Mikel Arteta has completely revolutionised the way in which Arsenal play football and now they’re within touching distance of their first Premier League title since the start of this century.
However, to bring in Arteta was a risk from Arsenal’s perspective. He had no experience managing at this magnitude, despite learning from Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in an assistant role. The Gunners also had to let go of a very talented manager in order to make the switch possible.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who is currently out on loan to Southampton, thinks that Unai Emery should’ve been given more time at the Emirates Stadium. Considering he’s technically still playing under Mikel Arteta, that’s pretty awkward.
That’s according to The Athletic, who Maitland-Niles spoke to about his former boss Emery. In the interview, Emery was described by the Southampton loanee as a great manager and he said Arsenal should’ve given the boss more time to prove his worth.
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In truth, Emery was brought into the club at a hard time. Despite some very good moments as Arsenal boss and developing some of the great players we see today (Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to name a few), Emery didn’t quite improve them the way the club would’ve liked.
Still, that’s all in the past now and Emery’s departure has actually proven beneficial for all parties. He now manages at Aston Villa where he’s got them playing an exceptional brand of football and the fans and players are certainly on his side.
For the Gunners, they won’t exactly look back and think what if. It’s understandable, given Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ big role under Emery which simply isn’t replicated under Arteta but they’re two different managers with different tactical systems. AMN doesn’t fit into Arteta’s system.
Do you think that Arsenal should’ve given more time to Unai Emery?