The Spanish coach insists his reign in charge of the Gunners had many “positives”, but he often felt hard done by in the eyes of supporters
Unai Emery has blamed Arsenal fans for hounding him out the club, while pointing to a number of different reasons for his poor record in charge at Emirates Stadium.
Emery was drafted in to succeed Arsene Wenger in the Gunners hot seat at the end of the 2017-18 season, after successful spells at Paris Saint Germain and Sevilla.
The 48-year-old made a strong start to his reign at the Emirates, but ultimately failed to deliver Champions League football in his full first campaign, with a Europa League final defeat to Chelsea compounding Arsenal’s misery.
Emery strengthened his squad significantly last summer – signing Nicolas Pepe from Lille for a club-record fee, David Luiz and Keiran Tierney from Chelsea and Celtic respectively, and Dani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid.
Unfortunately, none of the new recruits were able to make an immediate impact on the team, and the Gunners ended up falling into the bottom half of the table heading into this season’s Christmas period.
Emery was dismissed at the end of November after overseeing a run of seven games without a victory, but he feels that the club’s supporters were too quick to turn against him.
“There were several problems: four captains; the [Mesut] Ozil – [Sead] Kolasinac case; [Nicolas] Pepe’s signing, which needs time to be that of France … We didn’t play well, that’s for sure,” Emery told Spanish publication Marca.
“That brought us bad results, there was no improvement, the fans focused on me and they threw me out. But I keep the positive things, there were many.
“I had the funeral and mourning. After my cessation, I dreamed a month of things about Arsenal. It was a natural process. And I overcame that duel.
“When I no longer dreamed them, I already knew that I had overcome it. Now I am already feeding myself.”
Emery also weighed in on his replacement Mikel Arteta, who has so far failed to turn results around, but has managed to lift the mood at the Emirates with his astute management style and clear cut philosophy.
“He fits perfectly as an Arsenal manager, ” he added. “The results have not been the best, but you have to allow time for that to happen.”
Arsenal will be back in Premier League action on Sunday, when they take in a trip to Turf Moor to face Burnley.
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