Arsenal fans have finally got their wish. The team has announced on Friday that they have sacked Unai Emery as their manager. This comes after the club suffered a come-from-behind 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Emery leaves Arsenal at 8th place on the Premier League standings and 19 points behind the first-placed Liverpool. The team has also failed to get a win in their last seven games.
“Our most sincere thanks go to Unai and his colleagues who were unrelenting in their efforts to get the club back to competing at the level we all expect and demand,” said the club’s board member Josh Kroenke. “We wish Unai and his team nothing but future success.”
Arsenal has appointed club legend Freddie Ljungberg as the interim manager while the search for a permanent solution is underway.
“We have asked Freddie Ljungberg to take responsibility for the first team as interim head coach,” Kroenke added. “We have full confidence in Freddie to take us forward. The search for a new head coach is underway and we will make a further announcement when that process is complete.”
Unai Emery is best known for his stint with Sevilla between 2013 and 2016, during which he won three Europa Leagues. Emery then spent two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain, winning one League 1 title, before being named Arsene Wenger’s replacement at Arsenal in 2018.
Despite an encouraging start in London, Emery narrowly failed to qualify for Champions League in his first season with the team. The highlight of his run with the team is Europa League Finals appearance last season where Arsenal suffered a 4-1 defeat to their cross-town rivals Chelsea.
According to reports, Arsenal is considering several candidates as Emery’s replacement, with Wolves’ manager Nuno Espirito Santo and Manchester City’s assistant and former Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta being favorites for the job.
