Arsenal: Unai Emery has made this team different

Arsenal overhauled a 3-1 deficit against Rennes with consummate professionalism on Thursday. It is the latest in a long run of performances that were rare under Arsene Wenger. Unai Emery has changed this team.

One of the key reasons why Arsene Wenger was ultimately asked to resign from his managerial post at Arsenal was the soft underbelly that continually undermined the team’s progress. This inherent weakness stemmed from a lacking mentality, tactical naivety, and the infecting, riddling presence of individual errors.

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In attempting to rebuild the squad and re-establish the culture at the club, one of the primary tasks Unai Emery had to face was to address this green innocence.

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Well, a little under a year into his tenure at the Emirates, there have been very real signs that he has indeed challenged many of the prior philosophies that Wenger espoused.

Earlier this week, club captain Laurent Koscielny was asked about the improved performances and results against the rest of the top six in the Premier League, a key shortcoming of the Wenger era. This is what he had to say:

"“Our record against the other big six teams this season is positive. We have won 12 points compared to six last season. It shows how we are approaching those games differently. It is not just about attacking. We are more intelligent, we are more measured in our plans. We can change tactics halfway through a game, we can set up differently. The manager is using different formations and it shows his flexibility and the players’ too, which is good, I think.”"

His answer alludes to the influence of Emery, both in a tactical sense, from the flexibility that he has instilled in teaching several different systems, and the greater balance in and out of possession that he demands, particularly against more dangerous opposition. But this, I believe, is only a part of what Emery has inspired.

There has certainly been more focus and attention paid to the defensive side of the game. Arsenal are more secure tactically, they now know how to win games without playing their best, the individual errors, while still present, are not nearly as frequent. But there is also an added element of happiness and positivity and togetherness that I have not seen in a long time.

It is difficult to properly explain. I am not sure I can quite put my finger on it. Perhaps the better way to say this would be simply to say that the Unai Emery Arsenal is very different to the Arsene Wenger Arsenal. And in many ways, from the tactical set-up to the added grit and steel. The Gunners have been renewed, replenished, rebuilt.

This is now a professional football team. That sound stupid to write, but they are actually acting like one, and it all stems from Unai Emery and the changes that he is making.