Arsenal: Can’t we just let Unai Emery get on with it?

Unai Emery is in the midst of taking his first training sessions at Arsenal. Some have praised his use of water; others have criticised having his players seemingly throw the ball around. Can we not just let him get on with it?

Everyone has to have an opinion. In the increasingly divisive modern world that we live in where it is more respected to have a heartful but misjudged opinion than not to have one whatsoever, even if abstaining from the debate is done because of sound and secure reasoning, it is essential for every fan, pundit and punter to hold a belief, a value, a perspective. In a world of hot takes, it is always yours that must be the hottest.

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I work in this world. While it infuriates me, it is also a world that pays my wages. I would not be running this site, writing these pieces, and contributing to the Arsenal media storm if it wasn’t for the culture of incessant opinion giving.

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Nevertheless, it requires that we all must have an opinion on every little nook and cranny of every minute detail, even if it is a completely unresearched and unintelligible one. And it seems as if Arsenal fans have found new territory when it comes to having a completely inconsequential and ridiculous opinion on a subject that either doesn’t matter or they know nothing about or, even worse, both.

Unai Emery has been conducting his first training sessions as the new Head Coach at London Colney. The preseason is just under two weeks old and Emery has been instilling his new ideas, tactics, strategies and ploys for the season/s ahead. It is often said that the season is won and lost in the preseason. For Emery, this is the most important time of the year.

And now fans have taken to judging his every move. First, it was the appraisal — brace yourself for this one because it is staggeringly, brilliantly idiotic — of drinking water. Yes, drinking water. Emery is apparently a visionary for understanding the importance of good hydration. Apparently, it’s not something that year’s of sports science and research could not have told us.

But while it all started so well for Emery and his revolutionary training techniques, he has since fallen short of the expert training standards that many fans demand of his management. A video of one of the training sessions released by the Arsenal social media team showed Emery having the cheek to have his players throw the ball to one another, rather than kick it, in a game similar to rugby, seemingly wanting them to understand how to create and exploit space in tight areas.

Can we not just let this man get on with his job? Please. This is a vastly experienced and accomplished coach and manager. He has worked with some of the best players in the world, he has coached some of the best teams in Europe over the past few years, he has won titles and trophies. I am sure that, at least to some extent, he knows what he is doing.

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Now, if in six months’ time, Arsenal are playing poorly, looking disjointed and lacking cohesion, then, perhaps, we can reflect on his training methods and scrutinise their effectiveness. But for now, it is utterly ridiculous that anyone is even making these kind of judgements. Just let him get on with his job, give him a chance to succeed, and see what he can do. It’s not that complicated.