Arsenal

Arsenal legend slams Unai Emery for lack of structure

By Leo Nieboer | 16 November 2019

Former Arsenal winger Perry Groves hits out at Unai Emery for failing to engender a proper structure since becoming manager at the Emirates.

Former Arsenal winger Perry Groves has hit out at Unai Emery for failing to engender a proper structure since becoming manager at the Emirates.

The Spaniard is under heavy pressure following a run of games that has seen Arsenal manage just one win from six outings.

Moreover, Emery's man-management has specifically come under question, especially with regard to the Granit Xhaka situation and the manager's continued omission of Mesut Ozil.

Reflecting on Emery in an interview with talkSPORT, Groves said: "What has happened is he's got rid of the players he didn't want, like the [Nacho] Monreals, the Petr Cechs, and Aaron Ramseys but then the players that have been brought in, whether it's by him or the sporting director, they have actually got steadily worse.

"That intensity has got less and less and less with a team that he is supposed to be constructing. The thing from watching from the outside is there doesn't seem to be a desire to do the horrible stuff.

"The thing with the Arsenal situation with Unai Emery is, if you watch them against Leicester, and I've been watching Arsenal a lot this year, there is no structure. There doesn't seem to be any philosophy. Unai Emery doesn't seem to know his best formation, he doesn't seem to know what players to play in that formation and I think the players have lost confidence in him. I don't think the players are getting him at the minute."

Despite the external pressure on Emery, Arsenal's hierarchy have publicly insisted that the 48-year-old's position is not under threat.

It has been claimed that Arsenal view the next six games - against fairly modest opponents - as a chance for Emery to turn things around.