In a staff event on Monday (via goal.com), Arsenal’s head of football Raul Sanllehi and managing director Vinai Venkatesham gave their full backing to Unai Emery but admitted that the club’s results need to improve if they are to secure a top 4 berth in the Premier League at the end of this campaign. Both Sanllehi and Venkatesham said (via goal.com), “We are as disappointed as everyone else with both our results and performances at this stage of the season.
“We share the frustration with our fans, Unai, players and all our staff as they are not at the level we want or expect.
“Things need to improve to meet our objectives for the season, and we firmly believe Unai is the right man for the job, together with the backroom team we have in place. We are all working intensively behind the scenes to turn things around and are confident we will.
“We never take our fantastic support for granted. We hope we can all stick together and get behind the team in this challenging period, as together we are stronger.”
Emery Set To Remain As The Gunners Manager For Now
This recent development will be a big boost for Emery as he will get some breathing room after a tough couple of months as the Gunners boss. However, it seems like most of the Arsenal supporters want the Spanish head coach to leave following a poor run of results in the English top-flight. The North London giants are winless in their last four league matches and currently, find themselves in sixth place, eight points behind fourth-placed, Manchester City.
It felt like Emery was living on borrowed time when his players got beat by Leicester City at the King Power Stadium by a 2-0 scoreline last weekend. However, the Arsenal hierarchy have pulled off a complete 360 and wants to back the manager hoping that he will be able to turn their fortunes around for the better after the international break.
Has The Spaniard Done Enough To Retain His Managerial Post?
Emery has taken charge of 76 matches for the Gunners, winning 43, drawing 14 and losing 19 of those games with a PPM (Points Per Match) of 1.88 (stats via transfermarkt). Arsene Wenger also had a similar record during his last days as the Arsenal boss. Therefore, the club’s loyal supporters have every right to complain about the 48-year-old’s shortcomings at the Emirates Stadium.
It feels like Emery is slowly losing his dressing room with players such as Lucas Torreira considering a move away from North London in search of a better working environment (via TuttoMercatoWeb).
Did The Arsenal Hierarchy Make The Right Call By Backing Emery?
The former Paris Saint-Germain boss needs to figure out a way to deal with all his current problems to hopefully get the best out of his Arsenal squad during the busy festive period when the matches come thick and fast in the Premier League.
With some winnable fixtures coming up against the likes of Southampton, Norwich City, Brighton and Hove Albion and West Ham United, Emery might just have enough options at his disposal to turn things around and survive the sack at North London.
