Unai Emery is a smart man, he wouldn’t be at the very top of football management if he wasn’t therefore surely he suspected his position at Arsenal was under-threat when he arrived for work on Friday morning.
The Spaniard was delivered the news at the club’s London Colney training ground and according to a report in the Telegraph is said to have reacted to the news ‘professionally and respectfully.’
Raul Sanllehi, Vinai Venkatesham and Edu were all present and delivered the news to the 48-year-old before speaking to the playing staff once they had arrived at approximately 10am.
Emery was given the opportunity to say farewell to all of his players and, despite there being concerns regarding the results and performances of the team, the former Head Coach’s attitude and work ethic was never questioned.
Was the job too big for Unai Emery in the first place?
Yes
No
TIF Tactics – So why didn’t it work out for Emery at Arsenal?
There are a number of contributing factors as to why the Spaniard’s time at the club was unsuccessful. One of those factors being his failure to build a strong rapport with the group of players and the inability to acquire their buy-in regarding his tactics and methods. Communication is also said to have been an obstacle that Emery during his 18-months with the club was never able to fully overcome.
During the Spaniard’s tenure, there were strong reports of a breakdown in relationships between he and a number of his key players and if truth be told the decline started towards the back end of last season. His sacking was far from being a knee jerk reaction to a few recent poor results.
The expectation, pressure and sheer size of the task at Arsenal proved too much for Emery. It was never personal, just the case of a manager and club with conflicting ideologies.