Manchester, Dec 8: Sitting atop the Premier League, Arsenal can rightly be happy with its direction of travel under manager Mikel Arteta.
But, it is fair to ask whether the London club acted too quickly when it fired Arteta’s predecessor Unai Emery in 2019 after 18 months in charge.
Emery has made Aston Villa the surprise package of the season – leading it to third place ahead of Saturday’s showdown in Birmingham against his former club. Villa trails Arsenal by four points.“We have to be excited but we need to keep the balance,” Emery said after beating defending champions Manchester City 1-0 on Wednesday.“For now, we have to be focused on Arsenal on Saturday. I want us to be a team with a winning mentality and be balanced.” Villa’s rise comes after it was under threat of relegation before hiring Emery in October 2022 to replace Steven Gerrard.The turnaround is in keeping with the Spaniard’s record at many of the clubs he has coached, with Arsenal being a notable exception.
Victory against last season’s treble winners was the latest evidence of Emery’s impressive work. He led Villa into Europe last term and now has the team bidding for a Champions League spot – possibly more.
Villa was a worthy winner against Pep Guardiola’s City, having dominated the chances and equalled a club record 14-straight victories at home.“We are aware of where we are in the table. But, behind us is Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham and it is going to be very difficult,” Emery said.Emery had succeeded longtime manager Arsene Wenger at Arsenal but was fired after a seven-game winless run left it eighth in the standings. Arsenal had also finished runner-up in the Europa League.
Arsenal said at the time that its decision to part ways with Emery was “due to results and performances not being at the level required.” It will never be known if he could have turned the club’s fortunes around had he been given more time to implement his plans.
He had, after all, led Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title in his previous role and won the Europa League on three occasions with Sevilla. (AP)
