Arsenal: 10 things we learned about Unai Emery in his first year

4. He doesn’t pick favorites

The other big time change from Arsene Wenger that has me beyond excited for what’s to come. Arsene Wenger had his system and he hardly ever deviated from it, but he also picked favorites and just about never deviated from them either.

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Mesut Ozil was a clear favorite, who started no matter what. He was always in the starting XI no matter how badly he had been playing for the month. On the flipside, guys like Lucas Perez and Joel Campbell couldn’t get a minute to save their lives and ended up leaving the club in relative disgrace, despite the fact that their biggest flaw was not being a Wenger favorite.

Unai Emery has no favorites (at least not yet). He is always going to play the players that best fit the system that he is utilizing on any given day. And that could mean making unpopular decisions like sitting either Alexandre Lacazette or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang if it is for the betterment of the team as a whole, and the system they happen to be running that day.

I’m sure that he may develop favorites in time, but never to the point that he would sacrifice his meticulous nature of planning for each match in order to accommodate.

Speaking of which, an important reminder for all of us at No. 3.