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UNai Emery studied. The main draw of this season has always been great: Bring Arsenal back into the Champions League, no matter the way. So, to try to find out where his team is, what are their chances and look for clues for improvement, he has been busy reviewing Premier League trends to rebadure his clients that they are on the right track.
"I use a lot of information from previous years in the Premier League of other teams and also in our team," he said. "I remember that three years ago, Liverpool was playing in the Europa League final, they were among the top four in the Premier League standings. Their progress is very good. Manchester City is perhaps a different example, because they bought important players by paying a lot, and we may not be able to do it. But our way is that we can do something similar to Liverpool, similar to Tottenham, to do more with young players, using the players who can improve with us. We do that. We need time, but we must also be very demanding of ourselves. "
Six months after Emery's first match in the Premier League, a free home pbad to Manchester City was more or less as planned with his experimental team dominated by the serene Arsenal champion against City. It seems that the time has come to try to evaluate the level of progress. We can calculate the tangible elements: they have five points better than at the same period last season and two places higher in the table having fallen back fortuitously to fourth place at the expense of Chelsea. They are not so far behind the league leaders (14 points against 23 last time). They had come out of the two national cups before the snow, regardless of the melting.
But that's what you can not describe with statistics that matter even more for the long-term Arsenal. What exactly is the identity of Arsenal under Emery? Should it be more defined now? Even if there are extenuating circumstances, especially with a curse on his defense that makes them fall like flies, is it reasonable to wonder if Arsenal should be slightly more emerified in their approach?
Last weekend, while Arsenal was eliminated by Manchester United, the issue of team identity became more acute. United featured a style that seemed so familiar and Ole Gunnar Solskjær explained it by explaining how he had shown his team of successful counterattack videos targeting the worst of Arsenal, with an overflowing defense or more. less pointed behind the side defenders. by saying "Space this way".
Even though Solskjær has simplified things by selecting a clearly defined and inspiring method in a few weeks, it's not always that simple. The challenge of creating a team in his own image posed a problem for Emery because the tools he needs to work with are not often the ones he would have chosen, and half the time needed to solve some of these tools . It is an incredible chance to lose some of the players who have progressed most under Emery due to a long-term injury, including Héctor Bellerín and Rob Holding, as well as Danny Welbeck, whose work ethic would have been appealing. The Mesut Özil ( below) The puzzle is a continuous complication. The tiredness suffered by Lucas Torreira after his first tornado of form did not help.
Returning to the day when Emery was announced as Arsenal's choice for being the post-Wenger answer, he exposed his stylistic ideas. "I like to get the ball back as quickly as possible. These are two things: possession and pressing. We want to play looking for the future. "His mission statement was" to be among the best and beat the best ".
Arsenal had high intensity football lightning – the best example being a strong comeback in the second half in the league match against Tottenham – but many matches lacked that edge and energy. Just a few days ago, they worked hard against Cardiff, mostly pedestrian, little cohesive, grateful for the individual attack qualities of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. The worst games, those who seem totally absent from Emery's idea of getting the ball back quickly, pressing and playing forward, have shamed the humiliation of Anfield, for example. Overall, the match was mixed, the manager constantly tinkering with players, formations and ideas. That's why it's so hard to understand exactly what Emery is trying to achieve this season with this group of players. A little more than eight months after his appointment, the evidence of a change of style compared to the years of wengerism remain unclear.
Let's move on to Etihad now. Emery tries to point out that Arsenal needs points just as much as City for his own reasons. "Usually we want to have more possession than the opposition, but against Manchester City, I think that's not possible. It's a very big challenge for us to get ready for this game, "he concedes.
His admiration for Guardiola is beyond doubt, even if he has the chance to work with such refined teams. "I've badyzed a lot of teams and coaches and I find it hard to find a coach who's better than Guardiola. He had the opportunity to gradually take the best players in Barcelona, Bayern and City. Each year, he improves with excellent players and also pays a lot for new players, but he has led them to Barcelona, Bayern and City, one more step each place. This, for me, is the quality that makes me say that it is the best. "
Without the same luxury, Emery continues to chart his way to the improvement he needs, the intensity he loves and the consistency of style he hopes to see grow.
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