Former Arsenal captain, Tony Adams has suggested that the Gunners would have won the Premier League if they still had Unai Emery in charge.
Last season, Aston Villa sacked Steven Gerrard and had one manager target in their mind to move forward with.
Nearly 12 months on, the hiring of Unai Emery has gone on to be a masterstroke from everyone involved with the club.
The Spaniard has gone on to break record after record as he has helped carry the Villans to the top four, at the time of writing. This has been yet another success story after achieving Europa Conference League football last season. Now he has broken a club record for 22 wins in a calendar year in the Premier League for the club.
Prior to his time in B6, Emery was a success at Villareal, winning a Europa League and reaching a Champions League semi-final. Prior to his spell in LaLiga, he was manager of fellow Premier League side, Arsenal.
What has Tony Adams said about Unai Emery?
Following the departure of Arsene Wenger from Arsenal, there were big shoes left to fill and that job was tasked to Emery.
He moved to North London in May 2018 and was sacked just over a year later. Looking back at his time with the Gunners, it is fair to say that he was treated harshly. He took over a team that was reeling after a legend left and he took them to a Europa League final. He went on a winless run before being sacked, but with more time he would have got it right.
Speaking with TalkSport, Tony Adams has suggested that Arsenal’s title charge would have been better with Emery.
On that, he said: “I love him [Arteta]. I love his passion and enthusiasm. I’ve always said he’s a little bit inexperienced and perhaps needs to draw on someone in his staff who is a little more experienced.
“Last year, weirdly if Unai Emery was our manager then we could have perhaps won the league.”
Last season the Gunners led the league for long periods but the relentless nature of Manchester City prevailed. Towards the end of the campaign, Mikel Arteta’s side ran out of steam and were unable to keep up their performances.
Under Emery, the Villans often keep a similar starting XI where possible and still manage to keep his players fresh. The Arsenal players looked tired by the end of the last campaign whereas Villa seemed to get better and better. This kind of attitude could have seen Arsenal win the league.
