“He’s Not Changing” – Arsenal Legend Praises Unai Emery’s Single-Mindedness

Nwankwo Kanu praises Unai Emery’s enate belief in his philosophy…

Arsenal legend Nwankwo Kanu has praised Unai Emery’s stubbornness and believes the former Paris Saint-Germain coach will make it work in north London, but the onus is on the players to follow suit.

Emery has taken on one of the most challenging jobs in world football, replacing an iconic figure in Arsene Wenger and aiming to tweak a culture which has been embedded over 22-years.

Despite losing his first two league games and amid a crescendo of criticism, Emery didn’t waver and still insisted that we play out from the back and that the defence maintains a high-line.

It’s resulted in back-to-back wins since, but they were by no means comfortable.

For Kanu, though, he feels Emery has earned the right to do it his way given his success at his previous clubs and warned the players that they must follow in line.

“The good thing about him is he knows his trade,” Kanu told reporters, (via HaytersTV).

“He’s been at PSG, won trophies over there.

“He’s bringing the same thing to Arsenal and if you look at what he’s doing, he’s not changing his way of playing. He’s strong, he wants his own way, which is good.

“Now we have to get used to his way and the players as well know that he doesn’t mess around with anybody.”

Emery’s belief in his philosophy is admirable though it did seem there was a slight shift in the second half against Chelsea which may have confused some.

We retreated to the edge of our box and tried to defend a 2-2 result for 45 minutes, one wonders if that was due to circumstances or instructions.