Unai Emery: Arsenal Neglected The Defence In Recent Years

By The Editor
on 22nd November 2018

Unai Emery speaks to Spanish press on what he felt he needed to change when he joined Arsenal…

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Arsenal head coach Unai Emery has given his first candid interview since becoming Gunners boss in his native tongue and the Spaniard was asked about the main change he felt he needed to make.

Speaking to Madrid-based publication Marca, Emery stated that we went from becoming a boring defensive team before Arsene Wenger to then being recognised as a sensational attacking side.

In between those two regimes, Emery feels our focus on the defensive structure was neglected and that he needed to arrest that slump and eventually reverse it.

Before his spell at Paris Saint-Germain, Emery was known as a wily coach who focused on defensive intensity with his Sevilla and Valencia teams making life difficult for the opposition.

It’s one of the main differences we’ve seen in the side this season, we’re running much more than we did under Wenger.

“Before Wenger, Arsenal celebrated the 1-0 and it was based on defensive solidity,” Emery said.

“With Arsene, the joy was in attack, with high-quality players. The perfect combination was the Invincibles, but over time only technical quality and offensive freedom were taken care of, losing the defensive structure.

“What I want is to unite both essences and be more competitive. Arsenal was in decline, we had to stop it and start climbing.”

The players are certainly responding to Emery’s commands and it seems that they were longing for a sense of direction and tactical clarity.

Our performance against Liverpool certainly confirmed their belief in Emery’s philosophy and one hopes we can cement a big win to further cement this new chapter.