Unai Emery has admitted he had to rebuild Arsenal’s defensive shape which was in bad shape during Arsene Wenger’s reign.
Emery took over the mantle from the veteran manager who decided to leave the club after managing the North Londoners for a record breaking 22 years. Emery has been tasked to restore the glory at the Emirates Stadium and the start has been quite good for them.
The Gunners are currently unbeaten in 16 matches in all competition and Emery’s effort has paid rich dividends so far as they are currently three points adrift of the top four.
Wenger emphasised more on his attacking attributes as defence always looked vulnerable under his guidance. The French manager often got carried away with his side’s attacking brilliance but didn’t bother to plug the hole in his defensive organization.
Emery feels he had to work hard to restructure the defence at the club. “Before Wenger arrived, Arsenal celebrated the 1-0 wins and were based on defensive solidity.
“With Arsene, they became an attacking team, with players who were good on the ball, and the perfect combination came with The Invincibles [when an unbeaten Arsenal won the 2003-04 Premier League].
“But with time, you can only take care of technique and attacking freedom, losing your defensive structure. What I want to do is unite the two and become more competitive. Arsenal were falling. We had to stop that and start to lift them.
“These days, it’s very difficult for a coach to last 22 years. The chairs had to be moved in all sectors of the club. Not because of previous negligence, but to motivate everyone again — to shake it up, to sweep things under the carpet, to open the windows, all positive things.”
“We came to an Arsenal that hadn’t beaten any of the top six and, while we still haven’t done so yet, they also struggled to win away from home at all and we have already improved in that area,”
