Unai Emery has achieved some big things since leaving Arsenal. He left the club with the team out of the top four race early in the season and with a dressing room at a fractured low point.
However, since taking the job at Villarreal, the former Arsenal head coach has won the Europa League, overhauled much of the team and now taken the Yellow Submarine to a Champions League semi-final. Their first the infamous semi against the Gunners in 2006.
However, their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool drew criticism from some. Jason Cundy of TalkSport went on a lengthy rant attacking the Spanish side for their performance.
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“If that’s what’s getting to the semi-final and facing English teams… Liverpool did not get out of second gear. That Villarreal side there was like playing the last group game against a side that’s not even good enough to go into the Europa League. That’s how bad they were.
“It was shocking. Disgraceful. Liverpool are brilliant – but that was a disgrace to the Champions League. There are players who haven’t even broken a sweat in a Champions League semi-final.
“There’s only one team that can do anything to Liverpool right now and that’s Man City, maybe Chelsea in a one-off. They are streets ahead. Villarreal were beaten before the first whistle went. A disgraceful display!”
Frankly, this is a hyperbolic take on the situation. Villarreal are a club with a smaller wage bill than Burnley, beat Bayern Munich and Juventus on their way to the semis and got their winning the Europa League beating Arsenal and Manchester United.
However, what the game showed is why, for me, Arsenal were right to move on from Emery. The Spaniard has a history of these cup competition wins and progressing past all expectations.
Three successive Europa League wins with Sevilla and a final with Arsenal are just further evidence of that. However, competitively, and especially domestically, Emery’s sides tend to falter.
He lost the Ligue 1 title race to Monaco with PSG. Lost the top four race by effectively throwing away Arsenal’s chance by rotating too heavily against Crystal Palace and Brighton. A win against either side would have ended up securing top four.
His style of play was reductive and despite some bright sparks, such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s famous goal against Leicester City, was regressing further from what Arsenal fans have wanted to see from their side. Villarreal are seventh in La Liga, nine points from fourth, having lost nine and drawn ten matches.
Arsenal needed more than what Emery was able to give the club. His record against the big six was dire, winning just three of 17 matches. He managed to draw six times and these were games where perhaps under Arteta victories are more possible.
Arteta has beaten Manchester United three times since taking over. Four wins over Chelsea including two at Stamford Bridge in the league. Even a home league win over Liverpool was recorded and despite losses to both the Reds and Manchester City at home this season a result was very possible.
The gap has closed in that regard, and it is the only way that Arsenal will return to the top tier of English football. It will not be achieved solely through cup-style performances seen under Emery but by trying to beat their toughest opponents.
