Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has heaped praise on manager Unai Emery after his fine start to this season, stating his belief that it’s his best season with the club yet.
The Switzerland international certainly looks one of the Gunners’ most improved players this term after being somewhat slow to get going in his first two years at the Emirates Stadium.
Xhaka was positively glowing in his praise of Emery, suggesting he wasn’t particularly enjoying life under his predecessor Arsene Wenger.
The 26-year-old has explained just how demanding and precise Emery is with his methods, suggesting this is the kind of tactical approach he can get on board with more.
Wenger had the reputation for being somewhat more hands-off in his tactical methods, preferring to allow players to express themselves and almost develop a game plan of their own.
This worked well in the past but looked rather out of date in the final few years of Wenger’s reign, but Emery has really won over Xhaka with his approach since joining in the summer.
‘It’s definitely my best season so far. Without doubt, I think I took another step forward. It’s the best I’ve felt at Arsenal since I came to the club and the coach has had an enormous influence,’ Xhaka told Aargauer Zeitung, as translated by Twitter account @afcstuff.
‘He prepares us all and we have a plan. We know how to do it with the ball and without the ball. We know how and where to stand when. Emery is like Lucien Favre [ex-Monchengladbach manager], a freak who pushes us back and forth, ten times, until everyone understands.’