Switching between coaches is both a curse and a blessing. The same scenario hit one of the most popular clubs in the world, Arsenal. Actually, Arsenal was not one of those clubs that used to hire and sack coaches time and time again.
The primer example of this is that the legendary Arsene Wenger spent 22 years on Arsenal’s bench. Can you now believe that my plan is to put Wenger aside, and talk about the Unai Emery Arsenal and Villa record? One season and one Villa win were enough for the Spaniard to write history at the Emirates.
Third Highest Win Percentage in Arsenal’s History
“Unai Emery at Arsenal” sounds a bit nostalgic. This coach became an official Arsenal manager in the 2018/19 season. Nowadays, the Spaniard is coaching Aston Villa. After Villa had some really great results, some football experts and journalists started digging up the Unai Emery Arsenal record.
In other words, many football enthusiasts believe that his success was far from a fluke. The thing that made Emery go down in history was actually the win percentage of this club during his coaching time at Arsenal.
More specifically, Arsenal played 114 games in the Premier League 2018/19 season. The Gunners won 60 out of all 144 matches played. The 55% win record actually witnessed the third-best performance in this club’s all-time record.
Leading Villa to a Win and Breaking the Point Record at the Emirates Stadium
Only Arsene Wenger and Mikael Arteta had a better win percentage than Emery while in Arsenal. However, if we solely focus on the Emirates stadium, we’ll quickly realise that Emery is the record holder there.
Once I took the number of points that every coach gained at the Emirates, I soon came to the top average of 2.26 points that teams under Emery’s guide collected. The Spaniard actually broke this record after beating his ex-club, Arsenal, on Emirates on 14 April 2024.
So, the majority of football admirers praise this Spanish coach for what he managed to do. Even more, what seems to be highly appreciated here is that this was Emery’s first season at the Emirates. The other two coaches had the time to adapt to London, Highbury (at that time), as well as the Emirates.
Emery was denied that privilege. In addition, the Spaniard had to cope with the post-Wenger stress. The club suddenly found itself in a position to have to say goodbye to their 22-year-long collaboration with the Frenchman.
I can only add that Emery also led Arsenal to the Europa League final. In general, the Spaniard is a highly intelligent modern coach that is clearly devoted to the game of football and the clubs he’s leading.
He left Arsenal after some overall mixture of good and bad results. Yet, I think that the Gunners could have let him stay for a while. Their reaction to his bad English and some losses may have been an overstatement in some ways.
