Arsenal have publicly acknowledged their poor recent run of results and below-par performances but have reiterated their support for under-fire boss Unai Emery. Defeat at Leicester City on Saturday evening caused the fan unrest to further intensify and an article by David Ornstein for the Athletic infuriated an already disgruntled fanbase.
However, it appears Ornstein’s report was correct and the club still firmly believe Emery is the man to restore their Champions League status. The club issued the below statement on Monday.
“We are as disappointed as everyone else with both our results and performances at this stage of the season. We share the frustration with our fans, Unai, players and all our staff as they are not at the level we want or expect.”
“Things need to improve to meet our objectives for the season, and we firmly believe Unai is the right man for the job, together with the backroom team we have in place. We are all working intensively behind the scenes to turn things around and are confident we will.”
“We never take our fantastic support for granted. We hope we can all stick together and get behind the team in this challenging period, as together we are stronger.”
TIF Tactics – The dreaded vote of confidence?
Most Arsenal fans would find it hard to believe that Emery’s future has not been discussed by the club’s hierarchy at all, at least in an informal chat. The results have been completely unacceptable of late with the Gunners picking up just one win in their last five Premier League games.
Fortunately for Emery, after the international break, Arsenal will take on Southampton and Norwich who are placed 19th and 20th respectively. When you look at those two fixtures, you can understand why the board have not yet given up hope of the results turning around but it would appear ‘it’s make-or-break’ for the Spaniard. When a club feel the need to publicly back their coach, it’s rarely a good sign.