Arsenal and Unai Emery: There is a long way to go

Under Unai Emery, Arsenal want to challenge for Premier League titles. However, as Saturday’s defeat to Liverpool proves, there is a long way to go.

The aim of sport is to win. I am not saying anything revolutionary there. But sometimes, in top-level, professional sport, many of the organisations are not actually wanting to win. Sometimes, money, power, survival, many other factors and targets come before being successful.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — The Big Unai Emery Debate

It would be very fair to question Arsenal’s motives over the past decade. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, led by Stan Kroenke, are still yet to invest a single penny of their own money into the club, the only owner in the Premier League to do so, and there has ostensibly been a greater focus on making money than making history.

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However, KSE, now more prominently represented by Josh Kroenke, Stan’s son, who seems to be more involved at Arsenal than the other KSE sporting ventures, have doubled down on their protestations that they are in football to win. Earlier this week, in an extensive interview with David Ornstein of BBC Sport, Kroenke said:

"“Our ambitions are the same as the fans. We want to win and we want to win as much and as often as possible. And doing it a fun way, where they’re seeing some really entertaining football as well. I think we’ve got the group to do it. We have the highest of ambitions. In North America, we are trying to win. The [Los Angeles] Rams were in the Super Bowl last year. I can only imagine what a Champions League final is like after being over in Baku <…> our goal is to get back and to win the Premier League.”"

Well, if Arsenal are going to challenge for Premier League titles, then Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Liverpool illustrated just how much work Unai Emery and his staff have to do.

Where in the past the Gunners have capitulated under the incessant pressure that Liverpool impress on their opponents, this time, Arsenal did not lose because of a lacking application, attitude or resilience. They worked their butts off. Rather, they lost this game because Liverpool are just the better team, and by a long shot.

Klopp has built a brilliant system that perfectly suits his players. The execute it at a near-perfect standard. There is a cohesiveness and confidence that only comes through hours and hours of detailed instruction in training. Liverpool have practised greatness over and over again, and it allows them to perform at the level they do on the pitch.

They also have great players. Their front three is frighteningly prolific. They have the best ful-back pairing in the Premier League. Virgil van Dijk is the best centre-half in world football. And the central midfield is often overlooked but plays with a connection and commitment that perfectly supports the world-class players around them.

Arsenal have neither the players nor the tactics to compete with Liverpool. And if you thought they did, Saturday proved that to be unequivocally true. As Kroenke, Emery and the club ostensibly attempt to challenge for titles and trophies, they must first admit: there is a long way to go.