Why Emery was wrong to blame Arsenal players

Recently, Unai Emery blasted his former Arsenal players.

The manager was given support by Paul Merson, Sky Sports pundit.

“I don’t like it when a manager comes into a club and says all the players aren’t fit enough. That’s having a dig at the old manager, I don’t like it. When the players start saying, ‘it’s better here now, it’s more fun’ – nah,” said Merson.

“I believe what Unai Emery was saying about the team, because they shouldn’t be where they are with the quality of players they have, and the results they’ve had, they weren’t doing the right things, no doubt about that. Mesut Ozil wasn’t playing before, fine, but when a new manager’s playing you, don’t say anything.”

“It was always going to be a hard job for Emery. The defence wasn’t good from the word go. It’s all about clean sheets. We’ve seen with Mikel Arteta, the moment the window opened he brought in two defenders. But I found it hard watching Arsenal under Emery. I thought it was soft, like watching Arsene Wenger’s teams, and at least now they’re not getting dominated and bullied by Burnley.”

However, stats will show that both Merson and Emery are wrong. Emery’s main accusation that his players had a bad attitude was probably down to the manager’s lack of discipline at the club. From letting the players choose their own captain to supporting a completely ill disciplined leader, Emery set the bar very low for the Gunners stars.

Latest analysis have shown that under new manager Mikel Arteta, in a time span of a month, Arsenal’s average distance covered per match has risen up by 37%.

So who is to blame really?

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