Losing 3-1 to Manchester City is far from the worst thing in the world, but it’s the manner of this defeat that is maybe starting to send Arsenal fans crashing down to earth a bit as the Unai Emery honeymoon period comes to a close.
The Spanish tactician looked a shrewd appointment this summer when he became available after leaving Paris Saint-Germain, supposedly giving a hugely impressive interview that made him the unanimous choice over other candidates.
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Still, it’s one thing selling your vision in an interview situation, but it’s quite another to make it work in arguably the most competitive league in the world, and so far there’s little evidence of whatever Emery is trying to do working at all.
It will no doubt take a bit more time, something he is perhaps more likely to get at Arsenal than elsewhere, but the early signs are not really as encouraging as comparable projects at Liverpool and Tottenham.
Here’s five causes for concern from the Emery era so far…
The Spanish Mourinho?
Arsenal manager Unai Emery isn’t making the most convincing start
Maybe this is harsh, since even Jose Mourinho liked Mesut Ozil. But this odd preference for a rather old-fashioned, direct game with two strikers but no creators in the team (but three on the bench in the form of Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Denis Suarez yesterday against City) doesn’t seem a workable long-term plan.
The most successful managers in the modern game have essentially taken what initially made Arsene Wenger successful at Arsenal and intensified it, so for the Gunners themselves to pick a manager that moves them away from that style altogether is odd.
Mourinho has been found out in recent years for his football basically not being sophisticated enough in the final third any longer, and at the moment there looks to be far too much of that in Emery’s style as well.
While this might work reasonably well at a club like Sevilla trying to punch above their weight, it won’t wash with Arsenal fans, and most likely won’t be what gets them back to where they want to be.
On top of that, this bizarre desire to freeze Ozil out of the team is all to reminiscent of Mourinho mindlessly picking fights with the likes of Paul Pogba and Juan Mata in recent years. There seems little strategy or logic behind it, and the team is just weaker as a result.