Arsenal manager Unai Emery is under pressure.
Arsenal manager Unai Emery is under pressure and his job is a big talking point.
Former Arsenal star Emmanel Petit has called for the Gunners to fire Emery and replace him with one of his ex-teammates.
Petit told The Mail that he wants to see Thierry Henry or Patrick Vieira take over.
He accepts his suggestion may not be appreciated by all, but believes they have the qualities Arsenal need right now.
Petit said: “People may laugh at me but I wouldn’t mind seeing a former player on the bench,’ he added. ‘Is there a former Arsenal great you can call, like Thierry Henry or Patrick Vieira? Pick one: there are so many. You even have Freddie Ljungberg already in the dugout.
“‘I want to see passion, emotion. Someone who, when he takes your hand, you can feel the electricity. I want someone who can bring that to the Arsenal dressing room, because they need to wake up.'”
Henry has had one stint in management so far which ended badly at Monaco. This has hurt his hopes of landing the Gunners job in the short term.
Patrick Vieira is picking up more experience with Nice, although they sit an unspectacular 13th in Ligue 1.
But the ex-player approach has been tried with brief success at Chelsea with Frank Lampard, while Manchester United are attempting to make it work with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
It would be interesting to see Arsenal look at taking a similar approach. Some would suggest replacements couldn’t do much worse than Unai Emery.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
