Arsenal Vs Newcastle United: Second-half improvements vindicate Unai Emery

Arsenal have consistently improved in the second half this Premier League season. That means something: Unai Emery’s tactical changes are having an effect.

It was another worrying first half for Arsenal in their 2-1 win over Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon. Although they certainly kicked into gear in the second half, it took a rather inspirational Unai Emery substitution to drastically alter proceedings. Before Lucas Torreira’s introduction at half-time, the Gunners did not look like they’d be winning this game.

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If you were to go on the first-half performance alone, this ‘trust the process’ rhetoric would be difficult to swallow. Whatever the work that Emery was doing on the training ground was not having the desired effect. Obviously, it would have been too easy to judge Emery’s work obsolete or even detrimental to the progress of the team. But it does raise an interesting question.

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At what point is it fair to properly and accurately evaluate the trajectory of the team under Emery’s new direction? And how should such evaluations be undertaken? What measurements, reasons and factors should be considered? Which elements of the team’s performance will be prioritised over others? What if one aspect of the team is improving while another is not? In essence, how do you know if Emery’s plans are having the desired effect?

It is not an easy question to answer. It requires an element of predictive skill — Emery’s work is having the desired effect if you can see improvements in the future; the very opposite is also true. It also demands an awareness, balance and patience that is rare to find in the modern game. But there is one key sign that I would like to highlight that does vindicate Emery’s process.

The drastic improvements of Arsenal in the second halves of almost every game they have played so far this season illustrate that the problems in the first half do not lie with the system but the execution of the system. As proven after Emery has made his substitutions and had the chance to provide his instructions and alterations, the system is successful. It falls short when the players are unable to aptly execute it in the manner that Emery desires.

The improvements that Arsenal are consistently making after half-time, the most drastic being here against Newcastle, provide a glimpse into what Emery and his team are working towards. The level of performance of the first 15-20 minutes of the second half is what Emery’s system is capable of producing on a consistent basis when the players execute it properly on a consistent basis. The problem is not the system, but the players.

That’s not to say that these players are not good enough. For some, that is certainly the case. For others, it might just be that they do not understand what Emery is precisely asking of them to the level that allows them to act on instinct when they are on the pitch. And when players are thinking too much, they hesitate, the tempo of the play slows, mistakes are made and the system can look disjointed and awkward.

Does this mean that Emery’s system is the perfect one for Arsenal and will guarantee Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola-like trajectories over the coming years? No, of course not. But in the quest of making far-too-early evaluations, they do provide a suggestion that the work that Emery is undertaking might just be constructive. Time will tell, but there are some promising signs.