Arsenal: Unai Emery mismanaged the crucial moments

Arsenal lost three games in seven days, conceding nine goals and almost ended their top-four hopes. And it was down to Unai Emery’s mismanagement.

38-game long seasons do not really come down to one week. Although the crux of the campaign often feels like the most important time of the year, you get the same number of points for a win in August as you do in April. Nevertheless, there is something to be said for performing when the winning line is close.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Pragmatism, clean sheets, and Unai Emery

Sadly for Arsenal, this past displayed their deepest and more worrisome vulnerabilities. Three games against middling to lower Premier League teams. Two of them away from home. Seven days to take hold of a top-four finish. They conceded nine goals and lost all three.

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There are lots of reasons for the recent ineptitude. Some injuries, players lacking the necessary winning mentality, opposing teams playing excellently thought-out gameplans at a very high level. And there is lots of blame to go around, about which much has and will be discussed. But one individual who I have tended to defend throughout the season did not deliver last week. Unai Emery, when it mattered most, got it wrong.

His decision start both Matteo Guendouzi and Mohamed Elneny against Crystal Palace was a peculiar one, if slightly forced. Carl Jenkinson as a right wing-back was also a curious choice. Shifting to a back four against Wolves then seemed panicked, a last, desperate lunge to find a system that worked. And then against Leicester City, a very defensive 4-4-2 that isolated the midfield and handed the opposition control of the game.

According to Matt Law of The Daily Telegraph, some of the players are confused with Emery’s recent team selections, unsettled by his tinkering and struggling to understand his approach — his staunch, public defence of Shkodran Mustafi has incurred some ire. They are also concerned by the away form, questioning Emery’s overeagerness to change the approach when not at the Emirates.

Emery famously went a whole season at Sevilla without his team winning a match away from home. There is growing frustration with his over-worrying, his tinkering with the team, his defensive meddling. Would any of the other top six have gone to the King Power Stadium and effectively tried to Jose Mourinho their way to a smash-and-grab win?

Emery, I believe, has done a terrific job in his first season at the club. With a lacking squad and limited resources, he has brought them to within the brink of a top-four finish. And if he can secure Champions League qualification, either through the league or a Europa League triumph, this campaign would be a resounding success.

But he should not be completely exempt from criticism either. Just because he has done a good job does not mean he has done a perfect job. And this past week, I would go as far as to say that he has done a bad job, just when it matters most.