There were promising signs for Unai Emery after his first match as Arsenal manager
Photo: Comons wikipedia
Evaluating Emery’s first game
by Jimmy Whitehead
Unai Emery’s Premier League debut started on Sunday 12th August, the first game at the Emirates Stadium with anyone in the home dugout other than Arsene Wenger for many years. It was a big ask for the new manager as the first test was against Manchester City last season’s champions. Debuts do not frankly come any harder than that.
Unfortunately, the result didn’t reach the expectations of the Arsenal manager as goals from Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva saw a convincing win for the blue side of Manchester. The Sky Blues looked to start where they left off and largely succeeded. The first goal had shades of the old Arsenal with opposing players running past the holding midfielders and no strong challenges made. The second goal was a lovely pull back by Bernard Mendy for Bernardo Silva to hammer in the back of the net.
New Signings
Not many of Arsenal’s new signings featured in the opening game’s starting XI. Central defender Sokratis had a solid game despite the result and Matteo Guendouzi was a starter in the holding role. Guendouzi who was bought from French Second Division team Lorient in the summer, had a surprise call up to the first XI. The French under-20 international has received praise from many critics but looked overwhelmed throughout the first half of the game.
As the game evolved Guendouzi eventually did settle into the game, producing a few good through balls to break the Sky Blues defence once another new signing Uruguayan Lucas Torreira made an appearance for the last 20 minutes.
Torriera who was expected to start seemed to give Arsenal a stability that the team have needed for a few years. From the little sample size, it looks like he will be an asset in a red shirt. Swiss captain Stephan Lichsteiner who is normally a right-back, came on to replace the injured left-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles. The World Cup showed how solid he is but the injury to the youngster is an unwanted problem for Emery.
There were a few question marks about why some of the new signings weren’t featured. The main subject of these surrounded the goalkeeping issue, Leno the new signing or incumbent Petr Cech. The Gunners had bought in German goalkeeper Bernd Leno from Leverkusen over the summer. The answer for this game was Cech. It may not be a lock-in though, and a few shaky moments for the Czech shot stopper could open the door for Leno.
Nerves playing out from the back
Although it’s difficult to implement a style against a team like Manchester City, you could see that Emery is trying to give Arsenal a certain style. The Gunners were pressing up the pitch at least until the first goal and, sometimes alarmingly, looked to play out from the back whenever they could. This was hazardous however against a team like Manchester City because of the way the visitors press.
Cech didn’t seem comfortable playing from the back but this could because it’s a new style for the goalkeeper which could be Leno’s advantage. If they mix it up with a couple of long balls from goal kicks then this style could be more positive and less predictable. Variety may be the spice of not giving the ball away in your own third.
Up front, Arsenal struggled for most of the first half. It wasn’t until near the interval when centre-forward Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang was through on goal from a long goal kick. Perhaps it’s telling that their best chance came from a hoofed clearance from the back. It will be interesting to see how they deal with goal kicks and keeper distribution at Stamford Bridge next week.
Lacazette impact
The instant impact of Andre Lacazette in the game was noticeable. The Frenchman replaced Aaron Ramsey in the 55th minute and his impact was immediate. Straight away, he was creating chances for the Gunners in a change which moved Aubemeyang to the left wing where the Gabonese player was more disruptive and influential.
Although the Gunners didn’t score, the team created a few chances in the game with some positive play leading up to a few of them. If the North London club can create chances against a team like Manchester City, then the team should be able to ride the storm.
Final Verdict
The evidence on the first game is that Emery is trying to bring in his style to the Gunners although the same defensive frailties are present with Granit Xhaka and the full backs.
It is always difficult to judge the team on the first game, especially after a major tournament that finished less than a month ago. There is promise within the team and if it was against another club we might be praising the new style. It will take time.
The Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola didn’t win the League his first season in charge, then last year his Manchester City side broke the record for points in the Premier League last season. If the fans and the board give Emery the time he needs, the team can be back to winning ways and the right end of the table.
With the team having two huge games to begin the season against Manchester City and Chelsea and losing the first, they are under big pressure to produce in next week’s match.
Their West London rivals had a convincing 3-0 win against Huddersfield Town in their first game. Arsenal are hoping to stop Chelsea’s momentum going into the next game and get the new boss his first win.
