Arsenal and the Unai Emery: Is the club blind?

Arsenal head coach Unai Emery has proven his incompetence. And yet, per David Ornstein, the club remains 100% behind their manager. Are they blind?

While Unai Emery enjoyed an encouraging first season as Arsenal head coach, after capitulation in the closing weeks of the year and a lack of identity and attacking impetus coming to roost, there were still plenty of doubts surrounding his actual coaching acumen. A nice, popular, respected person, yes, but not necessarily a good football coach.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Unai Emery out, again

After a very prosperous summer transfer window in which several crucial areas of the squad were proficiently addressed, including adding a dynamic winger, a left-back and offloading the overpaid deadwood that hamstrung significant investment, the second season was very much the one in which Emery the coach, not Emery the person, would be judged.

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Three months into the new campaign and the evidence is quite clear: Emery is not a very good football coach. The lacking identity still infects his team — he is yet to name an unchanged side in successive matches in the same competition. There is an utter lack of cohesion and connection between the players and different units. The conservative nature suits a mid-table team looking to snatch results, not one chasing top-four finishes and, in theory, title challenges and trophies. And now the results have tailed off too, notching just one win since a come-from-behind victory against Aston Villa on September 22nd.

And yet, despite the mounting evidence of this second season, one that has led almost all fans and analysts to conclude that it is time for Arsenal to move on from Emery, the club is still reportedly 100% behind their head coach. As well-connected reporter David Ornstein revealed on Sunday morning in The Athletic, Emery, for now, is going nowhere:

"“However, The Athletic has been informed by senior sources that Arsenal’s hierarchy remain ‘100 per cent’ behind Emery and still plan to wait until the summer before making a decision on his future <…> There is acknowledgement at Arsenal that Leicester are an extremely strong side, especially at home, and the top brass think Emery’s team showed clear signs of improved performance. It encouraged their view that Arsenal are on the right path and possess players and staff of the quality and capacity required to reach their targets. They are adamant their project is sound, well planned and will bring success, provided the external atmosphere allows it to do so.”"

Now, I recognise that the club does not want to descend into a state of chaos and confusion amid the mire of manager merry-go-round that some of their rivals have slipped into in the past, especially Manchester United, who are also finding the post-legendary manager period extremely challenging to navigate.

That said, at this point, there are very few valid reasons to support Emery and his coaching tenure. In fact, even Ornstein’s report inadvertently says as much. Ornstein reports says that Arsenal believe in Emery’s ability to turn the recent troubles around, but in saying that, the club are conceding that there are very few positives to draw from the form of the team, which is defined by Emery’s coaching. In essence, the only argument in favour of Emery is patience, which is not the most convincing argument in the world.

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It is quite clear. Emery should be fired. But the Gunners seemingly cannot see it. It is fair to ask, then, are they blind, either willingly or not?

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