Arsenal say Unai Emery is ‘the right man for the job’ and will stand by him
Arsenal have given Unai Emery a public vote of confidence, backing him to turn their fortunes around but adding a clear caveat that the team’s form must improve.
Emery’s position has come under scrutiny after a turbulent start to the season that has brought a run of one win in six Premier League games. They are eight points behind fourth-placed Manchester City and nine short of Leicester, who beat them 2-0 on Saturday and sit in second place.
There is an appetite at boardroom level to give Emery, who replaced Arsène Wenger in May 2018, significantly more time but concern is growing that Arsenal risk falling well out of the running for Champions League qualification and it is unlikely the slide would be allowed to continue indefinitely. On Monday the club’s head of football, Raul Sanllehi, and the managing director, Vinai Venkatesham, told a meeting of 200 club staff at the Emirates Stadium that the manager retains their faith.
“We are as disappointed as everyone else with both our results and performances at this stage of the season. We share the frustration with our fans, Unai, players and all our staff as they are not at the level we want or expect,” read a precis of their comments, circulated by the club and issued in both men’s names.
“Things need to improve to meet our objectives for the season and we firmly 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.”
The implication is that Emery, who spent Monday at a Uefa elite club coaches forum in Nyon, must get a tune out of his players soon if the club’s tone is not to shift. Successive matches against the bottom two, Southampton and Norwich, after the international break offer scope for at least a shortterm upturn, as did an improved first hour at the King Power Stadium. But the atmosphere among fans is tense and those at the meeting, which was planned and not a reaction to recent events, also heard an appeal for unity.
“We never take our fantastic support for granted,” the statement attributed to Sanllehi and Venkatesham said. “We hope we can all stick together and get behind the team in this challenging period, as together we are stronger.”
Those words could be interpreted as an appeal directed towards, among others, the fans who jeered Granit Xhaka off the pitch during last month’s draw with Crystal Palace.
Xhaka’s reaction led to a chain of events that have included the midfielder being stripped of the captaincy and effectively declaring himself unavailable to play. He has largely kept his counsel since but told the newspaper Blick, in his native Switzerland, that he is now happy to come back.
“I feel that the incident has been dealt with and I’m ready to return,” Xhaka said. He also made clear his views on the reaction inside the stadium that led him to gesture and swear towards the crowd. “It was very hurtful and frustrating,” he continued. “I can’t understand a reaction like it even now, especially the vehemence of it and the extreme hostility directed against me.
“If the team and I don’t play well, we have to listen and work on it. But insulting and swearing at your own captain will cause upset and a bad atmosphere for the team you are actually supposed to be supporting. That makes no sense to me and weakens the team’s spirit.
“Let’s face it, we’re talking about football and a captaincy. I know that means the world to a lot of people here in London. But we’re at a point now where I have to say clearly that we ought to take stock and make sure things are not getting completely out of hand.”
Xhaka will spend the next week with Switzerland, who face Georgia and Gibraltar. On his return Emery, who last week suggested the midfielder might not play for Arsenal again, will have to decide whether his reintegration is a realistic prospect.