Unai Emery Takes Shot at Arsene Wenger for Club Neglect

Unai critical of Wenger's approach | Credit Getty

Unai Emery has taken a soft swipe at Arsene Wenger for what he calls a neglect of the defensive areas at Arsenal towards the end of his reign.

Wenger as much as he is being placed high within the Arsenal ranks dented his reputation by staying too long at the club. Even at a time when it seemed clear that everyone had got fed up and visibly aired out their views, the 69-year-old remain unperturbed.

In the opinion of many, the club suffered as a result of his rigid policies which did not meet up to modern day trends of the game of football. That did not help the club who haven't laid hands on the Premier League trophy since the Invincibles era of 203/04.

Now that he is gone and Emery has taken charge of the North-London club, a lot of changes have been observed. The side's defence even though not the best at the moment has stepped up and the approach to games by players have improved judging by what we have seen so far since his arrival.

The Spanish manager's ways are highly different from that of his predecessor as we all know, so his response when asked to say something about the one he replaced is not a surprising one.

"Before Wenger came, Arsenal celebrated 1-0 and were based on defensive solidity", the former Paris Saint Germain boss told Marca.

 ‘With Arsene, joy came from attacking, with players of good standing. And the perfect combination was the Invincibles.

‘But over time, only technical quality and offensive freedom were taken care of, losing the defensive structure. ‘What I want is to unite both essences and be more competitive. Arsenal was in decline. We had to stop it and start climbing.’

Unai Emery has not lost any game since opening losses to Manchester City and Chelsea. His unbeaten tally now stands at sixteen games in all competitions. That could be extended when Arsenal face Bournemouth this weekend.