Unai Emery claims Arsenal hierarchy’s support amid Espírito Santo rumours
Unai Emery believes he still has the backing of Arsenal’s hierarchy amid mounting evidence that he is fighting to save his job.
Arsenal host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday night but the buildup has been dominated by the dark cloud over their head coach, who is under intense pressure after a run of one win in eight games featuring a series of shapeless, incoherent performances.
The club are alive to the possibility a change may be required if things do not improve rapidly and have begun considering potential replacements with the Manchester City assistant Mikel Arteta – the former Arsenal midfielder who lost out to Emery when the role was last available in May 2018 – among those in the frame for any vacancy. Nuno Espírito Santo and Massimiliano Allegri are also thought to be of interest but Emery said he has his employer’s full support. “Really, the club is supporting me. I feel the club, everyone responsible in that area, is backing me. Really I appreciate it a lot. I feel strong with that support and know my responsibility to come back and change that situation.”
Otherwise he gave short shrift to questions about his position. “My future is today and tomorrow,” he said. Asked whether he believes Arsenal’s players had faith in his tactics, he responded: “Yes, of course, they’ve shown that.”
Nuno, whose status as a possible contender has aroused particular curiosity in the last 24 hours, flatbatted questions about the link when the Wolves head coach was asked on Wednesday night, as he prepared for his side’s tie against Braga, but he stopped short of saying he held no interest in the Arsenal job. “I think you know me well enough. You know I’m not going to answer about that,” he said. “I’ll never mention an issue that’s not a reality. Mainly because the job has a manager in it. It would be disrespectful. I don’t talk about ifs and possibilities and things that aren’t real.”
Emery looked weary when facing the media on Wednesday afternoon but emphasised that he was still enjoying the task of improving Arsenal’s fortunes because “I love that work”. He claimed this was not a unique situation in his career and that he had faced moments of strife before, even if this seems a particularly bleak spell for a coach who generally enjoyed an upwards trajectory in Spain and France.
“In my career of 15 years I had some situations like today,” he said. “In every club: in Almería, in Valencia, in Sevilla.
Every coach will have some moments … and in 15 years I have had success a lot of times but also bad moments. Really, my career is usually going up but, when I can, I separate moments like that.”
A sharp improvement in Arsenal’s home form would do wonders for Emery’s chances of battling back from the brink. They have drawn three consecutive games at the Emirates and, in their most recent two, have been comprehensively out-shot by Wolves and Southampton. Emery said stopping opponents creating chances was “the first tactical issue I want to change” and admitted visiting side’s no longer seem to have a fear factor.
“Our confidence depends on how we can feel in our stadium with our supporters,” he said. “Teams are coming here and playing fearless against us. That is the first thing we need to change. I know we need to show our supporters our capacity and our skills. I know we’re not really showing that skill and performance 100% with the players, but tomorrow we have a very good opportunity and we are going to try to change that.”
Emery repeated his now-familiar wish that Arsenal form a “connection” with their fans. That might be put to the test if the recently deposed captain, Granit Xhaka, returns to the team against Eintracht after missing five games through his high-profile fallout with a section of the support.
“He’s in the group and has the possibility to play tomorrow,” Emery said. “I hope every supporter supports the team. Xhaka’s comeback is going to be important to us.” It suggested strongly that Xhaka will be involved and he may be joined by other senior players as Arsenal, who would guarantee qualification to the last 32 with a point, fight to stop the rot.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1, probable): Martínez; Chambers, Mustafi, Sokratis, Tierney; Torreira, Xhaka; Pépé, Willock, Saka; Martinelli.