49,419 tickets were sold for Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt. In truth, the Emirates was about half full, if that, as those who turned up on Thursday night witnessed Unai Emery’s final game as Gunners boss, bringing to an end an 18-month reign that, ultimately, flattered to deceive. At full time of the Europa League tie, influential pair Raul Sanllehi and Edu were seen charging towards the dressing room with the writing on the wall as the boos rained down in north London.
And so it wasn’t a huge shock that Arsenal confirmed Emery’s departure on Friday morning with the club mired on a seven-match winless run, eight points off the top-four and in danger of missing out on progression to the next round of the Europa League. Freddie Ljungberg takes over as interim boss and the first port of call is to rally the troops in time for Sunday’s trip to Norwich.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to fire up the Arsenal players as they seek a return to winning ways at Carrow Road. Fact is, Emery had lost the support of the dressing room in the weeks leading up to his dismissal as the Gunners put in lumbering performance after lumbering performance in the Premier League and Europa League. If the king of the Europa League couldn’t reign supreme in his bread and butter competition, then what hope was there for the Spaniard in the capital?
Even the backing of the board to sign David Luiz, Kieran Tierney, Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos in the summer, the latter on loan, was undermined by the exits of Laurent Koscielny, Petr Cech and Aaron Ramsey. Cech may have lost his place to Bernd Leno between the sticks, but Koscielny and Ramsey, who left for Bordeaux and Juventus, respectively, saw two key players depart for pastures new.
The arrival of trusted lieutenant Luiz from Chelsea, a player Emery knows well from their spell together at PSG, eased the Frenchman’s return to France, but even the Brazilian couldn’t help stop the rot at the Emirates. Indeed, no team in Europe’s top five leagues has committed more errors leading to an opposition goal than Arsenal (14) since the start of the 2018/19 season.
Arsenal: No team in Europe's top five leagues has committed more errors leading to an opposition goal than Arsenal (14) since the start of the 2018/19 season
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) November 29, 2019
For more team stats -- https://t.co/8amyfUDczo pic.twitter.com/glh3e4nSMB
A lack of work to improve the defensive side of the Gunners’ game also proved to be his downfall. Admittedly their 19 goals conceded is the same as London rivals Chelsea, but the latter’ 28 goals scored is 10 more than Arsenal, this despite Emery able to call upon the striking talents of Alexandre Lacazette, when fit, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and club-record arrival Pepe.
The fact that only promoted pair Aston Villa (18.5) and Norwich (17.4) are conceding more shots per game than Arsenal (16.8) speaks volumes, as does that Leno has made more saves (52) than any other Premier League goalkeeper. For a team of Arsenal’s stature, they shouldn’t be so weak defensively and had it not been for Leno’s shotstopping exploits, Arsenal would sit in a far more perilous position in the table. The soft underbelly was never strengthened and Emery paid the price for not rectifying a significant flaw.
Being the first to succeed Arsene Wenger was always going to be a monumental task, but Emery won 88 points in his 51 Premier League matches, the same the former earned in his final 51 matches at the Emirates helm, so if anything; Arsenal haven’t progressed, but rather, even if the points total is the same, regressed.
In what has been a week of change in north London, Arsenal are aware they now need to get their next appointment right or they run the risk of falling further behind those chasing a Champions League spot. Ljungberg may get the fans back on side, yet the club must avoid the long-term romantic appointment, similar to Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, if they are to progress in the way Emery spoke of when he was appointed last year.
The Spaniard wasn’t necessarily a bad appointment, but rather the wrong fit for the wrong club. He doesn’t have the elite tactical acumen that would’ve, in his own words, seen Arsenal become the “best team in the Premier League and also the world” and this worked against him in London. Either way, now was as good a time as any for Arsenal and Emery to separate with the festive period rapidly approaching and with the team in disarray, Ljungberg has his work cut out as the club seeks to end their winless run and haul themselves back into the reckoning for a top-four finish.
