It is official: Arsenal have sacked under-fire manager Unai Emery. This decision was announced on Friday, a day after the club fell to an embarrassing 2-1 loss at home in the Europa League.
The club made the decision to part ways with the former PSG boss after a run of horrendous results, one that began toward the end of last season and continued to this campaign. The north London giants are without a win in their last seven games and have had only four victories in the Premier League from 13 games in 2019/20.
Arsenal also revealed in the statement that they have relieved Emery's coaching team of their duties and have named Freddie Ljungberg as their interim boss. The 48-year-old was only in charge for 18 months but won less than half of the Premier League games he oversaw.
Emery was the man chosen to succeed the legendary Arsene Wenger after he stepped down back in 2018 but despite an impressive early start, things quickly turned sour for the Spaniard. The Gunners ended last season on a horrible note, winning only two of their last seven games to throw away a top-four finish.
Then came the Europa League final, another ticket back to the Champions Leauge, but Unai blew that as well, losing 4-1 to Chelsea. Positive recruitments during the summer transfer window and an impressive pre-season tour had fans buzzing but Arsenal still boast only six wins from their last 20 English top-flight matches.
Unai Emery at Arsenal:
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) November 29, 2019
18 months in charge
78 games: W43 D16 L19
#PL win percentage: 49%
No wins in seven - worst competitive run since 1992
54 days since the Gunners' last Premier League win
https://t.co/Qixf8ECr9q pic.twitter.com/fTA7CvKcht
Breaking: Arsenal fires manager Unai Emery after their longest run without a win since 1992 @brfootball pic.twitter.com/DMbvaJO4e7
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 29, 2019
88 - Arsenal won exactly the same number of points in Unai Emery's 51 Premier League games as they did in Arsene Wenger's final 51 games in charge (88 points). Preservation. pic.twitter.com/vu7qqf2pCg
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 29, 2019
Despite the decision to sack him only 13 games into the Premier League season, Josh Kroenke of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, the owners of the club, wished nothing but the best for the outgoing tactician.
"Our most sincere thanks go to Unai and his colleagues who were unrelenting in their efforts to get the club back to competing at the level we all expect and demand. We wish Unai and his team nothing but future success," he told the club's official website.
This decision will be celebrated by most fans as supporters have been calling for his sacking for quite some time now, especially after witnessing Tottenham's ruthlessness towards Pochettino. It will be interesting to see how Ljungberg fares, starting from Sunday's trip to Norwich, and whether Arsenal will copy Man United and promote their fairly inexperienced caretaker boss to head coach.