EMERY DEFIANT AFTER ARSENAL HELD
ARSENAL BOSS EMERY BRUSHES OFF JOSE SPECULATION AFTER GUNNERS ARE FRUSTRATED BY LATE LEVELLER
UNAI EMERY remained defiant when asked about the possibility of being replaced by Jose Mourinho after seeing his Arsenal side let slip a lead for the fourth game in a row as they were pegged back by Vitoria.
The Gunners denied suggestions over the weekend that former Chelsea and Manchester United boss Mourinho had dined with the club’s head of football Raul Sanllehi as pressure continues to build on Emery.
Another poor performance saw the Gunners lucky to leave Guimaraes with a 1-1 draw as Shkodran Mustafi’s header was cancelled out by an injury-time bicycle kick from Bruno Duarte.
It was the fourth time in ten days Arsenal have failed to hold on to a lead and Mustafi’s 80th-minute goal was their only effort on target, although Nicolas Pepe did hit the post.
Asked about the Mourinho links and the fan criticism aimed at him following recent performances, Emery simply replied: ‘I am the coach.’
The Spaniard has already had to deal with stripping Granit Xhaka of the captaincy after he swore at Arsenal’s fans as he was jeered following his substitution in the draw with Crystal Palace.
The mounting pressure on his position will be tested once again this weekend as they visit high-flying Leicester. However, despite a run of one win in six games, Emery insists he sees progress on the pitch.
‘In this competition our objective is to be the first in the group,’ he said.
‘We are going to play the next two (Europa League) matches to make sure of that position and now we are going to prepare the match against Leicester in a different competition.
‘For us very important but the analysis about this match we worked, we played, fighting against one team who were defensively very strong, have very good organisation and playing with 100 per cent motivation.’