Amazed at lack of respect for Emery
THERE is nothing like jumping to conclusions. Unai Emery has just completed his first 90 minutes in the Premier League but already some have seen enough.
Manchester City outclassed Arsenal in Emery’s first game. There is no real shame in that as the champions are going to outclass most teams they face. But judging by some of the crazy reaction after that 2-0 defeat, the first game should also have been the last for Emery (below).
Those who had demanded change and were looking for signs of Arsenal moving in a dynamic new direction after the Arsene Wenger era saw the same old problems, the determination to play attractive football no matter who the opposition.
Sam Allardyce was heavily a vily critical criti of Emery’s style in wanting want the to play out from the back. Much of what at Allardyce said will have e jarred but I agreed with some of his comments.
You cannot play out from the back against City if you are not t close to their level. Pep p Guardiola’s team is fulll of top players who are thee best at pressing teams high gh up the pitch. There is no shame in taking out the press by clipping the ball to your striker and playing from there.
It is sensible play and takes out the unnecessary risk of constantly playing short. If your opponents eventually do drop back, then you can play the football you want but it makes no sense for teams to stick to one method.
The most successful sides are the most flexible and if you want evidence, think back to Manchester United’s treble winners in 1999 — they played beautiful football but won the Champions League with two goals from set-pieces.
Sometimes winning is all that matters and style shouldn’t come in to it. I can remember playing in games for Stoke against Swansea and Wigan: we’d set traps when they tried to play out and knew, eventually, we’d catch them out.
City did the same to Arsenal last Sunday. I felt sorry for Petr Cech. Playing with the ball at his feet isn’t one of his strengths but he is still a proper goalkeeper and did not deserve that level of stick.
The same is true for Emery. There is no doubt he has lessons to learn here but some criticism has gone way overboard. They have shown him a lack of respect.
Emery was a surprise appointment. His pedigree, however, marks him out as one of the best in Europe. He won the Europa League three years in a row with Sevilla then followed up at Paris Saint-Germain with three major trophies in two years.
Again, though, people will point to his record in the Champions League in Paris and it feels like some have jumped on that bandwagon. They have decided Emery is not cut out for the Premier League after 90 minutes.
Judgments like these never cease to amaze me. I have had enough experience with new managers to know it is impossible for a new man to change things immediately. We aare going through an ad ju adjustment process at Sto Stoke. Gary Rowett is di different to Paul Lam bert b who was different to Mark Hughes. It is inevita blein that it takes timeti to settle. The T adaptation period at A Arsenal could be a long one. Wenger was not just the manager ,ma he was effectively tively the club.clu He had total say on everything that happened for 22 years and his methods will be ingrained in many players.
Emery will have put across his ideas in his first meeting with the squad. That is the easy bit. The hard part is going to be implementing the changes he wants.
Players are creatures of habit and the idea of change can be unsettling. When a new manager asks them to do something new or that they don’t like, they will revert to what they knew before. These are the obstacles Emery will have to clear.
What he needs is time and patience. City taught him a harsh lesson but an early bump does not mean a crisis is coming.
Everyone wanted to see change at Arsenal. Now the change has been made, everyone at the club needs to get behind Emery and tonight’s game at Chelsea presents a big opportunity. The atmosphere at the club has been difficult for far too long. It will not improve if Emery isn’t given a chance.