Unai Emery is trying to get his squad up to speed ahead of the new season starting against Manchester City in just a few weeks and believes working to get the tactics right is more important than the scoreline in pre-season.
Hallelujah!
While many of us hope for a win for the Spaniard against his former side, PSG, as some form of revenge because they got rid of him despite winning the treble, we all know that the scoreline is unimportant unless it is humiliating for one of the sides.
Emery, however, has his mind on other things and highlighted four areas he’s working on – positioning, movement, quality, and combinations.
“We are watching every match,” he said ahead of Arsenal’s next pre-season friendly against PSG.
“Each condition on the pitch individually and collectively. Now, for me, it’s the moment to work on tactical things, to work on getting every player up to speed.
“The result isn’t the most important thing for me right now, it’s other things. It’s all about the positioning, the movement on the pitch, the individual quality and the combinations together.
“I have my way and I want to work with the same mentality I’ve had in my whole career. I want to build a team with a good spirit, a good energy and a very good quality of players.
“Every player is committed to working hard this season and is aware of the demands. Every player at the club and the coaches too, in our careers we have worked hard under these demanding conditions.
“I believe in these players and now I am very happy with these players who are working hard every day. On Monday we will also get the players returning from the World Cup. For me, if there is a possibility to sign another player, it isn’t important now, but while the window is open we can discuss the possibility.”
There is no denying that the players who stayed after Arsene Wenger and his team left are in desperate need of proper tactical coaching.
With Emery freed from the demands of being an all-encompassing manager, the squad will certainly receive that.