Officially supported on Monday. Thanked on Friday. In the space of five days, the situation turned completely for the Arsenal coach, Spaniard Unai Emery. The English football club announced Friday, November 29, his dismissal and temporary replacement by his deputy Freddie Ljungberg.
"We send our sincerest thanks to Unai and his colleagues who have not worked hard to bring the club back to the high level we all hope for. We wish them the best for the future »said in a statement Josh Kroenke, son of the club owner, who spoke on behalf of the management.
"We are as disappointed as anyone else by our results and performance so far. There are things to improve if we want to achieve our goals of the season, and yet we are certain that Unai is the man of the situation, with the help of the whole club ", Monday, the president, Raul Sanllehi, and the general manager Vinai Venkatesham, according to the British media, had made progress.
The decision to oust Unai Emery, which some supporters of the club called for the start, was formalized the day after a defeat at home against Eintracht Frankfurt (1-2), the fifth and penultimate day of group stage of the Europa League (C3).
If Arsenal remains in good shape to qualify for the rest of the European competition, the club has won none of its last seven games in all competitions, its worst series since 1992.
Since his arrival in the summer of 2018 from Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG), Emery, 48, took the Gunners in the final of the C3, without winning the trophy he had won three times with Sevilla FC between 2014 and 2016.
His record will be tainted by his failure to bring Arsenal in the Champions League, whose club has been absent since the 2016-2017 season.
Emery, who had succeeded Frenchman Arsene Wenger, coach of the London club between 1996 and 2018, leaves his team at the 8e Premier League place despite the snoring recruitment this summer of Nicolas Pépé for 80 million euros. In the league, he won less than half of the games played (25 of 51).
Ljunberg will take over
The Basque-born Spaniard is the second coach of the English "Big Five" to leave his team during the season, after Argentina's Mauricio Pochettino, replaced by Jose Mourinho in Tottenham mid-November.
Sweden's Ljunberg, who has been appointed to Arsenal as an interim player, is a former Gunners fame where he evolved as a midfielder between 1998 and 2007, at the heart of Wenger's prosperous years.
He could be on the bench at Norwich Sunday in the league. For the continuation, "The search for a new coach is underway, and we will make an announcement once the process is over"assured Arsenal.
