After being carefully selected as the man to replace Arsene Wenger after his 22 years at Arsenal, Unai Emery has admitted that he needed to 'open the windows' at the Emirates club. The former Sevilla coach spoke exclusively in an interview to Spanish reporters in his first interview since taking charge of the Gunners.
The former PSG coach took time to explain how he transformed the team’s former training approach to ones being used under Arsene Wenger.
"Here there was a fitness coach who continues his work. We haven't changed that. Only little details like putting a gym next to the pitch to make the transition from gym to pitch easier. Purely methodology. The same idea remains as before."
"There were habits that we could improve on in terms of nutrition. Together with the nutritionist and the fitness coach, we decided to get rid of juice with sugar, but that's normal and what I do at home: eat without sugar, less fat, healthier food. That's it."
"I find it funny every time people say that. Once a Chinese coach came to see us at Sevilla and he repeatedly said to me: 'Unai, your work on the details has impressed me'. And it stuck with me. I said to myself: 'Well that's a positive!' But it can also be negative, you might say, a bit tiresome, wanting to influence the players too much, so I don't know. What I do is work hard. I look at the 90 minutes and analyse openings, where the space is etc. Then I transfer that to video and show the players."
"I think there are moments when the players should express themselves. To find the balance between this and the well-known details.”
He also explains his style of play as it is seen that the Gunners sometimes have the ball, or they counter-attack.
"Before Wenger arrived, Arsenal celebrated the 1-0 wins and were based on defensive solidity. With Arsene, they became an attacking team, with players who were good on the ball. And the perfect combination came with The Invincibles [in the 2003/4 season when Arsenal won the Premier League and remained unbeaten].”
“But with time, you can only take care of technique and attacking freedom, losing your defensive structure. What I want to do is unite the two and become more competitive. Arsenal were falling. We had to stop that and start to lift them.”
Emery also explain why it took time for him to start Lucas Torreira.
"Because you have to respect hierarchy. [Bernd] Leno arrives, but [Petr] Cech is doing well and you must respect that. Petr was first. The same thing was true with [Matteo] Guendouzi and Torreira, who arrived later. I gave him [Guendouzi] the chance first, which I was delighted about, but now he's not playing as much and Lucas is."
When asked if the Premier League was tougher than other European leagues Unai Emery had this to say
"Maybe because every team have one or two players of a high level, given the financial power. The best players come here, with the exceptions of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG, Juventus and few others. And every time the best coaches also come: Pep [Guardiola], [Jurgen] Klopp, [Jose] Mourinho, [Maurizio] Sarri, [Mauricio] Pochettino."

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