Mitch Freeley

Unai Emery has now been confirmed as the new Arsenal manager. beIN SPORTS French football expert Matt Spiro has given his insight on Emery’s tenure on his former club PSG, and how the appointment of the 46-year old Spaniard and his fondness for coaching and micro-management make him the ideal appointment at the North London club. 

After such a long period at the club any coach coming in is bound to shake up things up. Emery’s emphasis on tactical drills will be the first thing to change at Arsenal. 

“Emery is a big step away from Wenger because he is a coach who places great emphasis on tactical work, setting aside considerable time on the training ground for tactical drills and preparing video analysis for individual players.”

Emery will be fitting into a more continental football structure when moving to Arsenal, and will be a head coach supported by head of recruitment Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi who is currently the head of football relations at the club. Spiro suggests that this managerial set-up will enable Emery to focus purely on training the side and managing the players on a day- to day basis. 

“The players will have less freedom on the pitch, and will be more ‘micro-managed’ than previously. While certain players like Ramsey, Iwobi Xhaka and the fullbacks should benefit, others like Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan may find the transition harder.” 

In attack, Emery has shown that he can manage attacking talent and Spiro believes that his more direct attacking style could be good news for strikers Alexandre Lacazette & Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who struck up a partnership towards the end of the season. 

“Emery will want Arsenal to play in a more direct style than under Wenger, springing forward quickly when possession is won. Lacazette and Aubameyang, in particular, should benefit from this change.”

The Gunners struggled defensively at times last season, particularly away from home only picking up one away victory during 2018 in the league. With Emery preferring to play with two defensive midfielders, Arsenal should in theory be more stable and balanced next season. 

“Arsenal should be better balanced and therefore stronger defensively as Emery works hard on positioning and looks to have a solid platform in his preferred 4-2-3-1, with two defensive midfielders.”

Now after being announced as Arsenal coach, the hard work will begin for the Spaniard who will set out to improve the fortunes of the Gunners starting from the training pitch.