Upon Unai Emery’s brilliant success at Aston Villa, questions are now naturally being raised over why he failed to succeed at Arsenal.
And in an extended report by The Athletic, it has now been revealed that Emery has made an admission to his close friends regarding his time in North London.
Emery did face an almost impossible task succeeding Arsene Wenger, and although his time is now remembered fairly poorly, he did have some good moments also.
The manager was key in establishing young players such as Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli into the first team.
However, looking back on his time, Emery has now admitted to his friends that he was simply too focused on football.
And via this report, the Spaniard now admits that he should have given more attention to the other aspects of life at Arsenal, where politics are rife and diplomacy are key.
And that does now seem an accurate reflection.
Unai Emery now admits he failed to consider the bigger picture at Arsenal
Amid all of the speculation over his future during tough periods, Emery seemed relaxed and unaware of the growing pressure.
Something that could prove a strength in some situations, rather at Arsenal it just led to a surprise when he was eventually sacked.
It was an incredibly tough job at the time, and Emery wasn’t quite the right fit.
However, the manager did help install some foundations for Mikel Arteta’s success today.
Although Arteta has changed a ton since he’s arrived, he must appreciate the role Emery played in developing some young players who are now world class.
Bukayo Saka was introduced to the first team incredibly early on, a player who is now vital to any future success.
And incidentally, Saka was recently delighted to see another Arsenal youngster succeeding out on loan.
It’s often considered that Unai Emery failed at Arsenal, especially when pitched against his time at Aston Villa.
But it was perhaps a position that was never going to be long-term, whoever replaced Arsene Wenger was going to struggle.
However, Emery will still have a legacy at Arsenal, a manager who stood brave by his footballing beliefs, even if they did lead to his exit.
