Three reasons why Arsenal should not sack Unai Emery

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The #WengerOut hashtag became synonymous with any Arsenal defeat during the latter stages of Arsene Wenger’s reign as manager and it will have been disconcerting for his replacement, Unai Emery, to see #EmeryOut trending on Twitter in the wake of the Gunners’ humiliating Europa League defeat to BATE Borisov.

The Gunners were utterly abject during the course of their 1-0 loss in Belarus and plenty of Arsenal fans on social media were calling for Emery to be sacked despite the Spaniard only being at the helm for less than nine months.

We take a look at whether Arsenal are progressing under the former PSG boss…

Points Tally And Cup Competitions

Arsenal won the last of their Premier League titles in 2004 and silverware was hard to come by, with four FA Cups, a runner-up effort in the 2006 Champions League and a run to the semi-finals of the Europa League the best that Wenger could muster in his final 14 years at the club.

In truth, Arsenal have been on the wane since they were beaten to the title by Chelsea in 2005 as they have finished in the top-six on thirteen occasions but managed better than third place only once in that time.

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The Gunners finished runners up to Leicester City during a quite bonkers 2015/16 campaign and while the North London outfit stood still, their nearest rivals – Manchester City, Liverpool, and to varying extents Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United – have either spent huge amounts of money to progress or given a new manager time to build a long-term project.

Arsenal stuck with Wenger for too long and their own rebuilding only began last summer.

Emery’s plan started nicely enough with a 22-match unbeaten run, but Arsenal have won only six of their next fourteen games, including domestic cup exits at the hands of Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and Manchester United in the FA Cup, as well as Thursday’s humiliating Europa League loss at BATE.

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The defeat in Belarus was truly dreadful but Emery must be given time. It is clear he wants to ship Mesut Ozil out and stamp his own personality on this team. Arsenal are five points better off in the Premier League than they were this time last season, which is hardly overwhelming progress but Emery cannot be judged on nine months.

                                                                                          Away Day Woes
In truth, Ozil is the epitome of Arsenal’s problems in recent years. A flash, flat-track bully who is happy to sparkle when the sun shines, but nowhere to be seen when it comes to digging in and grafting for a result. Ozil has now missed 100 games of a possible 314 he could have played during his time at Arsenal.

The Gunners, much like Ozil, don’t travel well. In 2016/17, Arsenal won nine of their 19 away league games. In 2017/18 they won just four and this season they have won only five – all against bottom-half opposition.

                                                                                   ‘Big Six’ Problems
Those travel problems extend to their difficulties when playing fellow members of the Premier League’s traditional ‘Big Six’. Since defeating Manchester City 2-0 at The Etihad on 18 January 2015, Arsenal have failed to win an away game at any of Liverpool, City, Chelsea, United or Tottenham – drawing seven and losing 14.

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It is clear that this Arsenal side needs characters and players who are used to going toe-to-toe with the very best. In Ozil, and to a lesser extent Ramsey, Emery has identified a player who fails to rise to the occasion. Instead, he would rather put his faith in youth like Lucas Torreira and Mateo Guendouzi. It is a risk but he must be given the chance to do things is own way as it is clear that Ozil is not the future of Arsenal Football Club.

Furthermore, Emery inherited a quite woeful defence and he will need to be given at least two more transfer windows to build his own squad. He inherited a group of players seemingly in decline and he must be given time to turn things around. Whether Arsenal fans on social media are willing to show such patience remains to be seen.

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