The appointment of Unai Emery as Arsenal head coach was supposed to herald a new dawn for a club plagued by regression and rancour towards the end of Arsene Wenger’s time in charge.
But 17 months on, it seems Emery finds himself in a similar position to Wenger, only without the 22-year background that made the Frenchman’s departure such a difficult decision.
Speculation over Emery’s future ratcheted up after his side let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday, but internally the Spaniard is safe for now.
As is normal after most games at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal’s head of football Raul Sanllehi and technical director Edu entered the dressing room to speak with players and staff. Director Josh Kroenke was over from America and, as is customary on such visits, he went to see Emery in his office. The conversation is said to have been routine; business as usual.
Anger within the corridors of power was directed not towards the 47-year-old, rather the VAR system that granted Palace a route back into the contest and later denied Arsenal a winning goal.
The subject will be aggressively raised by the Gunners at Monday’s directors of football meeting, which takes place inside the Premier League’s London offices at 10am GMT.
Chaired by the Premier League’s own director of football Richard Garlick, these gatherings take place two or three times a year and provide a chance to talk about a whole range of topics, including fixture schedules and youth development, but this one is likely to be dominated by VAR.
Arsenal’s hierarchy are seething about the decisions and believe the anger of their supporters would have been channelled in the same direction were it not for the fall-out from captain Granit Xhaka’s behaviour as he was substituted off, which the club admit was unjustifiable.
Emery still has firm support from those above him, although there is now an acceptance that after a year and a half in the job and with the benefit of significant backing in the transfer market last summer, there is not much more the club can do and the onus is on him to deliver.
They do not believe in knee-jerk reactions and will give Emery time, most probably until the end of the season, before deciding if he will be allowed to go into the final year of his contract.
There was a desire within a section of Arsenal’s top brass to reward him with a new deal last summer, but this was not a universal wish and the majority verdict held sway.
It is also fair to say that Emery does not retain the backing of his entire squad — the main concern of some members being an apparent absence of team identity and clarity on what is being asked of them — but equally the majority of players and staff are believed to be behind him.
There is even sympathy for him within certain quarters, given the amount of on and off-field change, as well as various political and personal issues, with which he has had to contend.
Emery was the unanimous choice to succeed Wenger after a thorough recruitment process that saw a long list of candidates whittled down to a final eight, all of whom were interviewed.
The identities of the other seven have never previously been made public, but The Athletic can exclusively reveal they were, in alphabetical order: Massimiliano Allegri, Mikel Arteta, Thierry Henry, Julen Lopetegui, Ralf Rangnick, Jorge Sampaoli and Patrick Vieira.
Arsenal additionally discussed Antonio Conte, Eddie Howe, Maurizio Sarri and Brendan Rodgers — but for differing reasons they were not pursued, while Luis Enrique was never an option.
The only contender who came close to Emery was Arteta, but ultimately his lack of managerial experience and a readily available backroom team worked against the former Gunners captain.
It is unclear what contingency plans are in place if Arsenal decide to part with Emery — although there is a sense that assistant first-team coach Freddie Ljungberg would be capable of at least assuming a caretaker role — but currently that is not even a consideration
