Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery breaks silence on Mike Arteta’s appointment

Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery breaks silence on Mike Arteta’s appointment

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:45 PM

- Emery broke his silence in a candid radio interview where he explained what went wrong with his Arsenal side

- He also spoke on his fellow Spaniard Mike Arteta’s appointment as he endorsed the former Arsenal man

- Arteta takes over an Arsenal side with their worst run of form in years

Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery has broken his silence on the appointment of Mikel Arteta as the new Gunners boss.

Emery appeared on BBC in his first ever interview since he was dismissed after a torrid winless run of games which ultimately earned him the sack.

Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery break silence on Mike Arteta’s appointment
Emery was dismissed from the Arsenal job in November. Photo: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images

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According to Emery, Arteta made a bold risk in leaving Manchester City where he was Guardiola’s assistant.

Emery also exhibited some class by backing Arteta to actually succeed at the Emirates since he has been there before as a player.

As TUKO.co.ke reported, 37-year old Arteta was finally unveiled as Arsenal boss on Friday, December 20, after being heavily linked with the job earlier in the week.

"He has been at Arsenal before, he's been in the Premier League and he has been working with Pep Guardiola. I do believe this is a good decision and I would also like it to be a good decision." Emery spoke to BBC Sport's Guillem Balague.

Emery, who was appointed in the summer of 2018, also admitted he was under fairly less pressure when he first took over from Wenger as expectations were not that heightened.

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“The truth is that in the first year I was very pleased and the only thing left for me to do was to put the rubber stamp on the season with a win in the final of the Europa League. In the knockout stages we looked powerful,” he went on.

Arsenal went on to the Europa League final in the 2018/2019 season and Emery revealed the journey to the final somehow cost them some Premier League focus.

The Gunners ultimately finished fifth last season on 70 points, missing out on Champions League slots to Spurs who had 71 points.

In the candid interview, Emery also openly spoke on his sack where he explained where things ultimately started to go wrong.

Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery break silence on Mike Arteta’s appointment
Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery has broken his silence on the appointment of Mikel Arteta as the new Gunners boss. Photo: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images

According to the Spaniard, the season started well and with a lot of optimism but things began to fall off after the second international break.

“I remember we had one month... At one of the international breaks we were third, and then in the first game after we came back, the frustrations from bad results were beginning to make us worse for the following matches. We were losing confidence, and it's also true to say we were losing a bit of stability,”

Emery explained that he tried several solutions but the results still wouldn’t come and the inevitable soon took place.

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Rene Otinga photo
Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.
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