Under Wenger:
“Arsene coaching me most days after I signed in 2017 and in pre-season was just amazing. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to have worked with not just a good coach, but such a good human being. I had a lot of one on one conversations with him. It was just inspiring to listen to him.”
“When Arsene was there and I was with the first-team, I didn’t feel a lot of pressure and didn’t put unnecessary pressure on myself. I felt really comfortable and that I was fitting in nicely.”
Under Emery:
“I didn’t have a conversation with Unai at all. That’s the thing. I didn’t have a conversation with him once. I’m guessing he was told I didn’t have the best of loans at Birmingham, so he just binned me off.”
“When Unai came in I was hoping to train across with the first-team but I didn’t really get that opportunity. That’s the thing that upset me a bit because I didn’t get the chance to show Unai what I could do, like I did with Arsene.”
Ideally, we want a mix of this. Clearly players were too comfortable under Wenger. But at the same time, I think manager/player relationships are important – just look at Klopp and Pep. Emery could have handled this better even if ultimately the decision to let Bramall go was the right one.