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Arsenal: The 5 big reasons why Unai Emery was fired

By Andrew Dowdeswell

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 21: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal sits on an advertising board on the sideline during the Premier League match between Sheffield United and Arsenal FC at Bramall Lane on October 21, 2019 in Sheffield, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 21: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal sits on an advertising board on the sideline during the Premier League match between Sheffield United and Arsenal FC at Bramall Lane on October 21, 2019 in Sheffield, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Unai Emery
SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 21: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal sits on an advertising board on the sideline during the Premier League match between Sheffield United and Arsenal FC at Bramall Lane on October 21, 2019 in Sheffield, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /

Arsenal have fired Unai Emery midway through his second season at the helm. Here are five big reasons why the Gunners pulled the plug on their head coach.

On Friday morning, Arsenal finally put their fans out of their misery and fired head coach Unai Emery. It is a decision that has been a long time coming, but after a listless 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League in front of an empty Emirates Stadium on Thursday night, there was no more patience left for the seemingly helpless Emery.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Emergency: Unai Emery sacked

But why did Arsenal finally make the decision? What led them to sack Emery? Here are the five major reasons why they said ‘goodbye and good ebening’ to the Spaniard?

HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – MAY 13: Arsene Wenger, Manager of Arsenal shows appreciation to the fans after the Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and Arsenal at John Smith’s Stadium on May 13, 2018 in Huddersfield, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – MAY 13: Arsene Wenger, Manager of Arsenal shows appreciation to the fans after the Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and Arsenal at John Smith’s Stadium on May 13, 2018 in Huddersfield, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

5. Regression from Arsene Wenger

At the end of the 2018 season, Arsenal had confirmed their place in the Europa League for the second successive season, slipped to sixth in the Premier League, and found themselves miles behind the other elite teams in England, especially Manchester City and Liverpool.

Arsene Wenger’s final 50 games were the worst period of his tenure in north London. And yet, in Unai Emery’s first 50 games as Arsenal head coach, the Gunners were worse in almost every category imaginable. Here is just a smattering of the statistics that they regressed in under Emery:

  • Wins (27 vs 25)
  • Points (88 vs 87)
  • Goals (96 vs 89)
  • Goals conceded (64 vs 68)
  • Clean sheets (18 vs 10)
  • Attempts (764 vs 617)]
  • Shots on target (299 vs 223)
  • Chances created (582 vs 479)
  • Shots faced (576 vs 696)
  • Shots on target faced (210 vs 252)
  • Possession (61.4% vs 57.6%)

Arsenal were worse under Emery than they were during Wenger’s worst period. That tells you everything you need to know.

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