Mikel Arteta replaced Unai Emery as Arsenal manager in 2019.
The Gunners were in absolute turmoil at the time. The results were awful, the style of play was almost unwatchable, and the atmosphere at the Emirates was extremely toxic.
Arsenal had no choice but to make a change, and Arteta has proved to be the perfect replacement for Emery in the red half of North London.
Rob Holding, however, believes the former Arsenal boss could be the reason why Arteta is still in the job.
When did you realise that Unai Emery wouldn’t cut it at Arsenal?
Rob Holding thinks Arsenal haven’t sacked Mikel Arteta because of Unai Emery
Holding was at Arsenal throughout Unai Emery’s tenure at the club.
The Englishman saw the transition from beautiful free-flowing football under Arsene Wenger to the defensive setup employed by the Spaniard when he took charge.
Despite that, the defender has claimed that he played his best football at Arsenal under Emery, and he also feels that the decision-makers at the club should’ve given him more time.
Furthermore, Holding believes that Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke realised that they made a mistake sacking Emery and learnt from it, which is why Mikel Arteta was given more time.
The former Gunners centre-back said on the Arsenal Vision podcast: “He’s [Emery] brilliant. I loved Unai. I had my best spell at Arsenal under Unai.
“I thought he was brilliant, and yeah, maybe he should have got a bit more time than what he got.
“But maybe they learned from that mistake with Arteta, and that’s why they gave Arteta more time, you know. So, it’s swings and roundabouts.”
READ MORE: What Arsenal fans were singing about Unai Emery before he left without shaking Mikel Arteta’s hand
Be honest. Did Unai Emery deserve more time at Arsenal or was he rightly sacked?
Rob Holding is wrong about both Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta
Holding clearly enjoyed playing under Emery, and his performances were pretty good as well. However, what the defender said after that is complete nonsense.
Emery is a great manager, and he has done a fantastic job since leaving Arsenal. However, his time at the Emirates was abysmal, and if anything, he should’ve been sacked sooner.
As for Arteta, everyone who watched his early years as the Arsenal manager without any bias could see what he was trying to do both on and off the pitch.
That is the reason why the owners stuck with him, and that has unsurprisingly proved to be the right decision.
That is why we think Holding couldn’t be more wrong with his comments about the two managers.
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