Unai Emery’s honeymoon period at Arsenal seems to be over after a worrying slump in form recently.
Following a fine run of 22 games unbeaten, the Gunners now have just three wins in their last eight matches in all competitions – two home wins in the Premier League over Burnley and Fulham, and an FA Cup win over League One side Blackpool.
In that run they’ve been convincingly beaten by Southampton and Liverpool, as well as suffering a narrow defeat to West Ham in their last game.
With Manchester United’s revival, a top four spot now looks an even bigger challenge for Arsenal to grab this season, with Emery facing a very difficult job of turning things around.
If the Spaniard’s appointment is really to prove a step forward for the club after a steady decline under his predecessor Arsene Wenger, these are five things he needs to work on in the coming months, not just this season but in preparation for next season too…
Mesut Ozil needs to return to the Arsenal XI
1) Bring back Mesut Ozil
This experiment has gone far enough – Mesut Ozil needs to get back into the Arsenal team ASAP.
The German is by no means the best player in the world, and there are valid criticisms to be made of his consistency and work rate.
However, no one else in this squad can offer that touch of class and creativity that Ozil does, and Arsenal are not a team that can afford to be messing around with such a top player.
Thankfully, Emery has perhaps hinted he’s only keeping the 30-year-old out of the side to spark a reaction, telling Sky Sports: ‘At certain times, you have to provoke friction with footballers. From that friction, you can get something more out of them, something from inside, a greater sense of ambition or maybe even a complaint – a complaint regarding the team can be positive.’