Arsenal: What would Erik Ten Hag provide that Unai Emery doesn’t?

Unai Emery has come under scrutiny for some lackluster Arsenal performances. Ajax’s Erik ten Hag is wanted by many fans, what would he bring that Emery doesn’t?

The definition of reactionary is easy to find in any dictionary available for purchase or online. Listed in said dictionary will be some synonyms as well, the first one of which will most likely be “Arsenal fans as a collective whole”.

Unai Emery sees his Arsenal side sitting at third place, one point behind last seasons champions Manchester City after eight matches played. For reasons that only select fans will be able to explain, supporters are calling out for his replacement already. One such replacement that has already been named as a potential candidate Ajax’s Erik ten Hag.

Ten Hag attracted an abundance of attention last season after making an impressive run with the Amsterdam club to the semi finals of the Champions league. The exciting young team were indescribably captivating and many neutral supporters found themselves backing them throughout the tournament.

Now, what exactly would Ten Hag bring to Arsenal that Emery does not? Well, the simple, answer is total football.

In some ways, the Dutch manager and the Spaniard have a great deal of similarities. They are both young and of course, value their young players. The one major discrepancy that differentiates the two is the style of football and overall mentality going into any given fixture.

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Ten Hag showed throughout all of the games that Ajax played in the Champions league that he is not scared to attack any team, no matter how massive they may be.  Beating the almighty Real Madrid 4-1 in the Santiago Bernabeu tells you all you need to know about the mentality that the young Dutch manager goes into games with. Emery plays with far more pragmatism, but over recent years, fans have been crying out for a manager that has that philosophy.

Emery has seemingly found himself in a predicament where when he loses, but plays open, expansive football, the result is what is most important. And then, when we win and he plays in a pragmatic manner, results are merely an afterthought, and performance is the priority. The truth is, it is starting to appear as if many fans just don’t like him at all, and no matter what he does, he will never appease a large portion of the Arsenal faithful.

If this is the case, maybe ten Hag would be a good candidate for replacing our current manager.

Ajax currently sit atop of The Dutch Eredivisie with an astounding 23 points after only 9 games. They also have a ridiculous goal difference of +23 and have only conceded six goals, scoring 29. Just for perspective, that means ten Hag’s men have scored an average of over three goals per game!

There is no doubt that Ten Hag would be an ideal candidate for the Arsenal job, given the fact that a large group of fans are clearly desperate for “total football” to make a return. However, the fans should stay behind Emery and give him time to implement his ideologies.

Ten Hag is a highly coveted man and teams such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are said to be interested in acquiring his services. His brand of football is appealing to say the least, but the current manager should be given at least two seasons to take us back where we belong, the Champions league. If he is unable, then and only then, should we take serious interest in Ten Hag.