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Arsenal boss Unai Emery let stars enjoy team night out after Watford draw to boost morale
Arsenal threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Watford on Sunday.
Arsenal may have thrown away three points in Hertfordshire on Sunday afternoon but that didn’t stop them from enjoying an evening together in the wake of a disappointing performance.
They led Watford 2-0 at Vicarage Road at half-time before a second half collapse handed Quique Sanchez Flores a point in his first game back at the club.
According to the Daily Mail, the Arsenal squad then got together in the evening at Novikov in Mayfair for some dinner.
The report claims that Unai Emery personally gave the green light for the social gathering to take place, despite his side’s capitulation.
It’s believed that the Spaniard has been keen to improve the squad’s team morale in order to reap the rewards on the field.
The players were allowed Monday off to recover and some players were keen to make the most of that.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyamg, who fired two goals in the draw, was pictured leaving Libertine nightclub in the early hours of the morning.
Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness thinks Emery must take some accountability for his part in the result.
The former Sevilla and PSG boss has encouraged his side to play out from the back from goal kicks and defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos was caught out doing just that to gift Watford a lifeline in the second half.
Souness said after the game: “The first reaction when they concede the goal, you’ve had your warnings, you’re thinking ‘why has the manager not said something?’”
“But they’re senior players in that defence for Arsenal.
“As a manager, you’re hoping that your biggest players and experienced players [take responsibility], they don’t have to be the oldest ones in the team work it out.
“’Hold on here, we’re going to concede.’
“We were there at the end when they did concede and it was coming, you could see it was coming.
“Why don’t the big players just say, for then minutes we will just go long with it and see where that takes us.
“Persisting playing out from the back was going to cost them a goal, they’re lucky they only conceded one from it.”