Everybody expected a very tough job for any manager succeeding after Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Yet Unai Emery was the man who took that difficult position. Before taking this job, Emery already had served at two best football clubs of the world. For Paris Saint-Germain, he delivered five domestic trophies and gave three Europa League titles to Sevilla as well.
One can imagine the difficulty of his job by looking at Manchester United who have never quite recovered since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. And even the best coaches like David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and now Jose Mourinho failed to restore the club’s former status.
Even though it is very early to give an opinion about Emery’s performance, still the looks of it suggest that he is doing a wonderful job at the club. Arsenal lost the initial two encounters against Manchester City and Chelsea, but the Gunners have been quite brilliant since then. In the Premier League, they have now registered their sixth straight victory.
Under Emery, Arsenal have now beaten the likes of West Ham United, Everton and Watford in home games while they have also emerged victorious against Cardiff City and Newcastle United in away games. Besides proceeding in the Carabao Cup, the Gunners also have managed two Europa League victories to their name too.
They currently sit fourth in the league table with just 2 points behind Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool. This is a wonderful start from a club who finished sixth last year in the table with a difference of 37 points with Manchester City. If Arsenal manages to finish in the top four by the end of the season, we can call Emery’s first season as a success, and that aim is looking quite within their reach based on their performances so far.
It looks like Arsenal is witnessing a very positive change under Emery after the long reign of Wenger. He, contrary to the Frenchman, tends to change his formations and lineups for different games with very positive results so far. Under his rule, no player seems to be safe from substitution. The Spaniard has substituted players like Granit Xhaka and Alex Iwobi, while he even benched top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang against Fulham.
Despite all his victories, one can argue that Emery’s victories have come against lesser sides. Even then, there is no doubt that Arsenal is doing very well as compared to last year when they lost the away match against Newcastle and got just one point from the 3 away matches against the relegated teams.
Of course, we could make a clear opinion about Arsenal by the end of December when they would have faced teams like Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. However, we can at least say now that Arsenal is doing very well under Emery.