Unai Emery has outlined his ambitions for the rest of the season playing up the importance of forging a strong connection between his players and the fans.
By fostering an evolved club identity based on ‘energy and hunger’ he’s hoping his squad can achieve their aim of returning to the Champions League, whether that be via a top four finish in the Premier League or success in Europe.
After a forgettable final 12 months under Arsene Wenger, the Gunners, both individually and collectively, have shown signs of improvement since Emery took over; few would argue with that. However, the fact a 16-game unbeaten run has only seen them climb to fifth in the table underlines the challenges that lie ahead.
“The Premier League is our priority, and our objective in terms of the table is to finish in the top four,” Emery told Arsenal.com ahead of Sunday’s trip to Bournemouth.
“The club wants to return to Europe’s top club competition which is the Champions League, and we have two opportunities by which to do that – one is the Premier League, and the other is the Europa League, because obviously, you qualify by winning that competition.
“Both are very difficult but we want to ensure we perform the best we can on both fronts.
“At the same time, every competition where there’s a title up for grabs is important and that counts for the two domestic cup competitions as well.
He added: “We have a third objective however and that is that we want to garner feedback and create a connection with the fans. We want the team to transmit things.
“We want it to convey energy, desire about winning and also a sense of solidity. And within that we want to see individual footballers growing and developing.
“We want to create that kind of atmosphere so it’s about both how we finish in the table and also in terms of creating a team both individually and collectively that has motivation.
“We want Arsenal to convey energy and hunger.”
It’s hard to know for sure, but if we were to guess, we reckon Emery was probably undertaking this interview in Spanish with it later being translated. While his improvement in English has been impressively swift, his choice of words here feels a lot more polished.
Many would agree that Emery’s press conferences, all conducted in English, have been pretty dull affairs this season. Whether it’s down to his evolving language skills, a deliberate decision to keep the press at hands length or a bit of both, he sticks to the same stock phrases to explain everything from his long-term vision to the outcome of any given game.
So far it feels like Arsenal fans have not seen him at his most expansive in interviews, so the above bodes well for the future, as does this very interesting chat with homeland publication MARCA.
Best connection with the fans is by winning games and ultimately trophies. Whatever it takes.
PSG gives bonus to players to connect with fans. Neymar gets 300K for greeting the fans at the end of games.
300K per season.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can safely say that his English is many, many orders of magnitude better than my Spanish, so calling his interviews “dull” is a little harsh imo.
tbf blogs does say it may be down to a deliberate decision to keep the press at arms length, rather than his language skills
His interviews in English are dull, repetitive and incomprehensible at times. He should carry on trying to speak the language, but also do more Spanish interviews so that the Arsenal fans can get to know and understand him (and what he is trying to achieve) better.
You know he spoke in spanish when you don’t see the magic word, also.
…inserted in odd places
Arsealsonal
As long as I can see everyone trying their best, that’s all I ask, and we’ve seen it this season. Heads haven’t dropped when we’ve gone behind, the team is together and fighting hard. There’s a way to go yet, and there will probably be setbacks and frustrations along the way, but I’m loving this team and the new manager, and it’ll take more than a blip or two to spoil the confidence I have in them.
Well said and I think you speak for many of us. Players seem to give more of a shit overall, better esprit de corps and effort all around. It’s been a wonderful run and the joy is back for me anyway but I also think for many. They do need to step it up in the first 30 minutes though, not enough fire so far, and it bit us in the ass hard against CP and Watford, and LCFC almost went into the locker room up a goal on us. Liverpool we got a draw but almost didn’t… you see… Read more »
Wenger has departed now so can we just learn to forget to mention him in every article mentioning Emery? It’s getting tiresome. Thank you.
i couldn’t agree more. “After a forgettable final 12 months under Arsene Wenger” was totally unnecessary.
I think that is a requirement to participate in the Emery love fest.