Systems, strategies, philosophies… Unai Emery era is over at Arsenal & other EPL Stories on Nov 30 2019
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Unai Emery
Premier League Headlines
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Systems, strategies, philosophies … Unai Emery era is over at Arsenal
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Dean Smith and Aston Villa pledge future to each other for 4 more years
Premier League Details
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Systems, strategies, philosophies , Unai Emery era is over at Arsenal
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Another managerial vacancy has come up at a north London club in 2nd consecutive week. Unai Emery was fired after 18 months as the successor to long-time coach Arsene Wenger, with Arsenal on its worst run of results in 27 years.
Known as the speediest talker in Spain, Unai Emery was considered intense but insightful, energetic but engaging. He could talk into the night about football. Systems, strategies, philosophies. However, talking a good game is one thing – walking it is another. When he arrived at Arsenal, they had a distinctive, easy-on-the-eye approach under Wenger, which was cultivated over the Frenchman’s remarkable 22-year stint, but Emery’s team had no discernible style even though he stated his intention to adopt a high-energy, pressing game upon his arrival in the offseason of 2018.
Emery never managed to shore up Arsenal’s defense — wobbly in the final years of Wenger’s reign — and didn’t seem to know how to handle playmaker Mesut Ozil, the team’s highest-paid player who was repeatedly dropped but curiously recalled in Emery’s final games. His communication and man management skills were questioned as players did not get invested into his philosophy and started to wear out on Emery’s detailed, meticulous approach. Emery would show and illustrate to them heavy video sessions at Colney – with plenty of homework too. For all the hard work of Emery, for some players who believed training had become diluted under Wenger, it had an effect and took interest in understanding where their game is going wrong. Others who eventually became more powerful in the dressing room, did not respond well to it and started switching off their phones to never respond to Emery. Unfortunately for Emery, being an authoritative and strong figure isn’t what he’s made of.
Maybe it was Emery’s nature of overthinking that led to his downfall. Emery rarely appeared collected or calm. For someone like Klopp, a hive of activity, buzzing on the touchline is motivating to players but in case of Arsenal, it fed through to players and had disastrous effects of not knowing naturally what to do and relying on manager’s word at all times. From Valencia to Spartak to Sevilla, PSG and possibly Arsenal, players were free to do whatever they wanted and a certain group used to take complete control of the dressing room.
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Premier League chief leaves job without even starting on it
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Prior to David Pemsel, the job was given to broadcasting chief Susanna Dinnage, only for her to change her mind and choose to keep at the media team Discovery. Tim Davie, the chief government of BBC Studios, was also claimed to have turned down the role. How is it that one of the top sports competitions in the world is so struggling to hire someone for one of the most prestigious sporting positions in the world?
Some estimates have it that individuals on broadcasting salaries of around £500,000 to £1m a year are uninterested in a salary more than double those, at a reported £2.5m a year. One commonly cited view is that many saw Scudamore as so influential, and so associated with the role, that it will be a “poisoned chalice” for whoever immediately succeeds him. A deeper reason might be that the role does not have any power but instead has to rely on the power of 20 shareholders (premier league clubs ). The only role premier league chief plays is effectively mediating between the owners.
Premier League is currently sitting at such a height that it may be very difficult to keep it as it is. Premier League faces a number of challenges, many from outside, but the biggest are within and largely from the wealth and influence its growth has helped create.The Premier League has to deal with the effects of Brexit, changes to how media is consumed, changes to international sport but – most of all – potential changes wanted by the biggest clubs.
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Dean Smith and Aston Villa pledge future to each other for 4 more years
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In an era when instant success is demanded by owners of Premier League clubs who dare not contemplate the prospect of relegation from the competition that guarantees a £100m-a-year minimum payment, hiring and firing managers has become an expensive pastime, with those on the end of their axe more than compensated for a bruising of their egos. There are very few other careers in which decisions and speculation about your future employment are played out in real time, in front of an audience of millions. And all of this leads to a situation in which burnout and other mental health issues are real risks.Premier League manager, it seems, is one of the few jobs that offer full payment for those considered to be failing in their jobs, and they don’t even have to undergo a probation period to qualify for the lottery-style cash gift they are presented with as they leave.
It is surprising yet refreshing for Aston Villa to hand out contract extension to secure Dean Smith services despite not being wonderfully high on the premier league table at the moment. Dean Smith took over at a difficult time, improved on-field results, carried the fans with him and oversaw a tricky transition in constructing a team that can hold its own in a higher league. Smith also has a commitment to playing football on the front foot and knows exactly what the fans want – after all, he is one. For the first time in a long time, Aston Villa is stable. The only way that it can be shaken is by a knee-jerk reaction in the boardroom.
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