Arsenal: Manchester United debacle extols the Gunners

Manchester United still haven’t replaced Sir Alex Ferguson. Unai Emery, in his attempt to succeed Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, is doing far better. He is extolled by the United debacle.

Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United in the summer of 2013. That is now five years ago. His immediate successor, David Moyes, lasted just one season, the ‘chosen one’, allegedly hand-picked by Ferguson himself to lead United into a new era, was no more. Louis van Gaal then arrived. Slow and methodical on and off the pitch, he lavishly splashed the cash, a comfort that Moyes was never afforded, and failed in equal measure.

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With van Gaal out, United then went for the big gun, the character that could handle such a job, the ego and the experience that could truly succeed the greatest manager of English football history. Jose Mourinho arrived at Old Trafford.

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A little over two years later, he is still yet to move out of the hotel, his team has worsened on the pitch and the spending has not stopped off it. The situation is calamitous. So much so that United had to, this weekend, reiterate their support for Mourinho amid substantial rumours that he would be fired irrespective of the result against Newcastle United on Saturday. Five years later and United have still not replaced Sir Alex.

In the summer of 2018, Arsenal faced the very same problem that their great rivals failed to solve five years earlier. Arsene Wenger had resigned, although it is largely thought that he was rather forcibly asked to resign and decided to jump before he was pushed, and the man who had moulded the club in his image for 22 years, shaping every sinew of the organisation, sculpting it precisely as he wanted, revolutionising the modern game as he did so, was no more.

But the Gunners, unlike United, had a clear and present plan in place. Ivan Gazidis introduced a team of high-performing individuals to manage the club, from the contracts of the players to the fitness regimes of each and every individual, to re-structuring the scouting network and academy. This was a very new club. And so, when it came to hiring a manager, Arsenal didn’t. Instead, they hired a Head Coach.

Unai Emery was the man they inserted into this new role. Emery is the modern man. He is a coach, a tactician, a meticulously detailed and wonderfully obsessive individual who chooses to focus on the team, not on who comprises the team. Of course, he still has influence on who is signed and who is sold. Any coach would want that. And needs that. But he, unlike Wenger, Ferguson and Mourinho, Moyes and van Gaal, is not the sole voice.

It is extremely early days in this Emery era. He has managed precisely ten competitive matches in all competitions. Both Wenger and Ferguson topped 1000. It is hardly the time to self-assess and provide accurate evaluation of his work at the club. But the initial prognosis is an extremely positive one. Emery is doing well.

The current feeling around Arsenal flies in the face of the farce that is present in Manchester. The way in which they have handled the succession of a legend has been classy, poised, clinical and self-aware. None of those ascribe to United’s handling of the situation, and that is a damning indictment of one and a bullish praise of the other.