NEWS DIGEST – Unai Emery ended Arsenal’s strenuous
search for a successor to Arsene Wenger when it was
announced that the Gunners would be appointing him as their
new head coach.
The Arsenal job should be one of the most attractive
managerial positions in football. Instead, Emery inherits a
poisoned chalice from his predecessor. Has been tasked with
kickstarting the post-Wenger era and has a testing job on
his hands. Here are five issues he must address at the club:

1)DEFENCE
It is trite saying that defence wins you championships.
Former Man United Manager- Sir Alex Ferguson once said
“attack wins you games. Defence wins you championships.”
Legendary football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant also famously
said “offense sells tickets, defence wins championships”.
This same thought was echoed by former Milan director
Adriano Galliano who enthused “defense wins
championships”
Liverpool are not renowned for having a parsimonious
defence but what they lack in the rearguard, they make up
for it in the final third. However, what happens when you
have a shambolic defence without a Liverpool-like ruthless
attack to make up for it? You set an unwanted record for
Wenger as his first ever third round exit in the FA Cup after
a disgraceful 4-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest (a team that
would eventually finish 17th in the Championship table). You
have your pants pulled down by Man City in the Wembley
Carabao Cup Final. You get dumped out of the top four
hierarchy again because you have just finished the league in
a disgraceful 6th place and you were bundled out of the
alternative back door to the Champions League by Atletico
(who would do a world of good to lend you their defense
manual).
With a whooping 51 goals shipped in during the course of the
just concluded Premier League Campaign, Arsenal have the
third worst defensive record of all teams that finished in the
top ten. Burnley conceded 39 goals while Newcastle let in
47. When it gets to a nadir where minnows who just
returned from relegation in recent years can boast of a
better defensive record than Arsenal, then the scale of their
troubles at the back becomes more gargantuan than ever.
Petr Cech is way past his best years; Ospina is unreliable at
best; Konscielny has been ruled out for six months with an
achilles injury; Mustafi was named in goal’s worst team of
the season; Bellerin is inconsistent; Kolasinac started
brightly after his switch from Schalke but was soon
banished to the bench; Holding, Chambers and Mavropalos
are not experienced enough to be thrown into the heart of
defence in an unforgiving league, leaving Nacho Monreal as
the only good pick of the pathetic bunch. A major surgery is
required to fix Arsenal’s defensive woes.

2) DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD
Arsenal have needed a defensive midfielder for a while. It is a
horse that has been beaten to death for over 10 years and
counting. The current defensive midfielder in the team is
Granit Xhaka . This isn’t necessarily a piece to degrade his
utility and his quality, though that certainly plays a part.
Xhaka is a perfectly average player who does have some
useful traits, if pandered to correctly. Rather, the reason
Arsenal are in dire need of a good defensive midfielder is
because of the importance of the position.
Fernandinho. Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante. N’Golo Kante.
Nemanja Matic. Fernandinho. These are the players that have
played the defensive midfield position for the Premier League
title winners in the past five years, including the the just
concluded one. All are significantly better than Xhaka.
Similarly, Casemiro. Casemiro. Sergio Busquets. Xabi Alonso.
Bastian Schweinsteiger. These are the defensive midfielders
that have won the past five Champions Leagues. See a
pattern emerging?
The defensive midfield position is one of the most important
in the whole of football. It provides stability and security to
the structure of the team. It screens the defence, collecting
loose balls, winning tackles, breaking up counter attacks. It
dictates the tempo of the match with accurate, precise
passing. It initiates attacks from deep positions with time
and space to orchestrate and create. Xhaka is not good
enough. He’s not bad. But he’s not good enough.

3) RESTORING THE CONFIDENCE OF AN UNCERTAIN
FANBASE
Seeing thousands of empty seats at the Emirates became
commonplace in recent months as Arsenal’s Premier League
campaign fizzled out in disappointing fashion. About one
third of all seats in the 59,000-capacity stadium gaped
empty for the 3-0 win over Stoke. The atmosphere during
the match was like a library, with the shouts of players and
managers easily audible. It was a similar story in the 3-0
loss to Manchester City following the team’s dismal defeat
in the Carabao Cup final. Arsene Wenger came up with a
variety of explanations for the poor turnouts – including
Easter and the snowy weather ahead of the Man City game.
But they were just excuses that could not buy him more time
as his fate was already sealed. Unai Emery must restore the
confidence of the Gunners fanbase and remember that the
empty seats at the Emirates in the second half of the season
helped seal Wenger’s fate.


4)THE OZIL CONUNDRUM
Mesut Ozil
Ozil’s numbers in the 2017-18 season are respectable if not
astonishing: He accumulated four goals and 12 assists in all
competitions. At times, he has been sensational to watch.
There was a period just after Christmas when he seemed to
playing with a purposefulness that has been largely lacking
during his time in England.
It was around that time that he put pen to paper on a new
long-term Arsenal contract. With Alexis Sanchez having left
the club to join Manchester United, Ozil’s decision to commit
was regarded as a huge coup for Arsenal. He was identified
as the player with the stature and the talent to lead Arsenal
into the new era, and he was rewarded accordingly.
The mercurial German has a tendency to go missing in games.
Since signing his new contract, the quality of Ozil’s
performances in the matches he has turned up for appears to
have dropped off significantly. Accommodating Ozil in a
successful team has arguably not happened thus far in his
five years in England. A team with Ozil at its heart is yet to
challenge seriously for the Premier League title.
Some pertinent questions will have to be answered by Emery.
Will Ozil continue to be afforded his favourite spot on the
pitch? Similarly, will his capacity to go missing within games
be tolerated?
One thing is clear: Jettisoning him is not an option. Arsenal’s
decision to make him one of the highest-paid players in world
football effectively priced him out of a move elsewhere. Ozil
will be at Arsenal for the foreseeable future. If Arsenal are
to be successful next year, harnessing his volatile talents
will be essential.

5) LOCATE A LEADER
Arsenal teams of old do not resemble this current side. Gone
are the days of Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira. The Gunners
have not had a commanding voice on the pitch since then.
Arsenal have a recent history of captains who cannot stay
on the field to actually captain the team. Mikel Arteta was
named captain in 2014, and played only sparingly over the
next two seasons. Part of this was due to injury, and partly
due to not being able to force his way into the team. After he
left, Mertesacker was named captain and promptly suffered
a knee injury. He did not start a match until the FA Cup Final
on May 27 2017. Laurent Koscielny is the current captain but
he is not a vocal leader and organiser, plus he is enduring a
lengthy spell on the sidelines. Having a vocal and respectable
leader on the field and in the dressing room would
strengthen Arsenal mentally. In the twilight of his career as
Arsenal manager, Emery may soon be looking to move that
responsibility on.

https://newsdigest.ng/sports/2018/05/23/emery-must-address-arsenal/

ok.. wish him success