Arsenal Vs Fulham: Unai Emery doing something Arsene Wenger lost

Arsenal put in their best performance of the season against Fulham on Sunday. Under Unai Emery, this team is doing something that Arsene Wenger had lost: play good football.

Arsene Wenger was always renowned for the football that he played. When he first arrived in north London in the mid-1990s, he revolutionised how the game was played in England, bringing a verve and excitement that had rarely been seen before, prioritising the ball over territory, choosing to dictate opposition rather than bombard them.

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This reputation went with Wenger throughout his 22 years at Arsenal. But if you were to isolate the final five years and show them to someone without any prior understanding or perspective of Wenger and his philosophies, they would not be extolling the virtues of his football. Say it quietly, but Arsenal haven’t played good football for some time.

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But Wenger has now moved on. The resignation came at the end of the season and the Gunners decided to shift into a new era. The man they selected to usher in that era was Unai Emery, an experienced, accomplished, highly-regarded coach who enjoyed productive times at Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla prior to his move to north London. His initial work was slow in its effect, but the groundwork was being laid. In Sunday’s 5-1 win over Fulham, the house started to be built.

Arsenal were excellent for large portions of the match, especially in the second half once Alexandre Lacazette scored his and the team’s second goal, and carved open Fulham time and time again with a series of blistering attacks that scythed through a vulnerable and open defence and could have scored more than they did.

The Aaron Ramsey goal was perhaps the best example of the fluent, fast-breaking play that Emery has dictated. The Welshman picked up the ball deep in his own half on the right side, flicked the ball up and over a defender when playing a one-two with Lacazette, then raced into the vast open midfield thanks to a Hector Bellerin flick, headed the ball to Henrikh Mkhitaryan before darting into the penalty area to flick Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s cross into the bottom corner.

This was just one moment of many in which Arsenal flowed in their attacking play, shifting the ball with speed and precision, playing with a nice blend of freedom and control, creating a series of excellent chances and opening up opportunities, particularly through Alex Iwobi, Nacho Monreal and Lacazette down the left flank.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then came off the bench and added two goals to his tally, both of which were wonderfully taken after some nice service from Hector Bellerin and Ramsey respectively, and Arsenal ultimately ran out comfortable victors, purring in their play.

This was the type of performance that Wenger used to inspire on a weekly basis. It sometimes peered out during his latter years, but it became an anomaly, not the norm. Emery, though, may just be bringing Wenger-ball back on the regular, and it could well be wonderful to see.