Unai Emery is a ‘special’ manager but he cannot cope with big-name players or big egos, according to Real Madrid great Michel Salgado.
The Gunners secured a valuable 2-0 victory over top-four rivals Manchester United on Sunday, rising into the Champions League spots with just eight games remaining this season.
That was a result that will go down as one of the best under Emery, like the victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium earlier this season, but there is certainly still work to do.
Emery inherited a squad in need of an upheaval and a new identity, which the former Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain boss has worked hard to craft as he seeks to hand Arsenal a return back to Europe’s elite competition.
Just three points shy of last season’s overall tally in the Premier League, Emery has certainly overseen improvements but Salgado has identified one key area where he needs to improve.
“He’s a special manager like [Rafa] Benitez. He needs a squad with no big names, with no big egos. He cannot handle big egos,” he told Stadium. “He needs a squad with teamwork players, players that he can shape, that he can develop, that he can get into his system.
“Then if he’s got depth in his squad and the right players to work for him during the season and they follow him and are ready for it, then he can get results like he did in Sevilla, winning three Europa Leagues back-to-back because the players were ready for him.
“They were great players. But no big egos, no big names. I think he needs to learn how to deal with egos. He’s still learning.
“I know in PSG it was difficult for him because those were really big egos. I think, here, the squad is quite big for him.”
Emery has often struggled to find a role for Mesut Ozil in his side this season, leading to suggestions of a rift between the pair that would provide evidence to Salgado’s claim, but he played a pivotal role in the recent victory over United.