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

2. He doesn’t make excuses

My absolute favorite character trait of Unai Emery, and it pairs with his disdain for flopping. Unai Emery will not make excuses. He will not come out after the match and blame the wind, or blame the grounds crew who cut the grass in the stadium, or blame the refs.

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The best example of this is in a comparison I wrote about during the season between Unai Emery and Mauricio Pochettino. In this comparison of quotes, Pochettino blamed everything under the sun for the Spurs misfortune. But he never took any responsibility himself, nor did he ever once admit that maybe, just maybe, he or his players could make mistakes.

Unai Emery, even when goaded into a chance to blame the refs, didn’t. He accepted responsibility for his decisions and for his own failings. That is what you want out of not just a coach, but a man. Someone who can own up to a mistake. Because if you never own up to making mistakes, how will you ever get better?

We saw the same kind of thing in the duels between Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho. Mourinho was the excuse master, it was never his fault. And that’s why no matter how the results fell, Wenger remained head and shoulders above Mourinho, not just in height, but in honor and class.

Finally, moving on to No. 1.