Arsenal manager Unai Emery has aimed a dig at his predecessor Arsene Wenger by discussing the team’s current poor form and the difficult situation he inherited when he took over at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Sheffield United on Monday night, and many fans are feeling increasingly frustrated with Emery as he perhaps doesn’t look ideal for the job in the long term.
The Spanish tactician has an impressive CV from his time at Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain, but it just doesn’t quite look like he’s the right fit for Arsenal at the moment.
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After over a year in the job, Emery has not had the impact many would have hoped, but it seems he’s trying to deflect blame by reminding everyone about the state of the side when Wenger left.
The French tactician remains thought of as an Arsenal legend among most of the club’s fans, but there’s no doubt many also felt the time had come for him to move on after a bad end to his time with the Gunners.
Still, it remains to be seen if Emery attempting to point to the flaws in Wenger’s team does much to win back fans frustrated with the current regime.
“Sometimes we forget the memory and we need to remember. When I arrived here, this team needed to improve being more competitive,” Emery said, as quoted by the Metro.
“This team in the history was winning 1-0 and being very competitive, but it wasn’t enough. Then one process being competitive and with improved creativity.
“When I arrived here, the creativity is more or less good, but being competitive was worse. It was not enough. I think last year I started to improve being competitive, also more or less creativity with some very good matches playing with that creativity.
“The supporters, there are a lot of supporters with different opinions. Some want more creativity, some want maybe more intensity, more energy. I want both and my way is both, both sometimes one player is less with than that another because this is the way.
“Last year we did not achieve, we were in the table by one point and in the Europa League final and we lost in the end. And OK, we were there. And this year – be there and take it.”