Arsenal: Unai Emery and his hints of identity

Unai Emery is yet to truly establish the identity of his Arsenal team. But did we get further hints of what his style might be this week?

Unai Emery has largely made a positive start to his tenure at Arsenal. There are, of course, elements that he could improve — and there are, I am sure, decisions that he would like to change, in hindsight. But taking a macro view of his management thus far, you would have to say it has been a productive, progressive period.

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However, if there is one aspect of his time in north London that has not been so positive, it would be the lack of identity that has been installed within the club. When Emery arrived, there was a hope that he, like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola before him, would implement his own system, one that could eventually rival the best in the Premier League. But if you were asked to define the identity of the Emeryian Arsenal, could you do it?

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It is not easy, and that is primarily because any basic, underlying tenets have not been clearly communicated or illustrated, on the pitch or off it. However, on Tuesday, Emery was asked about how he felt the season has fared thus far. His answer was a little long-winded and he went off on a few tangents, but in his response, there were some potential hints as to how he wants his side to play.

The first thing he said, though, was an admittance that he must instill some form of ‘way’:

"“Really, we need a good mix of everybody and take care to create a new ambition, a new motivation, and also create our way with them.”"

Afterwards, he moved on to what he wants to see from his players and team. This is a part of what he said:

"“We need to improve in our way. For example, I think we can continue being very offensive with a lot of important offensive players. We also want to take the balance defensively to be strong and I think the first four matches allowed us to show our first characteristic: to be offensive <…> We want to win each match but also to show our speed, our energy playing with intensity. I think we are working to do that in our way, in our target of giving them a big characteristic for us. We want to play with energy.”"

There are two major principles to pull out here: The first is to be primarily ‘offensive’ while maintaining defensive balance, something that Arsenal have struggled to do even prior to Emery’s arrival; the second is to play with ‘enery and intensity’. What this actually means for tactics and systems on the pitch, I am not so sure, and that might be pertinent because Emery does not want to tie himself to a particular shape, but it does, I believe, allude to one key tactical element, the high press.

Emery has spoken previously that he wants his team to press opponents high up the pitch, and this, I believe, is yet another public admission that he primarily wants his team to play on the front foot, suffocating them with smart, pressing structures, controlling the match through their positioning off the ball.

We will see whether these hints come to fruition on the pitch. This season, Emery must show that he has an identity and style that he intends to implement at the club, and if he does have one, being offensive and pressing high up the pitch, I believe, will be central themes.