Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Arsenal news: Will Unai Emery be in charge long-term? Pundit raises concerns
ARSENAL boss Unai Emery may not be the man who completely fixes the Gunners’ problems on the pitch.
That is the opinion of ESPN FC pundit and former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley.
Emery replaced Arsene Wenger at Arsenal after the Frenchman left the club at the end of last season.
Emery’s first competitive game in charge ended in a 2-0 defeat to last season’s champions Manchester City on Sunday.
Burley says the new-look Arsenal side should be judged against other teams in the Premier League.
It’s not fixed in one window. So it’s a long-term project for sure. Whether Emery’s the man long term, I don’t know
But he admits they need more than one transfer window to turn it around and doubts if Emery will be the man to do it long term.
“I think we are going to have to judge Arsenal against other teams,” Burley said.
“There’s not a chance you’re going to fix their problems and their weaknesses in one transfer window. You’re just not going to do it.
“They’re going to have to give him time, there’s no doubt about that.
“It’s not fixed in one window. So it’s a long-term project for sure.
“Whether Emery’s the man long term, I don’t know.”
Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce has criticised Emery’s style of play against City, where it was clear he instructed his players to play out from the back.
“Don’t ask somebody to do against Manchester City what you shouldn’t do,” Allardyce told talkSPORT.
“You shouldn’t play out like that against Manchester City.
“What do Manchester City do? They press, press, press so why do you try and play out when they press, press, press?
“You cannot just force ‘the only way to play is this way in this country’.
“We are getting obsessed with this stupid ‘let’s play out from the back, split the centre halves either side of the 18-yard box and go and play from there’."
Arsenal's next Premier League outing is against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this Saturday.