Arsenal: Assess Unai Emery, not the players

Unai Emery is not putting the Arsenal players in the right positions to perform well. Until they are, assess his management, not their individual performances.

Arsenal’s performance in Monday night’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United did not do anything for Unai Emery’s rapidly deteriorating reputation among the fan base. Seven games into a new season and it looks increasingly unlikely that the team will get any closer to finding a new identity than it did last season.

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Emery is largely to blame for this; looking at the way he has set the side up this season, he still hasn’t found a balance. Against United, Arsenal’s midfield continued to look disorganised, while the athleticism Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney provide on the flanks continues to be missed.

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While it is true that Arsenal have struggled with injuries and that the squad remains weak in certain areas, Emery is letting the players down with the way they are being deployed. In midfield, both Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka are being routinely exposed and played out of position. This puts too much onus on Matteo Guendouzi, while lacking the creativity and control of Dani Ceballos and dynamism and drive of Joe Willock.

Another growing problem is Emery’s use of Nicolas Pepe. Coming in for £72 million off the back of sparkling form in the French Ligue 1, it was inevitable Pepe would experience some acclimatisation issues. Add in the fact that he represented his country, Ivory Coast, in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations and it would be unfair to expect too much of him early on.

On occasion, Pepe has looked incredibly exciting. He has an exceptional change of pace and the ability to complete take-ons that few others in the squad possess. But his performance against Manchester United was poor and he has since come in for criticism. Before he can properly be assessed, however, he should be allowed to feature in a system that suits his game.

Plenty of hugely talented players have floundered in struggling teams only to move away and reassert their talent. Just look at Angel Di Maria at Manchester United. Like Di Maria, Pepe finds himself as part of a stilted attacking line-up that has been unable to sustain pressure or maintain any fluidity. This is in a large part because of Emery’s lack of willingness to employ connectors in his midfield. Against United, Torreira was the midfield player closest to the front three, while Guendouzi, the player you would expect to be the best at linking midfield and attack was on average positioned deeper than Xhaka.

This is not to say Emery should stick to a double pivot with a traditional number 10 in the shape of Mesut Ozil, although this is an option that worked well against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup. Rather, Emery must find a way of balancing the defensive solidity of his midfield with players that can create for his attackers. The most convincing example this season was at Burnley, when Willock and Ceballos interchanged fluidly and connected with their respective wingers. Meanwhile, at Old Trafford, Pepe was left isolated in an intimidating environment and struggled.

When analysing any player, there are numerous factors that need to be considered, and at this stage in the development of this team, fans should give certain individuals the benefit of the doubt. And so, while faith in the manager may be dwindling, this should not translate onto players that have yet to be utilised in a way that suits them.

Players like Pepe, Ceballos and even David Luiz have not been put into advantageous positions such that they can be properly assessed. And until they are, they should not be blamed for the shortcomings of the manager.