Arsenal and Unai Emery: This really is a great season

Unai Emery is in his first season as Arsenal head coach. Judging by the points total achieved, this really has been a great campaign.

I am not sure what many people expected from Unai Emery’s first season as the head coach of Arsenal football club. Inheriting an underwhelming squad, financially hamstrung by the decisions of Arsene Wenger and the previous regime, this first year under new management was never going to be easy, even if there was some talent in the squad to work with.

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Moreover, not only were the Gunners in the worst position they had been in over two decades, but the Premier League is more competitive than ever. Manchester City are the greatest team in the Premier League era, four teams would make the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and all of the top six boasted a reasonable argument for being capable of at least top-four finish and even a title challenge.

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Emery was taking over a sinking ship with broken sails while those around him were readily installing their new motor. Despite this clear competitive disadvantage, Emery, I believe, has done a terrific job to lead Arsenal into fourth place, just a point behind Tottenham Hotspur in third. Manchester United sit two points behind, with Chelsea another point off the pace.

And if you dig into the statistics a little deeper, the greatness of Emery’s first year at the club only becomes more apparent. Arsenal currently have 60 points from 30 games. At that current pace, that would yield a season total of 76 points. In Arsene Wenger’s 22 seasons in north London, he topped that points total only eight times. And of those eight times, only one has come since 2008. Emery is leading the club to one of their best seasons of the past decade.

Dig a little deeper, and the picture becomes even clearer. Arsenal are on pace to score 79.8 goals. Under Wenger, they only bettered that goal figure on three occasions. Conversely, they are expected to concede 49.4 goals. That is still not a particularly impressive figure, but it is a slight improvement on last season.

Moreover, in 2019, they have only conceded nine goals in ten games, a much more reasonable rate. And three of those goals came against Manchester City. Across the season, the goals conceded may not seem like they have improved, but there has been growth as the year has progressed, a clear sign of the work Emery is putting in.

Furthermore, a quarter-final against Napoli is still to come and Arsenal only fell in the EFL Cup and FA Cup because they faced Spurs and Manchester United. There was no drastic cup loss here. And if Emery continues his Europa League brilliance, he will have a trophy to add to his work.

All in all, then, this has been a truly great season thus far. Up until this point, Emery has fulfilled all reasonable expectations. Now, he and his players just have to finish the job.