View from Spain: Passionate and pragmatic Emery offers a stark contrast to departing Arsene Wenger
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Updated 24/05/2018 at 14:28 GMT
With Unai Emery set to be appointed Arsenal manager we asked Eurosport Spain’s Jorge Odras for his thoughts on the new man at the Emirates…
Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish headcoach Unai Emery reacts during the French L1 football match between Caen (SMC) and Paris (PSG) on May 19, 2018, at the Michel d'Ornano stadium, in Caen, northwestern France.
Image credit: Getty Images
Whilst it has yet to be confirmed, Arsenal’s move for Emery caught everyone by surprise, with former Gunners captain Mikel Arteta previously expected to take over from Arsene Wenger.
However, Arsenal briefed journalists that they were blown away by Emery’s attention to detail whilst critics said the club have gone with a safer bet.
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Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish headcoach Unai Emery reacts during the French L1 football match between Caen (SMC) and Paris (PSG) on May 19, 2018, at the Michel d'Ornano stadium, in Caen, northwestern France.
Image credit: Getty Images
Jorge told us that in Spain they too were surprised by the news and they worry about the pressure of being the manager to take over from Wenger.
“It has been a big surprise for us with it being Unai Emery in Arsenal’s dugout because we thought Mikel Arteta would be the coach selected.
“In our opinion, it will be a very difficult challenge for him (maybe as difficult as being PSG coach) because being the coach after the ‘Arsene Wenger Era’ is a very important moment in Arsenal's history.”
So what will Emery bring to Arsenal? According to Jorge he will be very different for both the fans and the players.
“It will be usual to compare Emery with Wenger but they are two very different coaches. Wenger is calmer on the bench and Unai Emery is pure passion in the style of Diego Simeone.
He’s [Emery] a very passionate coach, who loves the tactical aspect and has a very good psychology with players.
“Emery said in the past ‘I am passionate about collective play, defensive seriousness and collective harmony to attack’. He usually likes playing with players who take the ball and play with possession but, when the match is different, his teams have a very good defensive structure.”
However, that pragmatism could be one of his biggest drawbacks as he historically struggled against the bigger sides in Spain. Arsenal have traditionally done well against the rest of the big six at home but their record away has been very poor. Jorge highlighted Emery’s big-game record as a potential problem.
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Sevilla coach Unai Emery celebrates with the trophy after winning the Europa League Final
Image credit: Reuters
“As a weakness, we think he’s a little bit conservative against big teams. His results in Spain against Real, Barcelona or Atletico have not been very good.”
As Jorge points out another concern for Arsenal fans may be that his main successes came in Spain rather than abroad.
“He had good years in Valencia (qualifying them for UCL three years in a row) and in Sevilla (three UEFA Europa Leagues in a row), but he had not very good results out of Spain (six months and fired in Russia and the experience in PSG).”
So, what do you think? Let us know in the comments below...
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