Former Arsenal player Charlie Nicholas thinks Unai Emery’s stubbornness over his philosophy will see his time at the club end prematurely – because the players aren’t good enough.
Nicholas criticised the manner of the side’s 2-2 draw with Watford last week, during which Arsenal were culpable for defensive errors that led to both of the Hornets’ goals.
He feels that the squad is lacking in leaders and believes that the players are not capable of grinding out results as they should have done last week.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday, he said (via the Daily Express): “The manager is saying ‘it’s my philosophy, I’ll live or die by it’.
“Well you’re going to die sooner than you think because they will let you down. They are not good enough for it.
“The simplicity of this is that you’re 2-0 up and they’re cruising, and the keeper [should say] ‘get out the way, get up there, you get up there, I’m launching it 50-60 yards’.
“The game finishes 2-0, Arsenal have been bland and boring, and you walk away with three points and you pat yourself on the back.
“Arsenal have got five captains, we’ve got five captains at Arsenal.
“There’s not a leader among them.”
The Gunners scraped to a 3-2 win over Aston Villa this weekend, which may ease the pressure on Emery, though Nicholas implies that the end is inevitable for the Spaniard because of a dearth of leadership.
Arsenal are yet to officially name a successor to departed former captain Laurent Koscielny, who left the club in acrimonious circumstances, leaving Granit Xhaka – also panned for his role in last week’s draw – to assume the armband for the time being.
And perhaps that encapsulates the difficulties the manager is dealing with at Arsenal, after an indifferent start to the Premier League campaign that is clearly still causing questions about the success of Emery’s reign so far.
Arsenal fans, who are the leaders in this team? Is Emery the right man to develop the current squad? Let us know in the comments below!
