How badly is Unai Emery doing at Arsenal? Just look at my birthday messages, writes Alan Smith

Unpopular? Unai Emery
AFP/Getty Images
Alan Smith22 November 2019

I know Twitter isn’t a true barometer of public opinion, but I was taken aback on my birthday on Thursday when reading through the messages.

In among the good wishes, there were actually lots of calls for Unai Emery’s sacking — as if my birthday was somehow linked to the Arsenal manager’s future.

You don’t hear so much, of course, from those who believe Emery deserves more time to sort things out, but it would be interesting to know if that’s the silent majority, or whether their numbers have dwindled to such an extent that they now belong in the minority.

The defeat at Leicester wouldn’t have helped their cause, since it confirmed the gap between my two old clubs.

But it isn’t so much a gap in quality, more a difference in cohesion and understanding. Leicester look like a proper unit, the Gunners a collection of individuals.

After Southampton, Arsenal face Norwich and Brighton. If the mood hasn’t improved after that, Emery is really in trouble — and not just on social media.

Is time nearly up for Unai Emery? Cast your vote above.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in