Good ‘Ebening�ladies and gentlemen! We have an important announcement that starting today Unai Emery will no longer be actively participating in managing the esteemed north London club, Arsenal.

The club has decided to part ways with the Spaniard who won the last Premier League game in the first week of October against Bournemouth.

The North Londoners have managed to win only four Premier League games this season under Emery and the promising start to his campaign in the previous season was all washed out in a couple of months. Let’s not deny it, Arsenal has completely forgotten what winning a game feels like and the baton had to be passed on.

Fans were fuming, the stands at the Emirates were putting up a half-empty show and it took a mere 18 months for Emery to tarnish the legacy that their beloved manager, Arsene Wenger built over the years.

What ensued in the past few days were dark shadows hovering over the Emirates Stadium with no possibility of any light shining through. 

The funny part is that it took a humiliating home defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League, a competition that Emery seems to have made his crowning jewel over the years. As of now in order to take charge of the situation, the club has appointed Freddie Ljungberg as the interim head coach till another suitable candidate comes up to take up one of the most challenging jobs in the whole of England.

This egress of Emery feels like a long time coming and social media, especially Twitter made sure they make the most of it. 

"BREAKING NEWS: Unai Emery has been sacked"

Arsenal fans:
pic.twitter.com/X2mFf6jdrl

�Deacon Tolu�(@Bams_Jnr) November 29, 2019

Arsenal fans taking in the news in all their glory.

اوناي ايميري يغادر ارسنال
Unai Emery leaves Arsenal pic.twitter.com/wrQ69Rujrv

�Abdosh Caricature (@AbdoshCaricatur) November 29, 2019

If they call, who do you think should answer?

Club statement: Unai Emery

�Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 29, 2019

Stability? No, they don’t teach that in school.

Mesut Ozil when he heard Unai Emery has been sacked.#emery #ozil #arsenal pic.twitter.com/CeSvSl8eKQ

�MyClubFans (@MyclubFan) November 29, 2019

The rise of the Phoenix

Live footage of Unai Emery leaving Arsenal Football Club.#EmeryOut pic.twitter.com/azfYa5zBg6

�GIDIONIBLOG.com.ng (@gidioniblog) November 29, 2019

One final walk to rue them all

Feature image courtesy: AFP/ Daniel Leal-Olivas 

Arsenal aren’t really a club blessed with total felicity. They are, in fact, completely paradoxical in that sense. At this time last year, the Gunners were cruising on to build momentum towards a 22-match unbeaten run, but fast forward to date, everything that Unai Emery fabricated seem nothing but a mere house of cards.

As far as their fanbase is concerned, they are twiddling their thumbs with a hope of having an efficacious materiality because let’s face it, there is nothing right going on at the club to dwell upon. The sour relationship between Emery and the fans and the players is digging a hole and if it no one rises to the situation; Arsenal will be left wandering in the barren desert yet again.

The board has indeed backed the Spaniard, but that only intensifies an already tremendous muddle the parties involved are in now. 

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The rumour mill generating the news of late has somehow provided Arsenal fans a sense of fresh air given that they are in a situation where anyone apart from Emery seem like a pragmatic approach.

Wolverhampton manager, Nuno Espirito Santo has been tipped as a potential candidate for the Arsenal job and given that Arsenal’s director of football Raul Sanllehi enjoys a close relationship with Nuno's agent Jorge Mendes, there could well and truly be possible approach.

But is Nuno really a solution? Let’s dig wide into it.

Where it started

Contrary to where Arsenal were at this point last season, it is safe to say Emery has lost the plot entirely. The problem, however, started in April this year when Arsenal were sitting comfortably in the Champions League spot with just seven games to play. As it turned out though, they managed just two victories during the tenure, losing to Everton, Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester, meaning that they were pushed to fifth and now a Europa League campaign to look forward to.

The business done during the transfer window was shrewd, to say the least, but culmination of desired performances took a hit. Narrow wins over Newcastle United and Burnley in the first two games of the new Premier League season did give them a stronghold, but subsequent fixtures eventually yielded abysmal outcome.

Read | What Unai Emery needs to focus on at Arsenal

As things stand, Arsenal are already nine points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and have failed to win any of their last six matches in all competitions - their worst run since all the way back in 1998.

Problems at Arsenal are deeper

It’s not just the results hurting the club. Emery’s man-management has been a point of criticism as well. He left Mesut Ozil out of the squad, as the German was allowed only two games in the opening 10 weeks of the season. And the selection of Granit Xhaka as the new club captain was a hammer as well.

The story that followed was atrocious. Xhaka was booed, his family was abused, and the midfielder was stripped off from his role. There’re high chances that he may never play for the club again. There are negatives everywhere you look around the club and Tottenham’s sacking of Mauricio Pochettino has only added fuel to the fire.

Watch | How did Granit Xhaka become a victim of Arsenal's boo-boys?

Emery has no control over his dressing room it seems, and the most viable solution to it remains an induction of someone who can assert an authority in no time. Someone who can convene the entire group of players and sort out the contractual bone of contention.

Does that mean a Europa League title remains Emery’s last resort?

He sure is a proven winner in the competition, having guided Sevilla to three consecutive titles in 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16. But a closer inspection tells a different story altogether. In all those four seasons with Sevilla, the club ended their La Liga season outside the Champions League quota.

Is Nuno the answer?

Emery and Nuno sit wide apart as far their respective approach is concerned. For Nuno, he likes working with a bunch of players who love bullying their opponent with their physical might; especially the defenders. The wing-backs in a 3-4-3/3-5-2 approach are simply the most important figures in his attacking setup.

He likes playing centrally, which allows wing-backs to stretch the game, thus creating muddle amongst his opposition. That coupled with a high-press approach means the players just cannot take even a single second for granted.

Given Arsenal’s current squad, the likes of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette can indeed provide a much bigger threat, but a lack of strength in midfield and defence won’t really yield any better results, to say the least. That coupled with the ongoing hustle within the team is just another distraction to take care of.

Gamble? Indeed. A big one, to say the least.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Lindsey Parnaby

Arsenal manager Unai Emery pleaded for calm and patience after his side lost 2-0 at Leicester on Saturday to fall eight points behind the Premier League's top four.

Jamie Vardy and James Maddison were the architects of another fine victory for the Foxes, who moved into second, as the English duo struck in the space of seven second-half minutes.

A return to the Champions League next season was Emery's target after a summer of heavy investment in reshaping his squad.

But Arsenal will fall nine points behind the top four should Manchester City avoid defeat away to league leaders Liverpool on Sunday.

"We are very ambitious in our target, but we know we need time and patience," said Emery, who faces an anxious wait to see if his wish will be granted by the Arsenal board with a two-week international break coming up.

87 - Arsenal have won 87 points in their 50 Premier League games under Unai Emery (W25 D12 L13) - one fewer than they managed in their final 50 under Arsene Wenger (W27 D7 L16). Regression. pic.twitter.com/jAfA0dzuIj

�OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 9, 2019

After early signs of promise at the start of the Spaniard's reign last season, Arsenal have now taken fewer points in Emery's first 50 Premier League games in charge than the final 50 of Arsene Wenger's 22-year tenure.

In the face of mounting speculation over his future, Emery surprisingly maintained Mesut Ozil alongside the front two of new captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.

That bold strategy nearly paid off when Lacazette fired the first big chance of the match inches wide after Aubameyang had burrowed his way into the area.

"If we score the first goal, we could have controlled the game. We didn't do it and they did," added Emery. 

Thereafter, it was Leicester who showed the greater threat going forward.

Wilfred Ndidi missed a glorious opportunity when he smashed off the crossbar with the goal gaping from Ricardo Pereira's cutback four minutes into the second half.

Arsenal were the first to put the ball in the net when Aubameyang supplied a characteristically clinical finish but was rightly flagged offside.

2 - Arsenal have kept just two clean sheets in their last 24 away league games, with both of those games finishing as 1-0 victories (vs Watford and Newcastle). Shambles.

�OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 9, 2019

Vardy has an excellent record against Arsenal and when his chance came, the Premier League's top scorer was ruthless with a low finish past Bernd Leno from Youri Tielemans's pass.

"It was a brilliant goal and from there I thought we took control of the game," said Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers.

Vardy turned provider for Leicester's second as he laid the ball back into the path of Maddison to drill a low shot in from outside the box.

"People say they enjoy watching us but we enjoy playing so much. It's a great feeling," said Maddison.

Arsenal offered precious little after going behind and have now won just two of their last 10 league games.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Oli Scarff

Granit Xhaka has been left "devastated" by the confrontation with Arsenal supporters on Sunday but still should apologise said Gunners manager Unai Emery on Tuesday.

Emery, though, would not be drawn on whether the 27-year-old Swiss international midfielder will remain the captain following his tantrum on being substituted in the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.  

Xhaka -- who was voted captain by a secret ballot of his team-mates in the close season -- has enjoyed a fractious relationship with the Arsenal supporters since he joined in 2016.

It reached its nadir on Sunday when they booed him as he walked off with him cupping his hand to his ear and then apparently mouthing 'F**k off' in their direction before storming down the tunnel. 

"Yes (he should apologise)," said Emery, speaking on the eve of the Gunners' League Cup fourth round clash with Liverpool.

"We make mistakes, we need to apologise and we suggested for him to do that.

"Really, he knows he was wrong and he feels inside very deep.

"Now we are looking, seeing he is devastated and the first thing is to recover him.

"We need our family, friends and supporters to support us, love us.

"He is not feeling that with the supporters.

"But we are speaking with him 'first, be calm. Be close to your family and be close to us because we are your family'."

Read | Hector Bellerin calls for Arsenal unity after Granit Xhaka tantrum

Emery said Xhaka has the qualities required of a captain but refused to respond as to whether he remained in his post.

"At the moment I am not speaking and I don't want to think about that," the Spaniard said.

"It is not easy for him and for the team. We spoke yesterday, and Sunday night also, and this morning.

"He has the values, the respect in the dressing room, experience.

"He is captain of his national team and has the condition to be the captain.

"I decided that. The players respect that, and he was wrong on Sunday and it was not the response of a captain."

While he has been silent since the incident, Xhaka changed his Instagram profile picture on Tuesday from one in which he is sporting the Arsenal armband for one of him captaining Switzerland.

He will be taken out of the firing line for a few days at least as he will not travel to Anfield for the League Cup tie.

Read | What Unai Emery needs to focus on at Arsenal

Featured image courtesy: AFP/ Daniel Leal-Olivas

Arsenal fans would be forgiven for having flashbacks as the Gunners needed two late Nicolas Pepe free-kicks to see off Vitoria Guimaraes in the Europa League on Thursday.

Empty seats at the Emirates, grumbles from those who were there and calls for the manager to go, it was very reminiscent of the final years of Arsene Wenger's tenure before the Frenchman finally stepped aside in 2018.

Unai Emery was the man chosen to succeed Wenger as the first new Arsenal manager since 1996, but the club could be looking at another appointment soon with the Spaniard showing little sign of having improved the club's fortunes over the past 17 months.

Read | Unai Emery pleads for patience as Arsenal stumble

Emery's first season ended in disappointment. Arsenal blew two chances for a return to the Champions League, winning just one of their last five games to finish fifth in the Premier League and then losing the Europa League final 4-1 to Chelsea.

Often derided by fans for a lack of investment, the club's American owner Stan Kroenke backed Emery with a surprising splurge in the summer transfer market.

Pepe was signed for a club record £72 million ($88 million) fee from Lille, Kieran Tierney and David Luiz brought in to improve a faulty defence and Spanish international midfielder Dani Ceballos loaned from Real Madrid.

Yet, a 1-0 defeat at newly-promoted Sheffield United on Monday had all the bad hallmarks of Wenger's final days as Arsenal were blunt in attack despite dominating possession and undone at a set-piece for Lys Mousset's winner.

Defeat saw Emery's men drop out of the top four and while they are just two points adrift of Chelsea and Leicester in fifth, the feeling is Arsenal are going backwards.

Between August and December last year, the Gunners went on a 22-match unbeaten run as the change of manager reinvigorated a club that had gone stale as standards slipped in Wenger's second decade in charge.

Read | Arsene Wenger eyes return, misses 'wet Wednesdays at Stoke'

However, now Emery's record in his first 47 Premier League games is worse than Wenger's final 47.

Emery has consistently struggled to find the right balance between defence and attack.

Earlier this season he was criticised for leaving his defence too exposed by cramming in as many of his attacking talents as possible in 2-2 draws against Tottenham and Watford.

A few weeks on and he had to field questions this week over a lack of creativity as a strike force including Pepe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette lacked service in Sheffield on Monday night.

One man who does not appear in Emery's plans as a solution to link defence and attack is Mesut Ozil.

The German playmaker is the highest earner at the club, but has featured in just two of 13 games so far this season.

Ozil has often flattered to deceive during his six years at the Emirates, but he remains popular among the fanbase with one banner on Thursday night telling Emery "to stop freezing Ozil out."

There seems little prospect of Ozil returning for Sunday's clash with Crystal Palace, but if he continues to ignore his mercurial talent, Emery needs to find other solutions and quickly is his stay is not to be a short one.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Glyn Kirk

Arsenal manager Unai Emery asked for fans to give him time as doubts grow over the Spaniard's ability to lead the Gunners back into the Champions League.

A disappointing 1-0 defeat at promoted Sheffield United on Monday left Arsenal fifth in the Premier League, after just four wins in their opening nine games.

Emery enjoyed an encouraging start as the successor to Arsene Wenger after the Frenchman's 22-year reign in charge, but Arsenal's form tailed off at the end of last season as they narrowly missed out on a top-four finish and lost to Chelsea in the final of the Europa League.

"It's normal to have in different and difficult moments criticism for our work and my job," Emery said on Wednesday ahead of his side's Europa League clash with Portuguese club Vitoria Guimaraes. "We need to accept that.

"My focus in the next matches is thinking about how we can improve and also we need to think how we can, little-by-little, progress and achieve our immediate targets."

The target for Emery and the club hierarchy is a return to the riches of the Champions League for the first time since the 2016/17 season.

Read | Three things we learned from the Premier League over the weekend

Despite claiming to have a restricted budget for summer signings, the former Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain boss was heavily backed in the transfer market with the arrivals of Nicolas Pepe, Kieran Tierney, David Luiz and Dani Ceballos. 

"Our objective is clear on where we want to get," added Emery. "We are at the beginning. Really, I am very confident in the players, in our job, in our work, in the club strategy, in every player."

After failing to break down the Blades on Monday, Emery has been criticised for his repeated refusal to field Mesut Ozil.

The former Germany international is the highest earner at the club but has made just two appearances this season.

Emery, though, rejected suggestions he has been overly conservative with Arsenal scoring just twice in their past three league games.

"Above all I want to continue being an offensive team, improving defensively but offensive. Our mentality is to be offensive. I am going to get that balance I am sure."

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Oli Scarff

Unai Emery took over the reigns from Arsene Wenger as Arsenal’s boss last season with a sole of promise of restoring the glory days back at the Emirates. After a satisfying first half of his inaugural campaign as the Gunners�head, Emery silently turned Arsenal as title contenders with a 14-match unbeaten run in the Premier League. It was, probably, one of his biggest highlights of his career in England.

Fast forward to the 2019/20 season and Arsenal started making noises that they had a modest 45 million transfer budget. They tricked everyone and splurged out a lot more, signing players like Kieran Tierney, Nicolas Pepe, David Luiz and brought Dani Ceballos on loan from Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Emery’s signings displayed a clear intent of a team looking for their way out of troubles in order to engage in duels with Europe’s finest. The Spanish manager had already started working on building a young, attack-minded squad by retaining many young talents like Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Saka and Emil Smith-Rowe but the addition of a pacy Gabriel Martinelli from Tijuana is a testament of Emery’s vision for Arsenal.

The 47-year-old is aware of Arsenal’s horrible defensive record so far. After an encounter with Watford in the league, the Gunners became the holders of an unwanted record of facing the most shots on target in Europe’s top five leagues. Emery needs to instill a sense of calm especially in his German goalkeeper Bernd Leno while reminding David Luiz and Sokratis Papastathopoulos that their defensive capabilities are far more worthy.

Attack not a problem

Calum Chambers and Rob Holding finally deserve a run in the first team. Holding, especially, ensured that Arsenal walked away with a clean sheet against Nottingham Forrest in the League Cup and then again on Thursday night against Standard Liege in their Europa League outing.

Although the Gooners might be a little skeptical about Nicolas Pepe’s quality but Emery has placed his utmost faith in the Ivorian to shine in critical fixtures for the Gunners. His attacking play is what gets Emery going as he fits in the team nicely and enhances the pace of the game for his coach. But his inconsistency is worrying but Emery has called for patience with Pepe.  

The attack is not a problem for Emery as the Gunners have scored in all matches across all competitions this season and the team is yet to concede in Europe and cup competitions. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has netted seven goals in seven appearances in the Premier League and has been leading the pack.

But the crux of the matter lies in the defence as the Gunners are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League so far this season. If Emery look to strike the adequate balance to succeed, Granit Xhaka needs to let go of his fiery temper and lead his team from the middle of the park. He needs to guide Lucas Torreira, whose confidence is seeping away quickly, and ensure that Matteo Guendouzi doesn’t run aimlessly in the midfield.

Emery has all the resources at his disposal and the Spaniard needs to come through by fixing the distorted Arsenal’s defence and restoring equilibrium to the Arsenal’s squad.

Feature image courtesy: AFP/ Glyn Kirk

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer jealously lauded the killer touch of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Arsenal striker secured a 1-1 draw for the Gunners at Old Trafford on Monday.

A return of just nine points from their opening seven games is United's worst league start for 30 years and leaves them already 12 points behind leaders Liverpool on the 10^th spot in the table.

Solskjaer's side have not scored more than one goal since the opening weekend of the season, while Aubameyang took his tally for the season to eight in eight games, seven of which have come in the Premier League.

"It's another game that we are 1-0 up," said Solskjaer. "1-0 at Southampton, 1-0 up at Wolves, we need to learn to win these games.

"We go 1-0 up and then we don't get the second goal that we want to get. That's the learning now for this time. Be more cynical, clinical."

Aubameyang's equaliser just before the hour mark was only awarded after a VAR review with the Gabonese international initially wrongly flagged offside.

Bukayo Saka pounced on a misplaced pass deep inside the United half and his through ball freed Aubameyang, who was clearly played onside by Harry Maguire.

"Seven now in seven games, so that's clinical," added Solskjaer admiringly of Aubameyang.

"VAR is a work in progress, but I'm for right decisions and they definitely deserved their goal today."

For many years the clashes between these sides were the Premier League's marquee fixtures.

United and Arsenal were the champions of England for nine consecutive seasons between 1996 and 2004.

However, the fact they were facing off on a Monday night because neither are in Champions League action later this week was reflected in a first 45 minutes devoid of inspiration.

"I think both Man Utd and us have quality players and we need to improve, to work, to improve physically and tactically to achieve the best performance," said Arsenal boss Unai Emery.

The one moment of quality separated the sides just before the break as Scott McTominay's stunning strike put United in front.

Daniel James led a counter-attack from an Arsenal corner and after his cross just evaded Marcus Rashford, the England international cut the ball back to the edge of the box where McTominay smashed into the top corner.

That was the first goal United had scored a goal from open play at home in the first-half this season.

And they failed to find another goal despite dominating after Arsenal's equaliser.

Paul Pogba fired inches wide from the edge of the area before McTominay somehow didn't score his second of the night with a free header six yards out from a corner.

Bernd Leno produced a fine save to turn a piledriver from Maguire over as the world's most expensive defender tried to atone for his earlier error.

But the German goalkeeper's best save of the evening came at the death as he flew to his left to turn Rashford's powerful free-kick to safety.

Arsenal remain without a league victory at Old Trafford since 2006, but a point is enough to edge them back into the top four on goal difference.

"We wanted to win because we were thinking it was a very good opportunity here to achieve the three points," added Emery.

"After 90 minutes I think it was a fair result for both sides."

Featured image courtesy: AFP/ Paul Ellis