Ahead of Aston Villa’s UEFA Super Cup match, Unai Emery shared reflection on his time at Arsenal.
Unai Emery believes that his time at Arsenal didn’t feel “completely successful” despite having a “good year” in North London.
The former Arsenal manager, now at Aston Villa, spoke on his time at the Emirates ahead of Aston Villa’s UEFA Super Cup meeting with Paris Saint-Germain. The Villans face the Parisian side, who beat Arsenal in the Champions League Final, after Europa League success against Freiburg in May.
The Spanish manager was asked about his development as a manager having spent time across Europe’s top leagues. When discussing his time at the Gunners, Emery had mixed views.
“Arsenal was another experience. I was not feeling completely successful. But the year we spend there working, I think we did a good year, a good season.”
Emery arrived in North London in May 2018, with big shoes to fill following Arsene Wenger’s departure after 22-years at the helm for Arsenal. Emery’s first season saw Arsenal finish fifth, a point behind Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal did, however, manage a run to the Europa League final, their first European final since their Champions League Final defeat in 2006. The route to Baku was by no means simple, with knockout wins over BATE Borisov, Rennes, Napoli and Valencia. The Gunners had to recover from first-leg defeats against both BATE and Rennes before beating Napoli home and away and overcoming Valencia, one of Emery’s former sides, 7-3 on aggregate.
Despite the hope built for Arsenal’s first European final in over 10 years, that night in Baku ended in both anger and disappointment for fans, as Chelsea cruised to a 4-1 defeat.
The following season proved even more difficult for the Gunners, and by November, Arsenal parted ways with Emery, just 18 months into his three-year contract. With the club citing that results and performances were not of the standard required at the level.
The Spaniard’s comments don’t look upon that spell as a failure, though. Emery explained that his time at Arsenal was one of many experiences that helped continue to develop his management career.
“And then my next opportunity I had to be here with Aston Villa. I tried it again to use my old experiences, everything I learned to try to get better.”
Since his exit, there have been several successes at Arsenal, including an FA Cup later that year, two Community Shield wins whilst this season the Gunners brought the Premier League trophy back to North London after a 22-year wait.
For Emery, success has also followed. Winning the Europa League with Villarreal in 2021, adding a fourth title in the competition to the three he had previously collected with Sevilla. His Europa League mastery continued at Aston Villa, securing their place in the UEFA Super Cup with a 3-0 Europa League final win over Freiburg.
His spell with the Gunners may not have delivered the trophies or Champions League return he targeted during his time there. But it’s clear from Emery’s own assessment that even in feeling it wasn’t completely successful, there was still some good in his chapter at Arsenal.