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Arsenal news: Glenn Hoddle slams Unai Emery and makes Arsene Wenger claim
ARSENAL boss Unai Emery has not made enough defensive improvement since becoming the Gunners head coach.
That is the opinion of BT Sport pundit and former Tottenham midfielder Glenn Hoddle.
Emery replaced Arsene Wenger at Arsenal at the end of last season.
The Spaniard lost his first two competitive games in charge to last season’s champions Manchester City and Chelsea.
But heading into tonight’s Europa League clash away at Qarabag, Arsenal had won their last seven matches in all competitions.
Qarabag vs Arsenal LIVE: Europa League latest
There are a few games there where they have got clean sheets that they could have been two or three down
But Hoddle is still not convinced by Emery’s side and says the defence has not changed since Wenger was in charge.
“I’m not having that at the moment,” Hoddle said of the Gunners’ recent winning run.
“I’ve got to say, looking at that list of teams, they haven’t played anyone (of note).
“There are a few games there where they have got clean sheets that they could have been two or three down.
“The goalkeeper’s come out as man of the match and I think that tells a story.
“If you look at that list, no disrespect, Watford are up in the top four at the moment, but they haven’t played anyone.
“For me, I don’t see any difference.
“It could have been Arsene Wenger, defensively, it could have still been Arsene Wenger on the bench. Nothing’s changed defensively.”
Emery made nine changes for the trip to Azerbaijan to play Qarabag.
Arsenal academy graduate Emile Smith Rowe made his first start in the Europa League.
Sead Kolasinac made his first appearance of the campaign after suffering an injury days before the season opener against City.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were all left back in London.