‘EMERY’S THE HEAD TEACHER’

UNAI EMERY is re-schooling Arsenal’s players to ensure they are fit for new European diplomas, according to Gunners graduate Freddie Ljungberg.

After years under The Professor, Arsene Wenger, Ljungberg, who went back to the club this summer to become their Under-23s coach, says the squad are being re-educated.

It’s a shift combining high energy and aggression with the free-flowing passing demanded by Wenger.

But it’s football with a purpose, insists Ljungberg – where players’ actions are far more scrutinised and with Emery’s (above) method running from the bottom rungs right through to the first team at the top.

“There have certainly been some changes at the club since Arsene left,” said Ljungberg (below), the Swede who was once a member of Wenger’s Invincibles of 2003-04 and who did his own finishing school at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga before returning to London.

“Unai is very calm, composed and extremely detailed in what he expects. From Monday through to Friday, every single training session is very carefully planned.

“There is always a thought process to what the players are doing and the players have to be open-minded. They need to know their roles and what is expected of them.

“We speak regularly – and always after every U-23 game – because he wants that connection and for the teams below to replicate what happens in the first team.

“That’s fine for me because our principles are quite similar about how the game should be played – players who can play out from the back and not feel uncomfortable in any situation on the field. It’s detailed, with lots of information, but the philosophy is simple.”

Arsenal went into the international break on the back of three successive draws, but they are unbeaten since August 18 – a 16-match run that serves as evidence of Emery’s energetic impact.

The Spaniard trains his side at a higher intensity than Wenger, with a greater stress on physical strength and conditioning. The result is a team regularly finishing on top, but are still to overcome their slow starts.

The tone is more demanding and less forgiving than under Wenger. But then Emery, 47, is a much younger man – in much more of a hurry.