Early days in the Emery revolution but taking risks is getting him some promising results
UNAI EMERY’S acid test will be next week, when Liverpool bring their big guns to the Emirates, but the early evidence suggests Arsenal are back in business.
The highest compliment I can pay Emery is that I’ve not heard any Arsenal supporters saying they wished Arsene Wenger was still in charge.
That’s not a dig at Wenger, who will always be the man who built The Invincibles – it’s a tribute to Emery that he’s got his feet under the table so quickly.
Although they still look a top-class centre-half short of challenging for the title, Emery’s Gunners look capable of a top-four finish.
And that could upset the apple cart across north
London, where Tottenham appeared to have seized the high ground – despite having no trophies to show for it since 2008.
Yes, it’s early days in the Emery revolution.
Yes, Arsenal may have been skating around fine margins at home, where they rode their luck at times against West Ham, Everton, Watford and Leicester.
And, yes, in their only two major tests so far – the first two games of the season against
Manchester City and Chelsea – they came up short and shipped six goals.
But you can’t argue with 11 straight wins, including seven in a row in the Premier League, and I thought Emery played a masterstroke by making Mesut Ozil the captain against Leicester.
We all know Ozil can cut lesser teams to ribbons when the mood takes him, but the German playmaker has not turned on the magic consistently in the big games. When the chips
were down, at times you would not have turned to Ozil in the past. But there are signs Emery is close to solving one of Arsenal’s biggest enigmas.
I believe goalkeeper Bernd Leno has earned the right to be No.1 from now on, which is harsh on Petr Cech because he only lost his place through injury. But the German looks more comfortable with the ball at his feet and better-suited to Emery’s style. Lucas Torreira has been an astute
signing, providing backbone in midfield, an area where Arsenal were lacking too often in Wenger’s last days.
And man-management is clearly one of his strong suits – because Aaron Ramsey has not sulked despite being told there is no new contract on the table, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have both been among the goals. Emery is getting results because he preaches taking risks, especially in the final third.
All over the pitch, players are flourishing under his tutelage – especially Alex Iwobi, Ozil, Torreira and Granit Xhaka.
And most importaantly, the fans are buying into his methods because they were singing “We’ve got our Arsenal back” at Fulham the other week.
The big test will be Liverpool next Saturday. That’s when we’ll find out if Emery’s Arsenal are the real deal or a work in progress.