Arsenal legend Robert Pires has told Stan Kroenke he should have given Unai Emery more time as the Spaniard continues to blaze a trail with Villarreal.
The four-time Europa League winner has the Yellow Submarine in the Champions League quarter finals, where they’ll face Bayern Munich in the first leg on Wednesday night. His exploits in European competitions are well known, having won the Europa League three times with Sevilla, before doing the same with his current club last term.
In between those two jobs in Spain, Emery had stints in charge of Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, both of which lasted less than two years. In the case of his time with the Gunners, Emery had just one full season in charge, in which he reached a European final only to be thumped by Chelsea.
The 50-year-old also guided the Gunners to fifth spot - the highest position in four seasons - but lasted just three months of the 2019/20 season, before he was sacked and ultimately replaced by Mikel Arteta. But Pires, who has played for both Arsenal and Villarreal, believes he deserved a longer adaptation period to truly prove his credentials in the Emirates dugout.
LaLiga ambassador Pires, speaking on behalf of LiveScore, said: "It’s impossible to compare Emery and Arsene Wenger in their times at Arsenal, but the owner could have given him more time. It was difficult for him, especially with the language. I thought he did a good job at the time.
"Unfortunately for him and Arsenal they lost the 2019 Europa League final to Chelsea in Baku. The pressure on the manager is hard.”
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Pires suggested that Emery, who had never managed in the Premier League prior to his appointment in north London, needed more time to adjust to his new surroundings, using the example of Lionel Messi ’s struggles with PSG to illustrate his point. Messi has just three Ligue 1 goals since leaving Barcelona last summer and has found the change in scenery more difficult than many expected.
"Managers and players need time. When you change country, you change everything,” he explained. “I understand football is football, it’s international, but it’s not the same, country to country.
"LaLiga is totally different if you compare it with the Premier League. LaLiga is totally different if you compare it with Ligue 1 in France. It’s different to Serie A in Italy.
"Every country has a specific way of playing its football. That’s why sometimes for a manager or a player, the time to adapt can be longer.
"Can you imagine we talk about Lionel Messi, one of the best players in the world and look at what's happened with his move to PSG in France. I repeat, it takes time to adapt. Even for Messi it has been difficult because Ligue 1 is more physical than LaLiga."
Pires added: "I love Emery because I love his philosophy about football. He’s always attacking, attacking and trying to play great football. So the next step for Villarreal in LaLiga is to reach the Champions League positions. I believe in him and Villarreal."
LaLiga ambassador Robert Pires was speaking at an event for LiveScore, Official Global Scoring Partner of LaLiga Santander. To read the full article, visit LiveScore’s News section here
