Wenger’s Arsenal became lazy and decadent.
The team was no longest competitive, so they lost too many away games. Incredibly, his gutless outfit looked like becoming the only team in the top four English divisions to not get a league point away from home in 2018.
Not only could Arsenal not win away from home, they couldn’t even draw.
But on the last day they surprised us all by winning 1-0 at Huddersfield.
The difference between an Arsenal home performance and an Arsenal away performance was often huge.
That’s why Wenger was sacked and that’s why Unai Emery has been hired.
Emery got the job because he knows how to rebuild and make the team competitive again. I’m sure he’ll tighten up the defence and start keeping clean sheets in September-October.
He says, “It’s very important for the club, after two years outside the Champions League, to work to be the best team in the Premier League and also in the world.”
Being a corporate lawyer by training, Ivan Gazidis is very careful about anything he says in public and ANR rarely quotes him for that reason.
On Wednesday, he endorsed the unanimous decision of the board.
He said, “Unai has an outstanding track record of success throughout his career, has developed some of the best young talents in Europe and plays an exciting, progressive style of football that fits Arsenal perfectly. His hard-working and passionate approach and his sense of values on and off the pitch make him the ideal person to take us forward.
“We conducted a confidential, wide-ranging and rigorous search involving extensive background references, data and video analysis, and personal meetings with all the candidates we shortlisted. All were interested in the position and we were unanimous in our choice of Unai to drive the next chapter of our history.”
That is the club’s official line.
Right now, we’re all ready for a new era. People are excited but they don’t expect miracles overnight.
Emery likes a compact shape with pressing: win the ball, keep it, move it,win it back again when you lose it. The process will be incremental, so big improvements and consistency will take six months.
This new manager might let the players shout at each other and may even allow them to shoot from 25 yards in training.
When does the fixture list come out? I can’t wait.
And if the first three months are a bumpy ride, so what?
The fans are not stupid. It’s a catch-up process.
Spurs and Liverpool were far superior to Arsenal last season and supporters realise that their club has begun a period of transition.