Arsenal: Unai Emery needs the freedom of expression

Unai Emery is being criticised for his handling of Mesut Ozil. However, if he is to succeed at Arsenal he needs complete freedom of expression.

When Ivan Gazidis unveiled Unai Emery as Arsene Wenger’s successor in the summer, the first managerial appointment that Arsenal have made in more than two decades, he spoke about the upcoming period as one that revolves around the project that Emery and the club are undertaking.

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Gazidis’, and by extension Arsenal’s, thinking was simple: the squad needs an overhaul, the club has been shaped by one man for 22 years, the competition in the Premier League is as steep as ever. Reinstating the club to its former glory will not be a quick-fix. There is no swish of a wand. There is no magical word. There is a process that takes years.

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Although Emery is not the sole decision maker at the club, with Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi both key figures in the management structures at London Colney, especially in the transfer market, where Arsenal will have to be excellent if they are to be successful in their attempts to squeeze back into the top four and challenge for a title, he is the individual on which this project will succeed or fail.

Emery, therefore, cannot afford to look at the short-term picture. For him, the utmost priority must be the project and ensuring that it comes to its completion, even at the sacrifice of immediate victories and security. There have been periods when Liverpool fans were calling for Jurgen Klopp to be sacked. That is because he was making decisions with the long-term goals in focus, not necessarily the next match.

But Klopp had the freedom of expression to make these decisions. Liverpool trusted him entirely, even when the fans didn’t, and allowed him to suffer and even be a key part of failure in the present in the hope that it would lead to future success. And now, three or four years later, Liverpool are the best team in the country, closing in on a Premier League title and reached the Champions League final last season.

The same steadfast and unwavering trust that Klopp received, Emery now requires. Emery needs the freedom of expression to deliberately neglect short-term goals in favour of the long-term project — and I very much mean the deliberate neglect.

I know he has said differently publicly, but I am sure that Emery realises that Mesut Ozil is his best chance of winning the next match. A World Cup winner, arguably the best creator in Europe. Emery, as an experienced, intelligent coach is quite aware that Ozil should be playing, if he wants to win now. But winning now is the not necessarily the primary focus of Emery the club. The project is. With that in mind, there are plenty of sound reasons why Ozil would not be involved.

Emery needs the freedom to make these decisions over and over again. ‘Trust the process’. That is what Arsenal must now do. And it is Emery’s process that they have chosen to trust in, for better or worse in the here and now.