Unai Emery

Watford had 23 shots against us. Watford.

Sorry I cannot forgive that.

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Gained one more point for Arsenal than Poch at spuds though.

How much of that was linked to him being unable to get his preferred profile of player in?

I’m not saying we secure 4th with Banega, Nzonzi and Zaha but it’s clear in hindsight that he didn’t get his guys in. Maybe that’s his fault for taking the job without assurances.

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Didn’t expect him to take the job initially but upon reflecting on it, he probably did everything he could with Villarreal.
Last season with Newcastle it was different. Newcastle were flirting with relegation and he still had some unfinished business with Villarreal.
He did all that now, won the EL and got Villarreal to the CL semi finals and almost pulled an upset against Liverpool. Doubt there’s more to do considering their limitations.

This could end up a smart move for him. I think he’s the clear top dog at Villa whereas that was never the case at PSG and Arsenal. Only star player they have is Coutinho who I expect to leave soon. Plenty of Spanish speaking players in the squad. I think he’ll be able to command respect from that lot.

Both sides could use this as a stepping stone. Emery could help Villa establish as a Top 10 side and Emery could improve his reputation about managing non-Spanish sides.

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He played an important role being the guy to follow Wenger, whether we remember it fondly or not. Arteta may have got where he is now regardless but with the power Raul had when Emery took over there’s no guarantee of that.

Gave us an enjoyable EL run that ended terribly and I was there for the 4-2 against spurs so I’ll always have a few decent memories of his time here myself.

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That game was sublime.

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He wanted Partey as well.

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Emery took over a Wenger team which was full of over paid under performing players, who’d become accustomed to the culture of complacency that had been here for far too long.

He wasn’t most supporters first choice but, considering the seasons of little investment and the poor condition of the club, he still managed to finish fifth and got to a European final, which isn’t bad.

He might not be better but it would have been interesting to see what he could have done if he’d been given 250m and three seasons, to change the culture at the club, rather than Arteta.

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Very confused at this move from Unai’s part. Surely there’d be a bigger job opening up in La Liga soon.

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The Premier League is the best league in the world ™️

Maybe he wanted another go at his usual Seville, Villareal level club in England

Aston Villa are never gonna win the Europa league

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That is what they keep telling us.

I could have seen him maybe taking a run at the Atletico job. His sufferball style would probably play well with their fans.

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I get it. I don’t think he feels like he got a fair shake in the PL and I also don’t think he really sees clubs like Villarreal and Sevilla as being projects he can deal with for too many years. He won the EL with both clubs and then moved onto a more financially rewarding project.

He’s never been a success when leaving Spain so I guess that hangs over him.

I can see that. I think he’s walking into a weird squad though. He’s basically ended up with a version of the Ozil problem by having Coutinho on huge money and a long contract.

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I doubt Coutinho is a cunt though who tries to undermine him at every opportunity.
Hated the way people bummed him up for doing that shit.

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Emery has never proven he can outperform club expectation over a league campaign and 38 games, so I’m glad he wasn’t given that opportunity.

Yes he has an unreal cup record, but I want a manager that can give me hope that Arsenal can one day win the premier league again, Unai Emery wasn’t that man.

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i know Emery is probably gonna end up being sacked again, but i like him. His football isn’t the greatest etc but as a person i just like him, he just seems such a good bloke to me (obviously i could be wrong i dont know him in person) but he just seems a genuinely decent guy. I felt so bad for him how you heard stories of him being alone and players mocking him i dont feel even if his football took us nowhere that he deserved that as a man.

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Villa will probably win the EL before we do anything of note in Europe :grin: As long as we’re consistently back in the CL by then I can act like I don’t care at all.

Hold up. Do you not count winning the 22-23 EL as “anything of note”?