https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50865120 First interview by Unai after his sacking. Came across well and you can't help feel sorry for him in this savage sport. He also recommends Arteta and wishes him luck. Some excerpts from the interview: "He really is prepared to make that next jump[on Arteta]," said Emery. "He has been at Arsenal before, he's been in the Premier League and he has been working with Pep Guardiola. I do believe this is a good decision and I would also like it to be a good decision." We played in the final against Chelsea where we had a great first half in a tactical sense, and where, in my opinion, we could have taken control of the game. But Eden Hazard separated both sides in their favour and they won the match. And in the league we swam right up to the shore and died on the beach. [on missing top 4] Interesting quote. This season, theoretically, we also began well and I had the feeling - and so did the club - that the achievements of the previous season were valued and we were now looking to how we could develop together, even to the point where they were looking to offer a renewed contract. Then I remember we had one month... At one of the international breaks we were third, and then in the first game after we came back, the frustrations from bad results were beginning to make us worse for the following matches. We were losing confidence, and it's also true to say we were losing a bit of stability. The game against Sheffield United [a 1-0 win for the Blades in October] was a turning point. In one month everything got broken, and we were incapable of winning a game in seven and the tension based on the question we were asking "What's happening to us" was like a rolling ball that was just getting bigger and bigger. I spoke to the players three or four weeks before the process began to tell them that things were not going well and that I couldn't see the team I pictured on the field of play, I couldn't identify what I was looking for. We looked for solutions but results still didn't come. The club made its decision and that was passed on to me by Raul Sanllehi (Arsenal's head of football) with much regret because he also felt his share of the responsibility and we were very united... but the situation had become unsustainable as regards to the protests of a section of the fans. The language barrier becomes bigger in people's eyes, because of the results. I think if the results had been good things would have gone like the previous season - people would have allowed me to make mistakes, and found my English more acceptable than focusing on my mistakes. The main captains last year were Laurent Koscielny, Petr Cech, Aaron Ramsey and Nacho Monreal and they all left the team. So the natural leader in the changing room, because of his values and what he represented, was Granit Xhaka. There was a vote to see if what I felt about him was also felt by the players. And it was. I've had a lot of conversations with Mesut Ozil. He's a very important player for the team. There are games in which you see Mesut's brilliance, linking with the attack. But also I had to find players around him so he felt comfortable. To do so I had to find the right connections between players; the right tactics. I was very motivated to try to find that. I wanted Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut to work together, each one of them with their own characteristics. Ozil is a very important player if you can find a way to make it work with other players. He has talent that allows other players to be better, but when you want a bit more aggressive pressure he does not have the best qualities for that. For the moment it is time to rest. That will be good for my mind. To regroup ideas and to analyse mistakes that we may have made. To talk to people around me to ask them what they saw in what I did. I need time for all that. Personally I need to recover energy to start strong the next thing that I will lead. And I want to take advantage of this conversation to thank Arsenal for the opportunity they gave me to live these moments with them. One bad month will not take that away.
