Arsenal: Unai Emery Gets Vote of Confidence, Granit Xhaka Pledges Loyalty

Unai Emery Receives Confidence Vote, Granit Xhaka Pledges Loyalty to Arsenal

Unai Emery Will Get More Time

After replacing Arsene Wenger in the summer of 2018, Unai Emery wanted to turn a club in peril around. 18 months on and he hasn’t done what he set out to do. In fact, one could even argue that he has taken a backwards step since succeeding the Frenchman.

After the 2-0 away loss to Leicester City on Saturday, Emery received the dreaded vote of confidence from his employers. They say they are “100 per cent” behind their head coach. On paper, this act seems magnanimous from the club and the coach should feel more secure.

However, manager like Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp or even Mauricio Pochettino don’t get such public assurances. This is because they don’t need them and they are just as valuable to their clubs as their clubs are to them, perhaps even more so at times.

So, just as most any fan could tell, this means that Unai Emery may be closer to the sack than he has ever been in north London.

Granit Xhaka to Fight for Place

Another beleaguered figure at the club is former captain Granit Xhaka. The Swiss international is far from being in the club’s, or fan’s, good graces at the moment and is being kept away from the match day squad.

That hasn’t stopped him from trying to get back into Emery’s good graces in training. The midfielder believes there is a way back for him at the club and will work hard to get there. According to the player:

“You can be sure that I’ll keep fighting and putting myself out there in every training session. I feel that last week has been dealt with and I’m ready. I’m doing very well again, I’ve trained well this week and am looking forward to my next assignments.”