Unai Emery’s time as the Arsenal head coach was nothing short of a disaster.
The Spaniard was given the job after Arsene Wenger’s departure in 2018. It was always going to be difficult to replace the legendary Frenchman, and Emery proved that he was not up to the mark.
After losing his job in 2019, Emery and Arsenal fans haven’t had the best of relationships, but Roy Keane still believes the former Gunners boss will look back at his time at the Emirates positively.
When did you realise that Unai Emery wouldn’t cut it at Arsenal?
Roy Keane thinks Unai Emery would say his Arsenal spell was ‘fantastic’ for him
Unai Emery never managed to win over Arsenal fans.
The current Aston Villa boss led the Gunners to the Europa League final in his debut season, but they were battered by Chelsea in Baku.
In the Premier League, Emery’s Arsenal blew Champions League qualification in embarrassing fashion. His second season got off to a terrible start, and he was deservedly shown the door.
Since then, Emery has got the better of the Gunners on a few occasions, and every Arsenal fan has felt that he has no love for his former side anymore.
However, Keane thinks the Spaniard will be glad that his Arsenal chapter happened.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, he said: “I think if you spoke to him (Emery) now, he’d be going: ‘Oh, that Arsenal experience was fantastic for me. It didn’t work out, but I learned a lot.’
“He knows what he has and maybe didn’t have at Arsenal and has gone “I’ll only go to a job where I have my people around me upstairs”, because that’s where he comes alive.
“He’s probably in charge of everything at Villa, but it’s very hard to get that control at Arsenal or Manchester United. There’s too much stuff going on upstairs, but he’s got it at Villa, and he had that obviously in Spain.
“Maybe that’s his environment, and he goes: ‘This is where I’m comfortable’.”
Be honest. Did Unai Emery deserve more time at Arsenal or was he rightly sacked?
Unai Emery is not good enough to manage a top club like Arsenal
Some pundits have put Emery on a pedestal since he left Arsenal.
The former Sevilla boss did a brilliant job at Villarreal and has been even better at Aston Villa since he replaced Steven Gerrard there.
Emery definitely deserves praise for that, but the people who are saying he was sacked too soon at Arsenal or that he would do a better job than Mikel Arteta have no idea what they’re talking about.
Despite the trophies at PSG, not many fans of the French club look back at Emery’s time with fondness. The same is the case at Arsenal, and we are convinced it will happen if he moves to a massive club in the future.
Emery is at his best at clubs like Villarreal, Sevilla or Aston Villa, where the expectations aren’t massive, and his style of play is accepted. That will never be the case at clubs of the size of Arsenal.
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