Earlier this morning it was announced that Arsenal had sacked their manager, Unai Emery, after just under a year and a half in the role. It has been announced that former star Freddie Ljungberg will be taking control as caretaker manager while the club begin their search for a replacement – early reports are linking Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo to the job.
It is no surprise that Arsenal have parted ways with their manager, in fact the only surprise being that it has taken this long, you can find our most recent take on that one here.
At the time of his appointment, Emery seemed to come from nowhere to claim the role, as Mikel Arteta was heavily linked with the job for weeks before his fellow Spaniard swept in to take the job. However it didn’t take long for fans and pundits to realise that this was far from a match made in heaven.
Unai Emery hasn’t done much
After not only failing to finish in the top four last season, but also scoring less points than Arsene Wenger during his last season at the Emirates, Emery faced a stiff task coming into this season, spending more than £130 million in a bid to make it back to the Champions League, however after a horrific start to the season, many wouldn’t be surprised to see Arsenal finish outside of the top six.
Without a win in their last seven games, the worst run the club has endured since February 1992, many were surprised that the former Sevilla boss wasn’t fired following the poor display against Southampton this past weekend, though the writing was most certainly on the wall for Emery at that point, the loss to Eintracht Frankfurt last night was simply the killing blow.
Who will replace Emery?
Eyes will now begin to turn to the search for a new manager to come in and take control of this massively under performing squad, though at this point, I’d be surprised if any manager could turn this team around immediately. The issues facing Arsenal seem to run far deeper than the manager, with the Granit Xhaka debacle providing an example. There is a disconnect between the club and fans which makes turning things around for this club far more difficult than they would be otherwise.
According to Sky Bet, Max Allegri is currently the favourite to take the vacant role at Arsenal, with current caretaker Freddie Ljungberg coming in second (despite not having managed a game for the club as of yet) and as mentioned above, Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo is also a top target.
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