Unai Emery has said that Jose Mourinho’s dismissal from Manchester United is ‘not good news’ but sadly he didn’t mean it as you and I would mean it.

Speaking to the press ahead of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Tottenham on Wednesday night, the Arsenal head coach was inevitably asked about the dismissal of the man who has now been sacked twice since he called Arsene Wenger a ‘specialist in failure’.

“The only thing I can say to you is that it’s a surprise for me and not good news, because when one coach finishes his work like that, it’s not good for coaches,” Emery said.

Reporters then tried to draw him on his opinion of Mourinho at United but, unlike Wenger who would talk at length on any subject, Emery wasn’t interested. “My focus is only on our way, our work,” he said.

“We have a lot of work to do to improve and also find a solution in every match with our players. My focus is on the big derby tomorrow, the north London derby, and that’s the focus of the players as well. Only that.”

Of course, if the reporters had asked us and we’d said it was ‘not good news’ that’s because United can’t possibly hire a fourth dud manager in a row.

Can they?