Arsenal midfielder Dani Ceballos has taken a subtle dig at former Gunners manager Arsene Wenger as he praised the fine work done by Unai Emery since he took over at the Emirates Stadium.
The Spanish tactician has divided opinion since taking over at the club last summer, with many fans dissatisfied with the style of play brought in and the lack of real progress made in challenging for major honours.
MORE: Mesut Ozil convinced he’s poised for transfer away from Arsenal amid talks over loan move
However, things were certainly far from going smoothly towards the end of Wenger’s reign and it seems Ceballos believes Emery deserves more credit for the work he’s done to turn the team around from what he suggests was a pretty bad situation.
“I arrived on the first day and the respect they have for him is tremendous, he has turned around the club’s situation in just one year,’ Ceballos told Radio Marca, as quoted and translated by the Metro.
“He has managed to compete and only just missed out on the Champions League, he almost won the Europa League.
“We’ve started well, just one defeat, third in the league and we are going up.”
It’s debatable if fans would agree with this, but it is interesting to get that perspective from the inside, as it’s possible other players would also agree that things could have been a great deal worse if not for Emery’s changes.
Arsenal currently sit third in the Premier League table, but it is the manner of their performances so far this season that has led to pessimism among the Emirates Stadium crowd.