Arsenal: Overcoming Unai Emery the wrong way round

Unai Emery’s conservative gameplan again hampered his team in Monday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United. The fact that Arsenal must overcome their manager’s tactics shows how backwards they are.

A head coach is meant to implement a new strategy that everyone at the club can buy into. The players then execute that approach on the pitch, directors and scouts recruit talent that suits the head coach’s plans, and the whole club is heading in one clear, well-defined trajectory.

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The head coach’s primary responsibility is the tactics of the team between the white lines. And these tactics are designed to get the most out of the players that they are provided, as well as suit the league they compete in and the developments of the modern game. This was the task of Unai Emery when he inherited Arsenal from Arsene Wenger.

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However, a little over a year into the job and there are growing doubts over his work on the training field. Emery’s tactics were questioned prior to his arrival in north London. Described as overly conservative and defensive, especially with superior teams and away from home, there were some doubts over his management. And since his time in north London, those doubts have only worsened.

On Monday night, these questions and growing criticisms rose to a climax. The Gunners drew with Manchester United at Old Trafford after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and VAR rescued a point. Emery, as has repeatedly been the case this season, was rescued by the centre-forward and his clinical finishing. Because the head coach got his tactics wrong and saw his team put in an insipid display against lacking Manchester United side.

Specifically, he was too cautious. He used a workmanlike central midfield to shield the defence, sapped the creativity out of the team, and did not implement a high press against a United team who were ripe for suffocation. In essence, he was overly defensive.

After the match, he was asked about the midfield set-up that he used. This was his response:

"“We can use different players and we can use different game plans and also, the opposition demanded us differently. For example, tonight Manchester United demanded a lot here and with three midfielders we can be better with the balance defensively and offensively”"

Now, I do not want to completely disregard the threat that United posed on the counter-attack, but it would be nice to see a manager focus on the damage that his team can cause and not always obsess over the potential danger of the opposition, especially when that opposition is playing a half-fit striker and is lacking their best winger.

At present, it seems as though Arsenal are overcoming the tactics of their manager. During the ten minutes after Aubameyang’s equaliser, they let loose, pressed United, and created two or three chances. And then they retreated back into their shell, allowing United to end the match in the ascendency.

That is the wrong way round. The club should be buying into and buoyed by Emery’s tactics, not hamstrung by them. Until the head coach’s approach changes, the team will continue to find their efficacy diminished.