Arsenal: Unai Emery’s ruthlessness a breath of fresh air.

Unai Emery has not been afraid to show a ruthless streak as Arsenal head coach in the first few weeks of the new Premier League season. It is a breath of fresh air from Arsene Wenger’s stagnating loyalty.

So, Arsenal are finally up and running, a 3-1 win against West Ham United giving them their first win of the season. With three points on the board, we can be happy that they are now on a run of winnable games that hopefully will see them into a healthier league position in the next few weeks.

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In truth, it wasn’t a great performance. The usual defensive frailties were there and, against a better team, would have been punished more. But throughout this match, there were repeated signs of Unai Emery’s ruthlessness coming to the fore.

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It started before the match. News came out that Mesut Ozil would be absent through illness, with later rumours suggesting the real reason was due to a bust-up with Emery at the training ground on Friday. Whether these rumours are true or not, I suppose we will never know, with Emery since denying any such incident. But if true, it’s another occurrence of a new ruthless streak that never surfaced under Arsene Wenger.

First, it was Jack Wilshere who was angling for a new contract but was told straight up that he wouldn’t be a regular in his team and was swiftly moved on. Then there’s the Aaron Ramsey contract situation with the Welshman dragging his heels over signing; he was hooked early against Manchester City and dropped altogether against Chelsea, a move that apparently shocked his Arsenal teammates with a sudden realisation that their pampered lifestyle under Wenger was a thing of the past. Similarly, the image of new boy Lucas Torreira being verbally accosted by Arsenal coach Juan Carlos Carcedo as he walked off the pitch after the Chelsea defeat shows that not even the new boys are shown any favouritism under the new regime.

Before yesterday Mesut Ozil wasn’t exempt from Emery’s crosshairs having been subbed after an ineffective performance against Chelsea, again something you wouldn’t have seen under Wenger, who believed that protecting his big-name players was for the greater good.

But Wenger’s philosophy allowed players to get away with substandard performances and still be in the starting XI each week. If Emery is to get his message across, he needs to start showing the same ruthlessness in his team selections.

Players like Hector Bellerin, Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi need to realise that their positions are not guaranteed in the team, especially with potentially better players waiting in the wings in the shape of Lucas Torreira and Stephen Lichtsteiner.

Give it time, but Emery is exercising his power and authority. He is making the tough decisions and is not afraid to upset some of his players. Change will come as a result, and that is what we wanted. What a breath of fresh air.