Arsenal: There’s a ‘but’ with Unai Emery praise

Unai Emery is being praised by some pundits and analysts for the initial groundwork that he is implementing at Arsenal. However, there is a ‘but’. All this work is useless without the club’s patience.

After two competitive matches, there is a great debate surrounding Arsenal and their new head coach Unai Emery: Should he adapt his principles to give his team a better chance of immediate results or should he be resolute in his principles and stick to the long-term project?

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On one hand, there are pundits like Sam Allardyce and Jamie Carragher. On the other, there is Gary Neville and Ian Wright. I unequivocally side with the latter.

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But even with Emery receiving praise from the likes of Neville, Wright and others for his initial work, there is a ‘but’ that needs to be recognised. To better illustrate my point, here is Liam Rosenior speaking on Sky Sports’, The Debate, when asked to comment on the recent discussion surrounding Emery and the work he is doing at the Emirates (you can read the full comments here):

"“What I’ve seen from Unai Emery in the first two games is really encouraging. Forget the results, he’s laying down the foundations and laying down the process of the way he wants to play. And I think given time he can be a success at Arsenal, but only if he’s given time <…> I see a lot of things that given time and long term, they will be a much better team than they have been over the last three or four years. But there has to be an understanding that if you want things long term, you need to have a plan in place and a process and I think he’s going to give them that.”"

Rosenior very much makes the same points as Neville. Emery is changing the very nature of this team. That will take time. There will be growing pains. There will be issues that require investment, change and patience. This is not a short-term, quick fix. But he also highlights a key element of the argument that perhaps hasn’t been highlighted explicitly: the need for Arsenal to be patient and resilient.

The key phrase in the entirety of Rosenior’s comments is ‘but only if he’s given time.’ Rosenior brings up the example of Sir Alex Ferguson as a manager who took time to implement his ideas at the club and was nearly sacked for his trouble. Then he became the greatest manager in the history of the British game. An opposite example of David Moyes, who later replaced Ferguson, could also be used.

All the work that Emery is undertaking at Arsenal is excellent. There are very encouraging signs in the two performances thus far. And the Spaniard does deserve much of the praise that he is receiving from certain sections of the media. But it’s all for nought if he is not given time by the club. They cannot do what United did with Moyes and sack him after one season in charge.

Emery requires patience. I just hope that Arsenal have the wherewithal, awareness, and strength to give him it.