Unai Emery Reveals What He Said To The Players When He Walked Through The Door

By The Editor
on 5th February 2019

Unai Emery reveals what he said to the squad when he first walked through the door…

Arsenal boss Unai Emery sat down with Soccer AM’s Tubes to discuss his first six months in English football and the Spaniard revealed some interesting points.

Emery joined the club in May and amid a summer of upheaval, the former Sevilla head coach has attempted to embed a philosophy and get the players on-board.

Walking into a dressing room that has been accustomed to a culture set by one man over the course of 21 years isn’t easy and that was the nature of Emery’s task.

His trophy cabinet certainly proceeds him which would’ve earned him instant respect among the dressing room, but the depth of that respect would be dictated by his communications.

Asked about his first interaction with the squad that just achieved the lowest points tally in over two decades, Emery revealed that his message was simple.

“We need, we want, and we have a new opportunity to write a new history – starting today!”

It’s a simple message and one that certainly impacted early on as the team embarked on a 22-match unbeaten run which saw us climb into the top four.

However, as Arsene Wenger used to stress, confidence in a football team is slowly built up and is quickly lost. We have been stuttering in the league over the past two months and our top four hopes look bleaker by the week.

Wenger would always stress that his successor must be prepared to sacrifice his life and in Emery, it seems the two share a deep passion and emotional investment for the game.

When asked how he recovers after a defeat, the head coach was brutally honest in his self-assessment.

“The first 24 hours after I lose a match, I am not Unai Emery,” he stated.

“After 24 hours, when I watch the match again on the video, this is the moment I can stand up and continue.”

Check out his full catch-up in the video above.