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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Samuel Meade

Unai Emery delivers savage response after fan tells him he did "very good" at Arsenal

Unai Emery has hit back at a fan who said he did "very good" at Arsenal by producing the middle finger.

The Spanish coach is back in England this weekend as his Villarreal side play back-to-back games against Southampton and Fulham.

They picked up a 2-1 win on the south coast on Saturday thanks to goals from Yeremy Pino and Gerard Moreno.

But as Emery walked off the team bus he was greeted by a host of fans, one of whom seemed to sarcastically mock his time as Arsenal boss. The 50-year-old lasted just shy of 18 months before being shown the door at the Emirates - and clearly didn't take kindly to the comment.

Emery was hired as Arsene Wenger's successor in the summer of 2018 but couldn't lead the club to the Champions League, finishing fifth. The Gunners showed, in glimpses, their quality but were continually undermined by losses on the road.

They also lost out in the final of the Europa League to Chelsea, but it was the manner of the 4-1 defeat that was more damaging. A summer of investment followed with Nicolas Pepe arriving for a club-record fee. The likes of Kieran Tierney also joined the team.

They failed to have the desired affect though and in late November when Emery was sacked the Gunners were sitting in eighth having won just four of their 13 games. His final game was a home defeat to Frankfurt in the Europa League. The Spaniard won 43 of his 78 games at the helm, giving him a win percentage of 55.

Have you say! Where will Arsenal finish this season? Let us know here.

Upon reflection Emery told Marca : “There were several problems: four captains, the Ozil-Kolasinac case, Pepe’s signing, who needs time since he came from France. We didn’t play well, that’s for sure. We had bad results, there was no improvement, the fans focused on me and they threw me out."

Since leaving north London Emery has impressively rebuilt his reputation however. He took charge at Villarreal eight months after his Arsenal sack. In his first season he led them to Europa League glory - his fourth as a coach - thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Manchester United.

Last term Villarreal also shocked several of Europe's heavyweights as they proved to be the surprise package of the tournament. They saw off Juventus and Bayern Munich en route to the semi-finals, where they had Liverpool on the ropes for a period before the Reds ran out victorious.

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