The Emery Problem- Arsenal was under the spell of a masterful magician named Arsene Wenger, for a period of two decades, which saw the French manager win endless accolades with the club. Though the initial part of the journey was free-flowing like much of his footballing style; the latter part of it was rough like an outing at Old Trafford in recent times.
However, one must not forget that apart from giving the club a lot to cherish, Wenger took a lot away from the club as well. No, this is not with regards to the money, love and fame that he got, but about some other virtues that are well-rooted into the origins of football.
When Wenger left, he left the club in a mess. This was not just with regards to the operational functions, but at a mental level as well. Patience was not a quality that the fans were too keen on anymore, as they had waited nearly a decade to rid the club of a redundant style of football.
The desperation for immediate results was the need of the day and it was not the time to be patient. The fans wanted a manager who would get the job done, irrespective of the price asked. However, a few key points that calmy slipped their minds, became the reason for an unwanted irony.
In the final years of Wenger at the Emirates, it was quite clear that the Tiki-Taka or passing football that he played, need modifications, adaptions and evolution. Even Pep Guardiola, who did it quite well at Barcelona, had made adjustments to his play, as he moved from Bayern Munich to Manchester City.
What The Emery Problem Actually Is?
However, no sooner did Emery start failing to produce such football, the fans started to turn on him. Result-bound opinions, along with distorted play (tactically), started to turn into unnecessary criticism. That was based on the fact that Emery had nothing Wenger-ish about him, while these same fans wanted “Wenger Out” when they had seen that his passing-style of football was no-good anymore.
The irony of this situation was rather huge. It had already been proven at fierce rivals Manchester United. Sacking manager-after-manager wasn’t the right way to go. The Red Devils had struggled hard in their pursuit to replace Sir Alex Ferguson. No matter how much they tried, the next one proved to be worse than before.
Even Solskjaer, who had started off really positively, turned out to be another muck in the long run since he got the permanent job. Then how were the fans certain that the “next one” would be any better?
Next, apart from Luis Enrique (who needs a good budget to spend), none of the better managers are available at present. Many don’t want the Arsenal job or some aren’t really attack-minded. The likes of Massimiliano Allegri, Jose Mourinho and others are all defensive. Apart from that, many of the other managers have never managed in the Premier League before. Bringing them in could be like an Emery 2.0.
What The Sacking Of Unai Emery Makes No Sense At Present?
To add to that, the cost of sacking the Spaniard comes to a total cost of around £15.5m (including his entire staff leaving). This means that it will be a huge loss for the club. They will surely not want to bear it, as it is. The Kroenkes and the club management have already spent around £60m this summer. Many of the payments are to be made in installments and post-dated payments.
The signings of Nicolas Pepe and William Saliba have not been paid in full yet. There are still payments that need to be made for those deals. Due to this, sacking is surely out of the question as well. It doesn’t really matter whether the fans want it or not. It is not feasible from a business point of view.
With that being said, the only solution for the fans at present is to keep cheering the team on. Hope that the right results come their way. Hoping that the club sacks Emery or raising a voice against him, will not have any impact with such a huge sum of money at stake.
The best option from a business point of view for the club will be to let him leave at the end of the season. They should not extend his contract for a third year (as per the reports). That way, they will not have to pay him anything more than what he will have earned. The Gooners can now keep crying in misery or support the team with pride. Emery will march on towards the game against Crystal Palace.
