Despite what the more militant members of the AFTV brigade might have you believe, Unai Emery has many strengths.
This is a man who won a trio of Europa League titles at Sevilla, led Valencia to consecutive ‘top three’ finishes in La Liga, while earning himself a reputation across the continent for his meticulous planning and a tendency to make an overachieving team far better than the sum of it’s parts.
But if there is one area where Emery is lacking, it is in the man management department.
His belated and drawn-out departure from Arsenal in the autumn had many a champagne cork popping in the Emirates dressing room while, during two tumultuous seasons at PSG, he struggled to keep egoistical superstars like Neymar and Edinson Cavani on a short leash.
Even Thiago Silva, the legendary captain famed for his maturity and leadership skills, didn’t exactly get on like a house on fire with the Basque-born tactician.
‘I did not succeed’
“I wanted the team to defend higher up (the pitch). Thiago Silva is a super player but I wanted him to sit higher up and I did not succeed in convincing him to accept that,” Emery would tell France Football.
“I wanted him to leave his comfort zone but I did not succeed.”
Emery even suggested that it was Silva’s reluctance to adapt to those new instructions which cost PSG dearly in that infamous 6-1 Champions League thumping at the hands of Barcelona.
“This characteristic of Thiago Silva’s game (to defend deep) reverberated across the rest of the team who, under pressure, had a natural tendency to retreat. Like at the Camp Nou, where I gave the instruction to sit higher up.
“But it was not heard…”
With Silva’s trophy-laden spell at the Parc des Princes set to come to an end in July when his contract expires, 90Min reports that the experienced Brazilian could be on his way to Arsenal.
Fortunately, Emery is no longer pulling the strings at the Emirates.
It remains to be seen whether Silva is a little more receptive to Mikel Arteta’s instructions.
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