Ex-Arsenal Defender: Gunners Should Be Happy With Sixth Place Finish

Tony Adams and John Hartson believe this is a transitional year for the club…

Former Arsenal stars Tony Adams and John Hartson have stated their belief that Unai Emery is in the transitional phase of his Gunners tenure and that a “fifth or sixth” place finish would be satisfactory, they said on BT Sport.

Emery is currently in a fight for the top four as we trail fourth-placed Chelsea by three points, though our form in recent weeks has left many believing that we’ll miss out.

Manchester United are also hot on our heels after their renaissance under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with four wins on the bounce leaving them three points behind.

As we enter a tough set of Premier League fixture which includes a visit of Chelsea to the Emirates Stadium as well as a trip to the Etihad, the optimism isn’t necessarily that high in terms of a top four finish.

And, for Adams, that’s perfectly fine given the upheaval of changes we’ve endured.

“I think he’s made himself time already, to be honest with you,” Adams said on BT Sport.

“He works extremely hard and all his Spanish team around him are on the training ground working them players every day. I think fifth or sixth in the league is a good result, nevermind put a trophy on the side.”

The former Gunners skipper was further quizzed on his meek prediction for us in the Premier League, and he doubled down: “Yes, absolutely,” Adams said about where are should realistically finish.

“In a transitional year after Arsene. The icon of 20-odd years at the club, they’ve had a big turnaround of backroom staff, and I think just to get everything settled down and people into their responsibilities – like the sporting director – finishing fifth or sixth will be a fantastic year for Arsenal.”

Adams is an icon, but there will be nothing “fantastic” about finishing in such positions nor is it even acceptable to have such ambitions.

We made the change from Wenger to Emery for us to improve because finishing fifth and sixth wasn’t good enough. The idea was that the Frenchman had taken the club as far as we can and, considering our resource, we’d hit rock-bottom.

The only way is up, and that’s where we expect Emery to take us.