For the first time in over two decades, Arsenal have a new manager and that man is now, officially, Unai Emery.
The Gunners have confirmed this morning that the ex-PSG coach is on board “subject to the completion of regulatory processes”.
A new dawn. A new era. A new chapter.#WelcomeUnai pic.twitter.com/kGrE2gMLQl
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) May 23, 2018
Speaking to the Arsenal club website, Emery himself had this to say:
I am thrilled to be joining one of the great clubs in the game. Arsenal is known and loved throughout the world for its style of play, its commitment to young players, the fantastic stadium, the way the club is run.
I’m very excited to be given the responsibility to start this important new chapter in Arsenal’s history. I have met Stan and Josh Kroenke and it’s clear they have great ambitions for the club and are committed to bringing future success.
I’m excited about what we can do together and I look forward to giving everyone who loves Arsenal some special moments and memories.
While he ultimately lost his job at PSG for failing to deliver the holy Champions League grail, Unai Emery won a domestic double and a domestic treble during his two seasons at the Parc des Princes, also departing the club with the highest win ratio (73.7%) and the highest points per game tally (2.37) of any manager in the club’s history.
Before that, he won three Europa Leagues on the bounce with Sevilla.
Emery does all his own video analysis and, during his time at Valencia, gave players USB sticks to watch tactical clips on. He suspected one player never watched them, so gave him a blank USB and then asked him what he’d make of the clips #afc
— Adam Summerton (@adamsummerton) May 21, 2018
The man knows success, even if he does have a weird fascination with USB sticks.