For the first time in over two decades, Arsenal head into the new Premier League season facing the unknown.
A generation of supporters have known nothing other than Arsene Wenger leading the Gunners, a figurehead who wanted – and for plenty of years held – near-autonomy over the north London club.
But, whether he jumped or was pushed, Wenger is now gone after a near-22-year tenure that delivered three league titles and seven FA Cup wins.
An ever-growing swell of vocal fans got what they wanted.
But he was not simply replaced at the helm. Unai Emery is the new man in charge, but will be working in a different role, having been appointed as head coach in May.
He has a support team around him – chief executive Ivan Gazidis, head of football relations Raul Sanllehi and head of recruitment Sven Mislintat – allowing him to focus on concocting a winning formula on the training ground.
Emery, 46, has brought with him his team of trusted lieutenants and, while some faces from the previous regime – the likes of assistant Steve Bould and director of high performance Darren Burgess – remain in place, the Spaniard is moving things in his direction.
“They are working very hard,” Emery, a man renowned for demanding plenty of energy from his players, said of his squad the first two weeks of pre-season.
“They are working with the ambition that I want. I think the quality is high here, and I think together we will work with this quality and the details in the tactics.
“They will go with my ideas and work with my ideas every day, and this will help them to do these things on the pitch.”
Asked to discuss his tactical approach, Emery’s opening gambit was simple: “I want to win.”
He then offered up more details on what he will expect from his players: “The performances, every day, for work on attacking, defending, is to be competitive each match.
“For me, the most important thing is to be and to create one competitive team. And then, we have the quality.”
There has been a relative overhaul of the squad which will be asked to carry out such instruction, with transfers completed quickly and efficiently once targets had been identified.
It appears areas of weakness highlighted by many over the last two years have been addressed.
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno will challenge Petr Cech for the gloves, experienced defenders Stephan Lichtsteiner and Sokratis Papastathopoulos have been added to a questionable back line, and the midfield guile of stand-out signing Lucas Torreira signals the intent of the club moving forward.
Can we talk about Emery for a sec? The man joined Arsenal with huge shoes to fill & in his first transfer window he signed 5 players in positions we needed. More intense training for the players, bringing out the best in Ozil etc. Brought all the players together, all in 2 months
— Aubazètte (@LacaIconic) July 18, 2018
Unlike when David Moyes replaced Sir Alex Ferguson after he ended his 26 years at Manchester United by winning the title in 2013, there is minimal pressure on Emery to follow suit.
A distant sixth place was Arsenal’s final finishing position under Wenger and any improvement on that, given the quality of rival clubs fighting at the top end of the league, will be well received.
There is no doubting that the fixture computer has found a way to give Emery a baptism of fire.
Runaway champions Manchester City visit the Emirates Stadium on the opening weekend of the season before a tough London derby across town at Chelsea.
It is feasible that Arsenal may be left with no points from their two first games under the former Paris St Germain coach but, if Emery’s team can hit the ground running, a 22-year-old question may be asked once again: “Arsene, who?”
Lead image taken from Arsenal’s official website.
