Football news – Arsenal board offer Unai Emery vote of confidence
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Updated 11/11/2019 at 16:56 GMT
Arsenal’s hierarchy have given head coach Unai Emery a vote of confidence despite the club going five games without a win in all competitions.
Unai Emery the Arsenal Head Coach talks to his players
Image credit: Getty Images
A 2-0 defeat at Leicester on Saturday has left Arsenal sixth in the Premier League table and eight points behind fourth-placed Chelsea going into the international break.
That defeat followed a run of four matches where Arsenal have taken the lead but failed to hold out for victory, including a 5-5 draw with Liverpool who advanced to the League Cup quarter-finals on penalties.
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LEICESTER, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 09: Arsenal Manager Unai Emery during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Arsenal FC at The King Power Stadium on November 9, 2019 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Get
Image credit: Getty Images
But despite the poor run, Arsenal's head of football Raul Sanllehi and managing director Vinai Venkatesham insist Emery remains the "right man for the job".
“We are as disappointed as everyone else with both our results and performances at this stage of the season,” said Sanllehi and Venkatesham, per Goal.com. "We share the frustration with our fans, Unai, players and all our staff as they are not at the level we want or expect.
Things need to improve to meet our objectives for the season, and we firmly believe Unai is the right man for the job, together with the backroom team we have in place. We are all working intensively behind the scenes to turn things around and are confident we will.
“We never take our fantastic support for granted. We hope we can all stick together and get behind the team in this challenging period, as together we are stronger.”
Earlier on Monday, the Evening Standard reported Emery has six games to save his job at Arsenal.
Arsenal's next six matches
- Nov 23 - Southampton (H)
- Nov 28 - Eintracht Frankfurt (H)
- Dec 1 - Norwich (A)
- Dec 5 - Brighton (H)
- Dec 9 - West Ham (A)
- Dec 12 - Standard Liege (A)
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Arsenal's Spanish head coach Unai Emery gestures before the UEFA Europa League Group F football match between Vitoria Guimaraes SC and Arsenal FC
Image credit: Getty Images
Emery told Sky Sports after the 2-0 defeat at Leicester: "We need time and we need patience. We have changed a lot of players and we have young players. .
We are very demanding and ambitious in our targets but also we know need time and patience. We are going to achieve [this] with young players and experienced players.
"We had a lot of circumstances that didn't help us to achieve the best performance and the best result. With the patience and being consistent, we are going to do it.
"The most important thing is inside to be calm, to be demanding and to be ambitious to work but to keep standing up in our mentality and our work."
Our view: The beginning of the end?
Some 18 months since taking charge at the Emirates, Emery is now staring down the barrel at Arsenal.
The phrase 'vote of confidence' is so often preceded by the word 'dreaded', for managers do not often receive public backings from board members, and Emery will know this means he is entering a crucial period.
It is difficult to see how Emery can turn his fortunes around at Arsenal - a string of wins would certainly help, but the club have an eight-point gap to overturn if they want to climb back into the top four, a target which already feels unrealistic after just 12 matches.
It could therefore be the Europa League where Emery tries to save his job. Having won the tournament three times with Sevilla, the Spaniard will know this is his best chance of securing Champions League football for the Gunners next season.
The problem is, Manchester United find themselves in the same boat, Sevilla are also among the contenders, while Inter could yet drop into the Europa League too.
Relying on a knockout tournament is a dangerous game.
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