Arsenal: ‘Develop’ the key word for Unai Emery

Unai Emery, when asked about what success would be in his first season as Arsenal manager, gave a one-word answer, ‘develop’. That is the key to the early stages of this new era.

The question of a target is one that has frequently been used to hang high-profile footballing individuals and clubs.

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Blackburn Rovers and their doomed owners, the Venky’s, claiming that the club would be in the Champions League. Tony Fernandes and his famous shifting of the goalposts. Anzhi Makhachkala and their 2011 spending spree and subsequent hopes of world domination. Even Arsene Wenger’s claim that Arsenal could go a season undefeated the year before they actually did so. All of these have fallen foul of their targets.

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And so, when BBC Sport reporter David Ornstein tried to pin Unai Emery on this very question, of his targets for the season ahead, in the Spaniard’s introductory press conference in May, the former Paris Saint-Germain manager was right to give a vague, non-committal, company-line answer. In fact, his answer was so short and nondescript, that it came in the form of one word: ‘develop’.

That, for Emery, is more than just a political answer, however. He was never going to give Ornstein the juicy, ‘we must win the title in three years’ spiel that all of the reporters in the room were looking for. In that sense, it is an evasive response to a thorny question that has speared many before him. But it also carries an element of truth also.

I do not know the answer to this question, but I wonder how many Arsenal fans, if offered such a scenario, would take a fifth-placed finish and no trophy next season with noticeable and evidence-supported signs of progress? I have a feeling that there might be more than many might think.

There has been a growing realisation amongst this fan base over the past year or two of the vast disparity between the Gunners and their domestic rivals. Not only are they the sixth-best of the top six, but they are by some distance. Liverpool are improving; Manchester United will spend again; Spurs have an excellent core of players with a brilliant manager; Manchester City are coming off the greatest season in Premier League history and will only add to an already formidable squad.

Only Chelsea are in the same postcode as Arsenal at this current time, and even there, you would expect them to spend again, if not quite on the same level as Liverpool and the Manchester clubs. Because of this greater recognition of where this club actually is and how far behind they actually are, I believe there is a more lenient feeling among the fans, one that would allow for a season of ‘development’, even if it didn’t offer any tangible success.

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For Emery, while winning is the end-goal and he will ultimately be judged on his results, during these early years, development is all that matters. That is his target.