Arsenal Vs Crystal Palace: Can Unai Emery remove blinkers?

Unai Emery has his blinkers on when it comes to many of the underperforming players in the Arsenal squad. As Crystal Palace come to the Emirates on Sunday, can he remove them and begin to show progress in his selections?

Unai Emery’s management of his Arsenal squad has been curious at times, to say the least. He has always looked to rotate through his personnel options, which is no bad thing, but despite the constant tinkering, he has never seemed to settle on a system that clicks.

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There are many reasons for this, one of them potentially being that Emery is not a capable enough coach to develop a successful system in the first place, nevermind one that suits the players he has available to him. But perhaps chief among them is Emery’s blinkered view of many parts of his squad.

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Take his management of the central midfield. Emery has put his faith in Granit Xhaka as a defensive midfielder. Despite blatant weaknesses in crucial areas like mobility, defensive nous, positioning and discipline, Emery seems to believe that Xhaka is an individual to base the midfield upon.

Similarly, his use of Lucas Torreira seems curious as well, the Uruguayan possessing many of the inherent qualities that a defensive midfield requires. Yet, Emery is persistent to push Torreira into a more advanced role, attempting to utilise his ratty athleticism as an ideal counter-presser to win back possession in advanced positions annd break on exposed defences.

There are some valid reasons for using these players in this manner. Xhaka is an excellent passer. Torreira has great energy and athleticism. But the evidence quite clearly points to this plan being unsuccessful. Time and time again, Arsenal’s midfield has been overrun by their opponents. Their structure unhinged on the counter-attack, a lack of creativity falling short against disciplined defences, and an overall absence of control, something that Emery apparently prioritises. Emery is ostensibly blind to the problems.

And it is not just the midfield. His faith in Sokratis and David Luiz is curious. His inability to release the attacking talents of Dani Ceballos, Nicolas Pepe and Mesut Ozil, though the latter is out of sheer stubbornness not tactical ineptitude, is also problematic, while he started Sead Kolasinac against Sheffield United because the Bosnian had not done anything to deserve being dropped despite Kieran Tierney’s excellent return from injury.

Last year, Emery’s indignant, obdurate management could be defended because there were few other options to choose from. Injuries restricted his team selections and the squad was still being overhauled in the transfer market. You could excuse his decision-making. But this year, especially in more recent weeks, that is no longer the case.

Matteo Guendouzi is now the leading central midfielder and provides everything that Xhaka can; Tierney is a far superior player to Kolasinac and is now fit; Rob Holding is, at the very least, a higher potential alternative to both Luiz and Sokratis; Hector Bellerin is now returning at right-back and will help release Pepe in front of him.

Emery has other options. But is he brave and self-aware enough to remove the blinkers and make the necessary changes? It is a question that everyone might already know the answer to, even if they do not want to admit it.