Arsenal Vs Spurs: Unai Emery the risk taker

Arsenal won the first North London Derby of the season with yet another second-half comeback. And it is all because of Unai Emery the risk taker.

‘It’s shaking, this stadium is shaking.’ They are the words of Gary Neville. He used them when Lucas Torreira scored Arsenal’s fourth goal in a 4-2 dismantling of bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday’s North London Derby. He was not wrong.

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From the 1st to the 96th minute, the atmosphere was incredible. A North London Derby that will live long in the memory, even for the neutral. North London is red.

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At half-time, things looked very different. I was questioning Unai Emery’s decision to start Henrikh Mkhitaryan before the game and, despite giving a better account of himself than against Bournemouth, he still looked lost and did not really contribute. Alex Iwobi on the other flank, linked up well with Sead Kolasiniac on occasion but again had a frustrating afternoon full of running with little end product. He really should have worked Hugo Lloris when it was 1-0. These two struggling players needed to be changed. Emery the risk taker did not hesitate.

He took off both wingers, changing them and the formation. The 3-4-3 that he initially used had only been employed twice under Emery this season. The 3-5-2 he switched to had never been used before. This was indeed a risky move. And Emery, as he has done almost any season when he has taken a tactical risk, reaped the rewards.

Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey, the two players Emery introduced, both played starring roles in the second half. For the equaliser, it was Ramsey’s touch that teed up Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang, as clever as it was instinctive, and then the two substitutes combined for the third when Ramsey took the ball off Juan Foyth and played through Lacazette, who finished the chance thanks to a deflection off Eric Dier.

Emery spoke about taking risks after the Bournemouth game. It is definitely a fresh take on things and creates a little bit of an element of surprise around Arsenal fans and the opposition teams, who, for so long, were used to the same tactics, the same formation and the same passages of play.

Arsenal are a different animal. They are flexible, they can attack from different angles and processes, they can play in different shapes and styles. And it all comes down to Emery and his risk-taking. It is Emery who is revolutionising this team, with his work on the training ground, his coaching in the week, and his substitutions in the matches.

I guess that there is just one thing left to ask: What’s next for Unai the risk taker?