Emery is a real class act... his rivals could learn a thing or two
Composure and absence of dramatics sets Spaniard apart from other bosses
IF Premier League managers want to know how to conduct themselves at the end of a hard-fought derby win, they need look no further than Arsenal manager Unai Emery. The Gunners had just secured a very good and very important 4-2 win at the Emirates over Spurs. And at the final whistle, he simply walked across to opposite number Mauricio Pochettino, shook his hand and walked down the tunnel.
Emery left his players to go over and celebrate with the Arsenal supporters, rather than making it all about him. It is refreshing to see.
There was a lot of fuss and furore over Jurgen Klopp running on the pitch after Divock Origi’s Merseyside derby winner to embrace keeper Alisson, whose clever decision to sprint 40 yards to play the free-kick to Trent AlexanderArnold had a key part in the goal.
To an extent, you would be disappointed if Klopp didn’t go nuts. I like the way he and Liverpool handled the whole thing. He apologised, laughed at himself, admitted the FA charge and paid the fine. But if I was Everton manager Marco Silva, I would not be happy. And if I was on the opposition bench and I saw that, I would have been absolutely raging.
I was at the game and I admit, Klopp was so quick that I didn’t see it and Silva says he was unaware of it. He’d turned to the bench immediately after Origi capitalised on Jordan Pickford’s error, more concerned with his disappointment than anything Klopp was up to. But the Everton bench saw it and they are not the first to be unhappy with the German and his loss of composure in the heat of the moment. And I can’t help wondering what the reaction would have been if it this had been Jose Mourinho, in the event the Manchester United manager would do such a thing.
It would have been an even bigger deal and even bigger story and I doubt the media would have been so forgiving, although it is difficult to see Mourinho handling the aftermath as well as Klopp has. Mourinho is on borrowed time at Old Trafford. His relationship with the players seems fractured and he is not even trying to disguise it, which is a problem. I am not sure how long the board and the United faithful will tolerate him.
We know the intensity of the game can make people, and managers and players in particular, react in ways they would not normally react. Look at the reaction to Eric Dier’s goal against Arsenal last weekend. In the heat of the moment players from Arsenal and Spurs lost it, although I have no problem with their reactions.
On the one hand, modern players are accused of being overpaid prima donnas who don’t care about their clubs and supporters, but as soon as they show any passion, we want to punish them.
In many respects it was refreshing to see the Arsenal substitutes and a young lad like Matteo Guendouzi stand up for themselves and show that they care. Considering how emotional that derby game was, I thought it was a great reaction from the players – and made Emery’s end-ofmatch behaviour even more impressive.
Under Emery, Arsenal have started to win the fans back and perhaps a little respect in the game. Arsenal used to be the club to aspire to but I lost a lot of respect for them when I used to play against them under Arsene Wenger.
That is not necessarily a criticism of the former Arsenal manager, who is quite a humble man, but there was an arrogance and petulance among his players which was encouraged from top to bottom of the club.
Coaching courses now encourage young managers to think about their own image and how they project themselves and the ‘message’ they want to put out in the media. Building that public persona is deemed as important as good training sessions and winning matches. It is about getting in the heads of players, rather than what is going on around them.
Managing in the Premier League must be one the most pressurised jobs in football. And managing a team like Arsenal is about so much more than just the 20 players in the first team and it must be extremely difficult to detach yourself emotionally during games. But Emery’s way will do for me.