Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Arsenal news: Gunners told to follow Man Utd and Sir Alex Ferguson over Unai Emery
ARSENAL's board have been told to give Unai Emery sufficient time to get his methods across at the club.
Sam Allardyce slams Unai Emery after Manchester City clash
The Gunners have endured a tough start to life under the Spanish boss, who was appointed the successor to Arsene Wenger in the summer after the club legend ended a 22-year managerial reign.
Emery’s tactics - specifically playing out from the back and utilising a high-line defensively - have hindered more than helped Arsenal’s top-four ambitions so far this season.
They have suffered their worst start to a Premier League campaign with back-to-back defeats to rivals Manchester City and Chelsea.
Some, such as Sam Allardyce, have blasted Emery’s decision-making and questioned whether the ex-Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain tactician can implement his philosophy on this group of players.
But according to former Premier League defender Liam Rosenior, Arsenal must consider the time it took Sir Alex Ferguson to become a success at Manchester United and the abundance of silverware his two-decade reign yielded after a tricky start.
That’s with Arsenal widely expected to miss out on Champions League football again this season, with Emery’s initial task in north London reversing the decline of recent years with the club having missed on the top four in both of Wenger’s last two seasons.
But despite their disappointing results, former full-back Rosenior thinks that there have been positives to take from Arsenal’s two outings under the new boss.
“For me, success for Arsenal is having a clear plan moving forward,” Rosenior - now Brighton under-23s assistant coach - told The Debate on Sky Sports.
f you want managers to be able to do the job to the best of their ability you need to give them time to implement their philosophy.
“I think this is a season of transition and I’m tired of the overall media pressure on managers when they come into a job.
“I look at Sir Alex Ferguson. It took him five years to get his club to where he wanted them to be and then they had 20 years of consistent success. I’m tired of the turnover of managers.
“If you want managers to be able to do the job to the best of their ability you need to give them time to implement their philosophy.
“What I’ve seen from Arsenal in the first two games under Emery for me is really encouraging. Forget the results, he’s laying down a foundation and a process of the way he wants to play.
“I think given time he could be a success at Arsenal but only if he’s given time and given respect from the powers above him.
“When you follow a manager that’s been there over 20 years, it takes so much time not just to change a style of play but to change a whole culture of a football club.
“You see the problems that United are still having now numerous years after Ferguson left the club.
“It’s a huge job for Emery but I really like the way he’s gone about it because he’s gone in there and said ‘This is the way I want to play, I’m going to put my stamp on the football team’.
Arsenal manager Unai Emery reflects on loss to Chelsea
“And in two games I see a clear difference between Arsenal of last year and Arsenal of this year.
“Take the results out of it, I see a difference in intensity out of possession, a difference in their intensity in transitions and being willing to press the ball.
“I see a lot of things that given time and long term, they will be a much better team than they have been over the last three or four years.
“But there has to be an understanding that if you want things long term, you need to have a plan in place and a process and I think he’s going to give them that.”