What Unai Emery said about Arsenal is humiliating for Mikel Arteta – there’s a clear decline 

Add as preferred source on Google

Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery gave Mikel Arteta something to think about after Aston Villa’s draw at the Emirates.

Arsenal drew 2-2 with Aston Villa despite being two goals ahead in the fixture, seeing the visitors claw the game back.

The draw stood for a lot more than just a point, as Arsenal dropped points from a winning position once more in the 2024/25 Premier League campaign.

It’s back to the drawing board for Arteta, who has a lot of work to do to ensure the Gunners don’t lose sight of the title race.

• READ MORE: Merino mistake and Gary Neville’s prediction comes true – Five things you missed from Arsenal v Aston Villa

Unai Emery’s assessment of Arsenal must alert Mikel Arteta

Arsenal are not as pungent as they were in seasons prior and it’s clear that Arteta has a squad depth problem to solve.

The Gunners desperately missed William Saliba against Villa, as the defender was ruled out due to injury.

Saliba is set to undergo a scan to determine the extent of his injury, which could have a significant impact on Arteta’s back four. 

It shouldn’t be this way, as the Arsenal manager has an array of defenders at his disposal however, depth in quality is a pressing issue.

Such was evident after the draw against Villa, as former Arsenal boss Unai Emery made a comment that must alert Arteta.

“At 2-0, it was very difficult. We never gave up and never thought that it was impossible,” Emery admitted before revealing what he told his squad at half-time.

“We were speaking before the match and at half-time about being resilient and that if we could score one goal we’d have possibilities.

“We showed this mentality, achieved one goal and continued to try to push for the draw.”

Emery and his players believed that one goal could rattle Arsenal enough to push for a result, which is exactly what happened in the space of eight minutes.

Such reflects poorly on Arteta and his players’ in-game management at this moment in time, portraying a stark change in opinion from outsiders who are looking at Arsenal’s strengths.

Emery comment highlights change in Arsenal’s defence

Emery and his team realised that there was a gap to exploit in the game, despite Arsenal possessing a two-goal lead at home.

That in itself is a concern, considering that Arsenal boast having one of the best defences in the league, but how much has really changed?

When glancing at the state of the table over the previous three seasons at the 22-game mark, it appears that very little has changed but the issue comes from game management. 

While the table doesn’t encourage catastrophic assessment, where points have been dropped does, as already Arsenal have dropped 12 points from winning positions in the league.

Last season, Arteta’s side only dropped eight in the entire campaign and have already lost four more after 22 games played this term, their worst in five years.

It’s concerning as the 2024/25 calendar is far from over, with Emery’s assessment and the figures indicating that something is going wrong for the Arsenal squad.