Unai Emery is back in the Premier League spotlight, with Aston Villa splashing the cash to release the Spanish manager from his contract with La Liga club Villarreal.
Emery made his reputation as a specialist of European competitions with three straight Europa League titles at Sevilla, before achieving a haul of domestic trophies in France at the helm of PSG. However, his time at his next stop, Arsenal, ended when he was fired after just 18 months despite a trip to the Europa League final.
He rebuilt his standing as one of Europe's elite managers at Villarreal — he won a Europa League and led the team to the Champions League semifinals — and now Emery will get the chance to prove himself again in the Premier League.
Most supporters in England will still remember Emery best for his time at Arsenal, which ended after a seven-match winless streak and led to the hiring of current Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.
Sporting News takes a look back at his time in charge at the Emirates to break down what really went wrong, and how Emery remembers his time in the English capital.
MORE: No identity to Emery's team? That's his strength at Villarreal
Why did Unai Emery fail at Arsenal?
Hired in 2018, Emery took charge of an Arsenal side that had finished sixth in the Premier League the previous season, with a significant gap between the Gunners and fifth-placed Chelsea displaying the gulf in talent between Arsenal's squad and those above them challenging for a Champions League place.
Emery was charged with an impossible task — follow up the legendary Arsene Wenger, who retired that May. Wenger was beloved in London, but his final few years had been rocky, with the game passing the Frenchman by years prior. The Gunners missed out on the Champions League for the first time in 18 years, and Emery was the new man in command.
Arsenal finished fifth in Emery's first season thanks to a late-season collapse that saw them finish just a point behind arch-rivals Tottenham, an especially disappointing result for a fanbase already accustomed to being in the Champions League.
Any progress garnered through his first campaign came undone in the second. Emery was gone by November, with the club beaten at home by Eintracht Frankfurt in Europa League group stage play.
The truth is that Emery was the fall guy for a club in transition, having to move on from an aging squad and manager, and needing time to turn things around. It didn't help that the club's transfer strategy at the time produced nightmarish results, with big money spent on Nicolas Pepe, Sokratis, Bernd Leno, and Lucas Torreira producing mixed results at best.
There were also issues in the dressing room that bled out onto the field. “Five captains left in the first year,” Emery told The Athletic earlier this month. “There were many changes and patience was needed. (Granit) Xhaka had problems with the fans and in the dressing room, where other experienced players did not understand his role as captain.”
Granit Xhaka's appointment and subsequent removal as captain was confusing to both fans and players, and the ugly Mesut Ozil saga played out publicly. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was named captain in the wake of Xhaka's punishment, but in retrospect that was an equally mystifying decision given the Gabonese striker's history.
By the time Emery was given his pink slip, player unrest, inconsistent results, and a failure to make progress took its toll and the Spaniard was shown the door.
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Unai Emery record at Arsenal
Emery was in charge for the full 2018/19 season and then he was fired a couple of months into the 2019/20 season (Nov. 29, 2019).
He left Arsenal in 8th place in the Premier League, in 1st place in Europa League Group F, and out of the League Cup (eliminated on penalties by Liverpool).
2018/19
| Competition | Record (W-L-D) | Position / Stage Reached | Eliminated By |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 21-10-7 | 5th | N/A |
| Europa League | 11-3-1 | Final | Chelsea |
| FA Cup | 1-1-0 | Round of 32 | Manchester United |
| League Cup | 2-1-0 | Quarterfinals | Tottenham Hotspur |
2019/20
| Competition | Record (W-L-D) | Position / Stage Reached | Eliminated By |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 4-3-6 | 8th | N/A |
| Europa League | 3-1-1 | N/A | N/A |
| League Cup | 1-0-1 | Round of 16 | Liverpool (on PKs) |
What has Emery said about his time at Arsenal?
Emery has had time to reflect on his managerial tenure in London, and has spoken about how he feels he was treated and what may have gone wrong.
Speaking to The Athletic in early April 2022, Emery said, “It was a difficult moment for any coach coming in, to establish yourself.
“Certain players who had been important, but were not any longer, found that difficult to understand. The fans also found it difficult to understand that there needed to be an evolution. Changes were needed, and I began those changes.
“The problem is when you have players who are not performing," Emery continued. "I had big players in Paris — Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Marco Verratti, Thiago Motta. They had bigger egos than here [at Villarreal], but I enjoyed working with them. At Arsenal, the same, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and the young kids like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe."
Comparing his time in England to his time in Spain, Emery was clear about how he feels the two leagues are perceived.
"I don't know if football people underestimate our league [La Liga] compared to the Premier League," Emery pondered in early April 2022 after the side's 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals.
"The Premier League is the one with the most income, it is a great league and it gives you the chance to have better players, but the Spanish league has always had more uniformity. We have lost focus with the departure of [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano [Ronaldo] and I think that now we can recover with the ability of Madrid and Barca to bring in great footballers."
MORE: Full betting preview for Villarreal vs. Liverpool Champions League 2nd leg
Emery's stamp on Arsenal still seen today
Emery may have left Arsenal nearly three years ago, but his stamp on the club remains evident.
Emery broke the club's transfer record to purchase Pepe from LOSC Lille, and while the Ivory Coast international never really justified his lofty transfer fee, he had his supporters among the fanbase.
The Spanish boss also handed debuts to Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, who have flourished into two of the club's most valuable young players. Both have gone on to play for England, with Saka becoming an important part of the squad.
Saka made his Premier League debut as a substitute against Fulham in January 2019, and he would go on to make 15 appearances under Emery across all competitions before the Spaniard's dismissal. Today, Saka is an Arsenal fixture at right winger and an England regular.
Watch Unai Emery and Aston Villa via live stream & TV
Here are all the details to watch or stream Premier League matches in the UK, USA, Canada, and Australia.
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| TV channel | Sky Sports, BT Sport | USA Network, Telemundo, Universo | — | — |
| Streaming | NOW TV, Sky Go, Amazon Prime | fuboTV, Peacock | fuboTV Canada | Optus Sport |
UK: Premier League matches are carried across Sky Sports and BT Sport streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.
USA: Select Premier League matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on fuboTV. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.
Canada: Every Premier League game streams live and on demand exclusively via fuboTV.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream matches live and on demand on Optus Sport.
