Struggling Arsenal needed fresh start after Wenger – Emery

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has claimed the club needed a breath of fresh air after 22 years of Arsene Wenger and that he took over a team in decline .Former PSG coach Emery has enjoyed an encouraging first few months as Wenger ’ s successor , with Arsenal currently unbeaten in 16 matches and buoyed by impressive performances against Liverpool , Fulham and Leicester .

They remain three points adrift of the Premier League’ s top four but Emery appears to have injected energy into a team that was stagnating under Wenger .

“ Nowadays it ’ s very difficult for a coach to stay 22 years , ” Emery said in an interview with Spanish sports daily Marca on Thursday .

“ We had to rearrange the furniture , and not because of anything bad that happened previously , but to stimulate everyone again — to shake things up , sweep under the carpets , open the windows — in a positive way. ”

Emery has made changes defensively , deploying a higher and more aggressive pressing game that has been adopted surprisingly quickly by his players .

Bernd Leno has established himself as first -choice goalkeeper ahead of Petr Cech while the tireless Lucas Torreira has been one of Arsenal’ s stand -out players in midfield.

“ Before Wenger arrived , Arsenal celebrated winning 1 – 0 and were based on defensive solidity , ” Emery said .

“ Then with Arsene , joy was taken from attacking too and the perfect blend was the ‘ Invincibles ’ team . But over time , only technical quality and attacking freedom were taken care of and the team lost its defensive structure .

“ What I want is to unite both aspects and be more competitive . Arsenal was in decline . We had to stop that and start climbing . ”

Emery said he has met Wenger once since being appointed his replacement and while he “ has a lot of respect ” for his predecessor , he insists changes had to be made.

Some of the devils were in the detail . Sugary juices were removed as part of some tweaks to the club canteen and Emery says they also moved the gym closer to the training pitch. He is not keen , however , on his reputation as a meticulous coach .

“ I have said to myself it is a positive thing , but it can also be negative , that you are too heavy, want to interfere with the players a lot , ” Emery said .

“ What I do is work . I analyse matches and then I transfer it to video and I teach the players . ”

He added , “ When I left Valencia , I told the president I was more a tactics coach than a player -coach . I don’ t have time to analyse players . I am more tactical. Wenger was , for example, more about pure football , about players . ”

Arsenal travel to Bournemouth on Sunday , hoping to break a run of three consecutive draws in all competitions .

“ We need to give the team another push, ” Emery said . “ Our aim is to be in the top four but it isn ´ t easy . It’ s getting harder and harder to get there . ”

( AFP )

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