Arsenal and Unai Emery: Change is needed

It is not going very well for Unai Emery and Arsenal. Insipid performances, a lacking identity, and now poor results. Change is needed, and it might well be Emery himself.

Monday night’s deplorable 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United has been coming. While Arsenal’s results this season have largely been positive, losing just once all year prior to the trip to Bramall Lane, and that being at Anfield against a team that only just lost their perfect record to start the season, the performances have not.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Performances Vs. Results

Even during the more encouraging victories, there were plenty of warning signs, and fans, being more intelligent and aware than they have ever been, raised their concerns regarding the underlying processes of the team, questioning the sustainability of their approach: concede a lot of shots, create very few chances, exercise little control over matches, and hope that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang can conjure up some form of magic.

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While they have been winning games, Arsenal have not been playing well, and the pressure on head coach Unai Emery, who is now in his second season in charge, one that was intended to provide identity and definition to his tenure and team, has only mounted as the campaign has progressed. And now, after failing to defeat a newly promoted team with just nine shots and three on target, it has reached fever pitch.

Perhaps the most concerning element from Monday was that the Gunners deserved to lose. They were out-played in the first half and out-fought in the second; this was a masterclass from Chris Wilder and his players in how to take advantage of a stuttering, stalling, stumbling team lacking in confidence, conviction and clarity. And yet, Emery sees the game differently:

"“I think we deserved more, I don’t think we deserved to lose that match but also I appreciate their work and they are here with their supporters and with that result, they felt strong to achieve that result. But we worked, but I can say for our players their attitude was good, they tried and I think we deserved more.”"

Quite how he can claim that his team ‘deserved more’, I am struggling to fathom. That is certainly not the game that I witnessed — and neither it is the game that most fans and pundits witnessed either. And Emery’s waxing lyrical about corners and control fell on deaf ears in his post-match press conference. He may have been attempting to shroud the gaping chasms, but no one was fooled. This was Arsenal at their worst.

Spinning forward, change needs to come. What that change must be is difficult — and divisive — to say. Some would argue for a change in shape, maybe a back three or a front two. Others might highlight the personnel and question Emery’s use of it, especially in central midfield where key players have routinely underperformed in roles that they do not suit them. And more still see Emery as the change that must be made. For an increasing number, he is the problem.

There is plenty of evidence to support that argument. The players look confused, the system is conflated and ineffective, the improvements have been minimal, and those same old frailties stretching all the way back into the Arsene Wenger years still undermine the team. Whether that is enough to sack a manager in his second season after a major squad overhaul or not is another question. But the argument is a fair one, that cannot be denied.

Next. Arsenal Vs Sheffield United: 5 things we learned. dark

Ultimately, what change is a question for the season to decide. At this stage, the sample size is still too small to properly determine the root of Arsenal’s problems. But the problems persist nonetheless, that much is quite certain. And that dictates the need for change, in whatever form it may come.

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