Arsenal: Buying for the Unai Emery system

Unai Emery is trying to implement his system at Arsenal but is facing limited personnel. This summer, it is time for the club to invest for his system.

When Unai Emery came to Arsenal, I believe he had a clear way of playing that he wanted to implement. At his previous two clubs, Sevilla and then Paris Saint-Germain, there was an extremely identifiable style and system that he used for almost every match.

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His approach largely revolved around a 4-3-3 shape: A lone centre-forward flanked by two, speedy wingers who can beat defenders in one-on-ones; three mobile central midfielders who are all tidy in possession and combative without the ball; a flat back four with two athletic full-backs who can support attacks in the wide channels.

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I still believe that he wants to use a similar system at Arsenal. He may amend it slightly into a 4-2-3-1 and replace one of the central midfielders with a more natural attacking midfielder, but it is still roughly the same approach as what he has utilised for many years.

This season, however, he has not had the opportunity to play in this manner very often. Hector Bellerin suffering a season-ending injury and lack of trusted full-back replacements, an utter absence of wide attackers, with converted attacking midfielders and centre-forwards used to fill the positions, and the apparent need to squeeze both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the two best attacking players in the squad, into the same XI, have all demanded that Emery adapt his system, sometimes to quite a drastic extent.

In his first year, Emery has used a 4-4-2 flat, 4-4-3 diamond, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 3-4-3 and 3-5-2, as well as different variations and nuances within those systems. Some of them have worked; some of them have not. But I feel that many of the tactical selections that he has made throughout the year have come as a response to the personnel that he has available to him.

The use of a system that incorporates wing-backs and not full-backs because he does not trust the players he has in a more traditional full-back position is a clear example of this. The way in which Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have been used this season proves that Emery is limited by the personnel that he has available to him.

And yet, with this limited personnel, he has proven himself a thoroughly capable coach. Arsenal are in the top four, could qualify for the quarter-finals of the Europa League, and have made substantial improvements on a collective and individual basis in many different areas. The work that Emery has put in has been displayed on the pitch.

Now, therefore, it is time for Arsenal to back him. This summer will see another transfer window of significant haul. It is imperative that the club provide Emery with the resources he requires to unshackle himself from the personnel problems, sign players that can play certain positions as he requires, and complete a system that has been held back by uncomfortable and out-of-position players. It is time to buy for the Unai Emery system.