Sokratis Papastathopoulos says one former Arsenal man was treated so badly by the club when he was there

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Sokratis Papastathopoulos spent two-and-a-half years at Arsenal.

The Greek defender joined the club from Borussia Dortmund in 2018, the summer after Arsene Wenger left his role as Arsenal’s manager.

Unai Emery was given the job then, and Sokratis played 54 games under the Spaniard. He was very good early on in his Arsenal career and produced several exceptional performances.

But, the 18 months before Sokratis left Arsenal were not great at all, and the 36-year-old has revealed one thing that happened that he didn’t particularly like.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos says Arsenal treated Unai Emery badly

Arsenal took their time to find a new manager after Wenger announced that he was leaving.

The legendary Frenchman was at the helm for over two decades, and he is the reason why the Gunners are such a big brand across the globe today.

But, at the end of the 2017/18 season, it was decided that Wenger would leave the club, and Emery became the chosen one.

The Spaniard led Arsenal to the Europa League final in his debut season, but the North Londoners suffered a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea there.

Arsenal also missed out on a place in the top four due to a terrible end to the campaign.

Despite that, the club stuck with the Spanish tactician, but his second season was an absolute disaster. Emery was shown the door by Arsenal just three months into the 2019/20 season.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who was in the squad then, has now claimed that Arsenal’s treatment of Emery was bad and he should’ve been given more time.

When asked if Arsenal would’ve been in a better place if Emery wasn’t the one to replace Wenger, Sokratis told England365: “I can’t know this, but I think Emery is a very good coach, without that meaning that Mikel Arteta is not equally good. I understood that from his first days, after all, at Arsenal.

“But the way the club treated Emery was not good. Emery deserved much better treatment. Because when he left, the team was in the top six. There was no patience.”

READ MORE: Arsene Wenger responds when asked if Arsenal treated Unai Emery unfairly

How the Premier League table looked when Arsenal sacked Unai Emery

A lot has been said about Arsenal’s treatment of Emery over the last few years.

There have been many suggestions that the Gunners jumped the gun and should’ve been more patient, but that is not right at all.

Emery was shown the door after going seven games without a win, the worst run at Arsenal since 1992, and he had managed just four wins in 13 Premier League games as well.

Apart from being eighth in the table, the atmosphere at the Emirates became toxic, the style of football was really poor, and there was a big disconnect between the club and the fan base.

Arsenal had to take some action, and they decided to part ways with Emery, which was definitely the right thing to do at the time.

Emery is a top-class manager, and he has been showing that since his departure from Arsenal. But, it did not work out for him in North London, and he can’t have any complaints about his sacking.