FIGHT CLUB
Emery wants Arsenal to regain nastiness lost under Wenger
Unai EMERY pummels a hardened fist into his palm. When English isn’t your first language, actions often speak louder than words.
The Spaniard has just been asked what arsenal were lacking when he arrived last July for the first training session of the post-arsene Wenger era.
‘Before arsene Wenger, arsenal were very competitive,’ explains Emery. ‘With arsene it was very competitive and also he gave the team quality players with a competitive spirit who created the best moments for arsenal. But in the last years they lost being competitive and kept only quality. in England you need to be competitive with physical players and quality players. you need both.
‘i respect arsene Wenger a lot and how he worked here, he improved a lot of things here. But in the last years, little by little, the club thinks “we need to stand up and change”.’
This is as candid as Emery has been since arriving as Wenger’s successor. His English is improving, but remains broken. much like his team, to a degree.
But on this occasion, away from the TV cameras, he confidently holds court with half a dozen journalists looking ahead to tonight’s all-English Europa League final against Chelsea. and here in Baku tonight, Emery will try to accomplish what Wenger could not — win a European trophy for arsenal.
Having come agonisingly close to lifting the biggest prize of all in 2006, losing to Barcelona in the Champions League final, the Gunners fell off a cliff in Europe during Wenger’s closing seasons.
Failures and heavy thrashings were the norm before they fell out of the Champions League altogether. Last season they got to the last four of the Europa League before they suffered defeat to atletico madrid, who were everything that arsenal, in the latter days under Wenger, were not.
The training ground had become too relaxed, while players knew they could have a bad game or poor session without criticism. Change was necessary and Emery swept through the club like a typhoon. Training was more intense with double sessions during pre-season.
Play badly and you ran the risk of being dropped — just ask mesut Ozil. But perhaps the biggest change of all is how the manager approaches training. Wenger notoriously avoided confrontation with his players, leaving his coaches to play the role of bad cop. Emery is the opposite and actively questions his players in search of more.
‘Sometimes you need conflict with the players, conflict is normal. Every day we have conflict to push each other, to be competitive, to feel those things,’ says the former Paris Saint-Germain coach. ‘Every training session is very important to prepare tactically, strategically and psychologically. i push the players a lot. it’s helping them but also pushing them.
‘This is my first way to push or create character. When i lose, for example 24 hours after, i cannot be reacting with my family or my friends. i am very angry. This is how to feel when you win and when you lose. The best competitive players are angry when they lose.’
Have the changes been worth it, though? Fifth in the Premier League — albeit with a seven-point improvement on last season’s total — was no more than satisfactory.
There remains a contingent of arsenal fans who are unconvinced Emery represents an upgrade on Wenger. Victory tonight, of course, would alter that view — and, more importantly, ensure Champions League football next season.