‘Bang unlucky’: Paul Merson says ‘very good’ man has proven he’s better than he showed at Arsenal

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Unai Emery has achieved the very rare feat of completely transforming his reputation as a manager.

A lot of gaffers do get cast aside after one failure, and it seemed as though Emery was heading in that direction after he left Arsenal.

The Spaniard was seen as something of a joke figure in the Premier League after his departure from the Emirates, but now everyone is reconsidering their view on Emery after a fantastic 12 months at Aston Villa.

Speaking on Off The Ball, Paul Merson has been discussing Unai Emery’s recent resurgence, and he says that the Spaniard has now proven to everyone that he’s better than he showed at Arsenal and that he was actually unlucky in north London.

Emery was unlucky at Arsenal

Merson shared his verdict on the Villa boss.

“He’s a very good manager, he’s a very good coach. I think he was bang unlucky at Arsenal with so many good teams, he’s gone away again and he’s come back and he’s proven what we all thought he was before he was at Arsenal, when he came we thought it was a good appointment, it didn’t work out, but it’s gone to Villa and it’s working out because he’s a very good coach, he has good players, but he’s made them better, and that’s what you call a good coach,” Merson said.

So unlucky

Merson is absolutely right, Emery was massively unlucky at Arsenal.

Replacing Arsene Wenger was such an unenviable task at the time, and that group of players, quite simply, weren’t good enough.

Look at Mikel Arteta’s first few years at the club, the Gunners were spoken about as potential relegation candidates during his second season, but now, Arteta is seen as one of the brightest managers on the planet.

Emery was the right man at the wrong time for Arsenal, and he’s showing just how good he actually is now at Aston Villa.