Arsenal have began the Unai Emery era with two defeats. Many jokes have now been passed on social media and many fans now believe that Emery may prove to be not much better than Arsene Wenger was towards the end of his 22-year reign as manager of the club.
It is certainly disappointing that the club lost both of their opening fixtures. However, at the same time, it is important to also realize that the club are on a rebuilding phase. While it will be a plus if the club can launch pushes for major trophies this season, his main priority should be to get the club to play a more fluid brand of football than they did during the last two years of Wenger’s reign as manager.
It is also important to note that the two losses thus far came against Manchester City and Chelsea who are two of the best sides which are in the League this season. In this regard, Emery was unlucky to have had his opening two games against such tough opponents.
Next week sees the Gunners face off against West Ham. This will be the perfect opportunity for Emery to claim his first points. The Hammers on a poor run of form despite having invested heavily in new players during the summer. They lost their opening fixture 4-0 against Liverpool and went down 2-1 against Bournemouth on Saturday.
There are plenty of positive to take from the defeat against Chelsea. Arsenal held their own for much of the game and the match looked headed for a 2-2 draw before Eden Hazard came off the bench to set up Marcos Alonso who netted the winner during the 81st minute.
The Gunners showed tremendous mental strength to equalize after they were 2-0 down. This type of mental strength was just not there during the final years of Wenger’s tenure, especially against clubs such as City and Chelsea.
While Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a quality striker and will likely deliver as the season progresses, he had a bad game on the day and had he been his usual self, the Gunners could have taken a 4-2 lead going into half-time.