EPL: Arsenal Sack Unai Emery After 18 Months In Charge
Arsenal Football Club has sacked its manager, Unai Emery with just 18 months in charge. The Spaniard, who won Paris St-Germain the French league title as well as won three Europa Leagues with Sevilla, was appointed Gunners boss in May 2018, succeeding Arsene Wenger.
He has now been replaced on a temporary basis by assistant and former Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg.
The club management said the decision had been “taken due to results and performances not being at the level required”.
The Gunners have failed to win in seven games including the 2-1 loss at home to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday.
7 – Arsenal have not won any of their last seven matches in all competitions (D5 L2) – they never went on as poor a run across 1235 games under Arsène Wenger, last waiting this long for a win in February 1992 under George Graham (8 games). Denouement. pic.twitter.com/Aqz016ODfn
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 28, 2019
They are without a Premier League victory since 6 October and eight points off the top four.
They finished fifth in 48-year-old Emery’s first season in charge at Emirates Stadium after he replaced Wenger.
The Gunners started this season with back-to-back victories against Newcastle and Burnley, but that run ended with defeat by Liverpool, before draws with north London rivals Tottenham and Watford followed.
Their last Premier League victory was 1-0 win over Bournemouth.
On Saturday, they battled to a 2-2 draw – their sixth of the season – at home to Southampton, with Alexandre Lacazette scoring an injury-time equaliser.
Emery is the third managerial dismissal in the English top flight this season, after Javi Gracia and Mauricio Pochettino departed Watford and Tottenham respectively.
Arsenal’s last victory came against Vitoria Guimaraes in the Europa League on 24 October, in which they needed two late Nicolas Pepe free-kicks to secure a 3-2 win.
