Arsenal manager Unai Emery has opened up on how he has improved players at the club since taking over at the Emirates pointing out to Granit Xhaka as one of the most notable players.
Emery took over from Arsene Wenger in July and has returned the club to title contenders, going in an 11-game unbeaten run. Emery lifted the lid in a lengthy interview on how he has improved players at the club.
“I try to encourage the players to be more demanding. One of the first things we looked at with the players was the idea of training for training’s sake, training to compete and training to win. Those are three different steps and very often players do them subconsciously.
“We needed to suppress the idea of training for training’s sake, boost the focus on training to compete and – most of all – train to win. Training to win is the final competitive step, and that was what was most required in terms of individual development and the development of the team.
“You want development and improvement from all players. Obviously, when you have a squad of 25, you’re not going to be able to achieve that with all of them because you’re not able to give all of them the consistency of opportunity so that they all move in the same direction.
“That said, you need to get the best out of the individual players in training and then implement that in the matches. It’s more noticeable with some players because they have the capacity to do so, and perhaps because they’ve also found new impetus.
“The players that play the most are the ones that seem to have the most scope for development, but I’m convinced that they all have the ability to develop.
“In the case of Xhaka, I knew him before. The first thing was to find his best position and characteristics, but he also wants to improve and that’s the first step – that the players want it.
