OFFICIAL : Unai Emery signs for Arsenal

If there's one thing I think he'll do well with it's improving the squad tactically. This isn't a team used to analysing the opposition and making special plans for them. Emery loves video sessions and gives his players extra clips to study at home, so it'll probably be refreshing for our players. And as much as I crap on him for some of his decisions, he does make the odd inspired choice.

That said, he always comes off as a nervous wreck to me. From his hyperactive tendencies on the touchline to his bad substitutions whenever a game deviates from how he expected, he always struck me as someone whose first thought is to go safe rather than go bold. It's not very inspiring.

I wanted someone with clear ideas on how he wanted to approach things and Emery isn't that guy. He just doesn't have that philosophy he can fall back on during difficult times. Being adaptable is good, but it also means his teams lack a distinct identity.

Having said that, this is the guy who duped Barca into thinking Aleix Vidal was a right back and turned Iborra into the Spanish Fellaini, so screw it. Can't wait to see Xhaka up front and Iwobi at right back next season.

Unexpected

But better than Arteta etc He can do well

Emery is a coward. Mid-table teams are his level.

I can't believe I'm saying this but in that case Wenger should have stayed

Jay29 wrote:If there's one thing I think he'll do well with it's improving the squad tactically. This isn't a team used to analysing the opposition and making special plans for them. Emery loves video sessions and gives his players extra clips to study at home, so it'll probably be refreshing for our players. And as much as I crap on him for some of his decisions, he does make the odd inspired choice.

That said, he always comes off as a nervous wreck to me. From his hyperactive tendencies on the touchline to his bad substitutions whenever a game deviates from how he expected, he always struck me as someone whose first thought is to go safe rather than go bold.

I wanted someone with clear ideas on how he wanted to approach things and Emery isn't that guy. He just doesn't have that philosophy he can fall back on during difficult times. Being adaptable is good, but it also means his teams lack a distinct identity.

Having said that, this is the guy who duped Barca into thinking Aleix Vidal was a right back and turned Iborra into the Spanish Fellaini, so screw it. Can't wait to see Xhaka up front and Iwobi at right back next season.

Holy hell. This is Allegri in a nutshell except he's a much better tactician and is often terrific with subs.

how receptive is the current Arsenal squad to coaching? because the one thing that sinked Emery under PSg were players not wanting what he had planned, refusing to press, not wanting to play more counter attacking football, etc...

How receptive is the current squad to heavy day to day coaching? because that's Emery, as Jay said, he will work the team tactically like they have never been coached before.

But if they have troublemakers who are not willing to do that work, it wont go well.

He's better than Arteta or Xabi , but still worse than Ancelotti or Tuchel, a midcard coach if there ever was one

What has Tuchel done to be better than Emery? outside of playing hipster football with BvB he did not achieve anything significant.

Arsenal digging themselves a potential hole here.

Tuchel 0 trophies in 11 years. ufff

Guy has nothing to show for except for cocksucking Barca and Pep on national television

Strike Tuchel then, dunno why i thought he was better, still Unai is a defeatist coach that won't spur this Arsenal side much

Mr Nick09 wrote:how receptive is the current Arsenal squad to coaching? because the one thing that sinked Emery under PSg were players not wanting what he had planned, refusing to press, not wanting to play more counter attacking football, etc...

How receptive is the current squad to heavy day to day coaching? because that's Emery, as Jay said, he will work the team tactically like they have never been coached before.

But if they have troublemakers who are not willing to do that work, it wont go well.

After working under Wenger for so long I think they'll be receptive. There were stories of some players actually being unhappy with the level of coaching they were getting. Xhaka in particular was one who was allegedly the most upset about it.

Our squad is pretty professional. I think the biggest ego there is Ozil and he's hardly impossible to manage. He brought into our gameplans whenever we bothered to put one together. Otherwise it's just seasoned pros and young players. Nothing like PSG at least.

Going from Wenger to Emery in terms of tactical detail might be a struggle for some of them, but that's how it was always going to be post-Wenger.

Unai is going to take them back to CL and win them their first European trophy apart from the abandoned Cup winners' cup.

For the immediate term, this is a decent appointment IMO. I can understand why Arsenal fans wanted a coach with a more pronounced footballing philosophy though but i think getting back into CL should be the most important objective right now and Unai can help achieve that IMO.

Some questions for those who have followed his career more closely:

- What formation / style do his teams usually play?
- Which kind of players do excell in his system, which don’t?
- Does he use youth players efficiently or at all?
- Is he ruthless in selling players or does he try to improve the current squad?
- How does he deal with transfers?

I would love to read more on him. Exciting times ahead, either way!

urbaNRoots wrote:Some questions for those who have followed his career more closely:

- What formation / style do his teams usually play? (1)
- Which kind of players do excell in his system, which don’t? (2)
- Does he use youth players efficiently or at all? (3)
- Is he ruthless in selling players or does he try to improve the current squad? (4)
- How does he deal with transfers? (5)

I would love to read more on him. Exciting times ahead, either way!

(1) - His Sevilla team played in a 4-2-3-1 and usually changed up that style depending on opposition, home/away etc. They tended to press high, force mistakes and then hurt teams with quick transitions. Any of two of Mbia, Krychowiak, Iborra or N'Zonzi would sit together in midfield to break up play and get the ball forward quickly to the forwards Bacca or Gameiro, who were very quick and excellent off the shoulder. The wingers were expected to drop deep and help out the defence. Vitolo and Reyes were excellent at this. History suggests he likes having one direct winger and one playmaker on his flanks. Sometimes, the number ten, usually Rakitic or Banega, would drop deep to help the side keep possession, but they also made late runs into the penalty area and were expected to press.

PSG was a bit different. It was a 4-3-3 there, with a very technical midfield (Motta, Verratti, Pastore, for example) where one would push up into the 10 space and the DM dropping between the CBs to allow the full backs to go forward. Wingers cut inside with Cavani being the spearhead. They were more possession-based, but still pressed and attacked quickly. As I understand it this set-up was more or less imposed on him. This is a good video on it.

(2) - He likes a good old-fashioned DM. Otherwise, I don't think he has much of a preference so long as the player can follow instructions and work hard off the ball. His teams uses a high press so anyone not able to do that would be left out.

(3) - At Sevilla he didn't use youth players much at all, but at PSG he did use Kimpembe and Lo Celso a lot. I don't think he's against youth as much as he just wants players with a certain level of physical and tactical readiness.

(4) - Tbh, the choice has rarely been his. Everyone was available at Sevilla at the right price and he didn't have much control at PSG either. His time at Sevilla has proven he's very adaptable and can make a coherent team out of what he's given.

(5) - Seems to be fine working under a DoF and having less control over signings so long as he can specify what sort of player he wants. It was like that at Sevilla at least. Not sure about PSG.

As for more reading, this interview from 2015 is good:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/27/sevilla-manager-europa-league-final-unai-emery

S wrote:Tuchel 0 trophies in 11 years. ufff

Guy has nothing to show for except for cocksucking Barca and Pep on national television

0 Trophies?

Tuchel won the German Cup in the 2 years he coached Dortmund you numpty

Before he coached Mainz, hardly the place to fill a trophy cabinet.

In between he had two sabbatical years.

Stop copying stupid stuff from other stupid posts without checking

Emery is such a 'meh' appointment. Probably better than Arteta and Vieira, but surely he must not have been in the top 5 of the manager shortlist.

Fully behind him.

Pleasantly surprised at this unexpected change of events. I am quite excited tbh. Feels like a much better candidate than Arteta and Tuchel.


He is younger than Pochettino and already has more trophies than Pochettino will get in another 5 years.

Of course he has his own issues but being this young and now experience in two different leagues will only improve him.

Above all, at least he wears a suit ffs.

Very bad choice for Arsenal.

They absolutely needed to return to being relevant again post-Wenger. They needed someone who can make a major overhaul and build a team that will challenge on all fronts. They needed someone with a winning mentality to win the league consistently and stay at the highest level among the European Elites.

Emery is not that guy. He'll not win them the league and certainly not the CL.

Terrible, terrible choice by the Arsenal board.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Very bad choice for Arsenal.

They absolutely needed to return to being relevant again post-Wenger. They needed someone who can make a major overhaul and build a team that will challenge on all fronts. They needed someone with a winning mentality to win the league consistently and stay at the highest level among the European Elites.

Emery is not that guy. He'll not win them the league and certainly not the CL.

Terrible, terrible choice by the Arsenal board.

seriously dude what manager in the world could they have got that could come in and do all that.

EPL Title ? UCL ?

The goal is top 4 + winning the Europa league

Arsenal is not competing with Man City , United anytime soon ( no way they spend so much )

LeBéninois wrote:EPL Title ? UCL ?

The goal is top 4 + winning the Europa league

Arsenal is not competing with Man City , United anytime soon ( no way they spend so much )

you dont have to worry about manure. you need to worry about liverpool spurs and chelsea.

LeBéninois wrote:EPL Title ? UCL ?

The goal is top 4 + winning the Europa league

Arsenal is not competing with Man City , United anytime soon ( no way they spend so much )

Why? What's keeping you from challenging for the league and the CL? I agree that you can't really compete with City and United financially, but a smart coach can get you a long way without spending much. Look at Klopp with Liverpool, he started slow and now he's already a CL finalist and has a pretty good chance of becoming a European champion

You need someone like that. You don't have to win every year, but you need a coach who can take you far into the competition and make you feel relevant again.

Emery is a coach with a weak personality. He might be able to give you a top four finish, but is that really enough? Really, what's the point of finishing top four and trophyless?What's the point of qualifying every single year for the CL without winning it once?

The Demon of Carthage wrote:

LeBéninois wrote:EPL Title ? UCL ?

The goal is top 4 + winning the Europa league

Arsenal is not competing with Man City , United anytime soon ( no way they spend so much )

Why? What's keeping you from challenging for the league and the CL? I agree that you can't really compete with City and United financially, but a smart coach can get you a long way without spending much. Look at Klopp with Liverpool, he started slow and now he's already a CL finalist and has a pretty good chance of becoming a European champion

You need someone like that. You don't have to win every year, but you need a coach who can take you far into the competition and make you feel relevant again.

Emery is a coach with a weak personality. He might be able to give you a top four finish, but is that really enough? Really, what's the point of finishing top four and trophyless?What's the point of qualifying every single year for the CL without winning it once?

what do you mean he has a weak personality. i can understand a player with a weak personality but how can a manager have a weak personality.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:

LeBéninois wrote:EPL Title ? UCL ?

The goal is top 4 + winning the Europa league

Arsenal is not competing with Man City , United anytime soon ( no way they spend so much )

Why? What's keeping you from challenging for the league and the CL? I agree that you can't really compete with City and United financially, but a smart coach can get you a long way without spending much. Look at Klopp with Liverpool, he started slow and now he's already a CL finalist and has a pretty good chance of becoming a European champion

You need someone like that. You don't have to win every year, but you need a coach who can take you far into the competition and make you feel relevant again.

Emery is a coach with a weak personality. He might be able to give you a top four finish, but is that really enough? Really, what's the point of finishing top four and trophyless?What's the point of qualifying every single year for the CL without winning it once?

You can't find many Klopp's around really. He's one of a kind.

It looked like we wanted Tuchel initially but he decided to ruin his career by joining PSG and their grossly overpaid primadonnas.

Unique wrote:

The Demon of Carthage wrote:

LeBéninois wrote:EPL Title ? UCL ?

The goal is top 4 + winning the Europa league

Arsenal is not competing with Man City , United anytime soon ( no way they spend so much )

Why? What's keeping you from challenging for the league and the CL? I agree that you can't really compete with City and United financially, but a smart coach can get you a long way without spending much. Look at Klopp with Liverpool, he started slow and now he's already a CL finalist and has a pretty good chance of becoming a European champion

You need someone like that. You don't have to win every year, but you need a coach who can take you far into the competition and make you feel relevant again.

Emery is a coach with a weak personality. He might be able to give you a top four finish, but is that really enough? Really, what's the point of finishing top four and trophyless?What's the point of qualifying every single year for the CL without winning it once?

what do you mean he has a weak personality. i can understand a player with a weak personality but how can a manager have a weak personality.

Like for instance blowing a 4-0 lead or leaving out Di Maria and Silva because you were doing your best Guardiola impression with nonsensical decisions.

Emery is perfect for a pressure-less club. He thrives as an underdog, but at the helm of a big team, he crumbles to the pressure.

Emery does all his own video analysis and, during his time at Valencia, gave players USB sticks to watch tactical clips on. He suspected one player never watched them, so gave him a blank USB and then asked him what he’d make of the clips #afc

— Adam Summerton (@adamsummerton) May 21, 2018

what a man ffs