Arsenal tell under-fire Emery to sort it out

ARSENAL have fired a public warning to beleaguered boss Unai Emery, telling him that results need to improve. In a highly unusual move, Arsenal released a statement backing Emery — but leaving him in no doubt the club should be performing better. The Gunners have won only two of their last 10 Premier League games and are eight points off the Champions League places after a 2-0 defeat at Leicester on Saturday. The club’s head of football Raul Sanllehi and managing director Vinai Venkatesham met employees at a planned get-together. They told the 200 assembled staff: ‘We are as disappointed as everyone else with both our results and performances. ‘We share the frustration with our fans, Unai, players and all our staff as they are not at the level we want or expect. ‘Things need to improve to meet our objectives for the season, and we believe Unai is the right man for the job, together with the backroom team we have in place. We are all working intensively

behind the scenes to turn things around and are confident we will.’ Arsenal traditionally keep their counsel when it comes to the position of their manager, making yesterday’s public statement significant. Adding to the storm brewing at the emirates, newly installed captain Pierre-emerick Aubameyang hit back in a cryptic social media message at reports he has been reprimanded over his interaction with fans. The forward was reportedly told to cut ties with ArsenalfanTV after team-mates were unhappy he had liked a series of posts criticising them and emery. Aubameyang posted on instagram: ‘i heard a lot of b*******. i talk with who i want whenever i want and if somebody’s not happy with... you already know,’ followed by an emoji of a middle finger. Meanwhile, Granit Xhaka has warned fans that the ‘extreme hostility’ directed at him damages team spirit. The 27-year-old was jeered following his substitution in a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace and then stripped of the captaincy in favour of Aubameyang after he swore at the fans. he said: ‘insulting and swearing at your own captain will cause a bad atmosphere for the team. That makes no sense to me and weakens the team’s spirit.’