their first two games against Manchester City and Chelsea and most Arsenal fans would agree with me that they actually did not think they will get something out of that. The City game was Emery’s first game as manager of the team and you could see the blueprints of his style of play beginning to seep into the Arsenal team but City were too strong on the day and ran away 2 nil winners. Against Chelsea, the improvements were massive and the players were responding nicely to Emery’s instructions, they narrowly missed out on a point( which they truthfully did deserve) after coming back from two goals down only to lose the game in the dire minutes of the game. The positives however, were glaring for all to see and we could all begin to nod our heads in response to the fact that Emery was making headway with this Arsenal team. Since then its been the incisive, sharp and on point Arsenal winning 9 games on the bounce in all competitions. Some might argue that they have not met tough opponents since the opening two games, but we are so familiar with the Arsenal story in connection with games like Watford, West Ham and Everton.

What Has Changed?

An animated Unai Emery on the touchline.

Unai Emery seems to be a man who pays attention to detail and it was no surprise that his first tasks were to solve the defensive problems that rocked the club under Wenger. Purchasing three defensive minded players in Sokratis, Guendouzi and Torreira and clearly Arsenal have got better. Young midfielder Guendouzi started the first three matches and put in great performances before Emery decided to go for a more cool headed Torreira who has also been improving game after game. Arsenal have become more stable in the midfield and have cut short the majority of the errors that lead to goal.

Lucas Torreira was signed by Emery to fill the defensive midfield void at the club.

Emery is a good reader of the game and is daring enough to change tactics and formation during and in-between matches. And seems to make the good substitutions at the right time; a typical example is the Fulham game where his two subs (Aubameyang and Ramsey) both scored and assisted after coming into the game from the bench. Within two weeks Unai Emery tested three different formations of which Arsenal played well in those matches; 4-2-3-1 for the premier league matches and then 4-3-3 against Vorskla in the Europa League and the game against Brentford and then three at the back against Qarabag in Azerbaijan. The players responded well and won all those games.

Arsenal have returned to their hay days when they can decide to be too good for any opposition and this season the high press style of play has seen the Emirates side be very sharp on the attack and strife hard to win the ball high up the pitch. The match against Chelsea (with the exception of the 5-1 mauling of Fulham) was probably their best performance. Arsenal could have easily won the game by as many as 8 goals if they took their chances well in a spell that drew them level after going down by two goals in the first half. Arsenal usually coil up into their shells when they face the big boys. But the match against Chelsea showed that Unai Emery’s team is ready to match the big guns boot for boot.

Unai Emery maintains a good relationship with his players (not to say that he is better than Arsene in this regard) but unlike Arsene who maintains a father-son relationship with his players, Emery is more of a sibling to these players and they are more comfortable seeing the boss for a tête-a-tête. Emery’s management of the Ramsey situation is brilliant; deciding to still play the player amidst the uncertainties surrounding his future. Emery has also managed the Aubameyang-Lacazzette situation very well. Even though Arsene Wenger adopted the same solution(opting to play Aubameyang on the wings) Emery has decided to use the same formula for the two after seemingly preferring Aubameyang upfront at the start of the season.Both players have registered 4 goals each in the premier league and created 9 chances for others. Danny Welbeck(a player who many thought would be on the fringes this season) too even is in hot form after scoring 4 in all competitions. Another testament to Unai’s impressive player management.

Emery has found a way to fit both strikers in the team

Issues Still to Be Addressed

The Defense.

The Defense is a major issue still for the gunners. High press is wonderful on the attack but its in defense that the problem usually arises. The link between playing from the back, defending from the front and proper defending needs to be strengthened. Because they have most usually lost the ball playing from the back and most often opened up too much by trying to win the ball high up the pitch and that is a big worry for the team going forward into the season. With only two clean sheets this season, the defense have a real task on their hand in terms of conceding goals. With Koscielny gradually coming back to fitness, Emery will need to decide what his first choice CB pairing is in order to bring some stability to the back.

First Half Performances and Slow Starts.

Most of Arsenal’s games have been won in the second half. The only strong performances have been in the Europa league and the League cup matches. In all other matches Arsenal have either gone in at half time losing or drawing. Emery needs to address the issue because in matches against tough opposition and other opposition who look to exploit their first half weakness, they could be blown away without any chance of recovery. Proper title contenders need to be up for the game from start to finish and Arsenal need to get to that point.

The Mesut Ozil Situation

Amidst all the excitement Mesut Ozil looks to be back to the days where he will have to settle for a spot on the wings for most matches. Unai Emery seems to favour Ramsey and Mkhitaryan in Mesut Ozil’s preferred no. 10 role. One might argue that, Mesut’s had a really bad couple of months after the situation regarding racism during the world cup that led to his eventual resignation from German national team duty. However, watching Arsenal play, Mesut looks less involved during gameplay and impacts the game lesser these days because he is probably not happy on the wings and would need to be put in his preferred position in the fulcrum of the attacking midfield. Three goals in eight appearances in all competitions is probably acceptable for Mesut because he doesn’t really score goals but its his failure to register a single assist that is leaving most Arsenal fans scratching their heads and stroking their beards. Mesut is arguably Arsenal’s most intelligent player and Unai needs to get the best out of him someway or somehow.

Unai Emery has done such a good job and Arsenal have already climbed back up into their favourite 4th spot. However, these are early days yet and the fixtures against the big opposition would test their mettle greatly and Arsenal must be ready to justify their inclusion into the Champions league places after a brief absence.

Gogoe.