Arsenal visit Aston Villa on Saturday looking to put to an end their four-match winless run. Standing in their way will be a familiar face.
When Unai Emery took over at Villa in October the phrase "unfinished business" sprung up all over the place. The Spanish manager was returning to the Premier League for the first time since being sacked by Arsenal in November 2019 after a run of seven games without a win.
Emery took over the Gunners following Arsene Wenger's departure after 22 years in charge. He enjoyed a 22-game unbeaten run in his first season, but it unravelled as they eventually finished fifth in the Premier League and lost the Europa League final to Chelsea.
His second season was even more challenging and he was eventually sacked with the team eighth in the table, eight points off the top four and on their worst run since 1992. Emery’s 18 months at the Emirates Stadium was a time of transition and division at the club.
Mikel Arteta was appointed his successor in December 2019 and has taken the club on a gradual upward curve, winning the FA Cup in his first season and going from eighth-place finishes to fifth last year. Arsenal are now second in the Premier League and fighting it out with Manchester City for what would be their first title win since 2003/04.
Arsenal have moved on from Emery – and Emery has moved on from Arsenal. But he remains convinced that, despite being sacked, he put in some of the groundwork from which Arteta is now building upon in north London.
"It was a difficult moment for any coach coming in, to establish yourself," Emery told The Athletic in April 2022. "Certain players who had been important, but were not any longer, found that difficult to understand. The fans also found it difficult to understand that there needed to be an evolution. Changes were needed, and I began those changes."
Emery trusted the young players at Arsenal, giving debuts to Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe. all three are now flourishing under Arteta.
"Saka and Smith Rowe began to play with me," Emery said last year. "I gave Saka his Premier League debut against Fulham, on January 1, when he was 17. You had to work with these young players, to replace those who were there before. Gabriel Martinelli, who arrived then too – I knew he was a player who would grow."
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He added: "Arteta is doing a good job, continuing what I began. He has had that patience from the fans, the patience they did not have with me. But I understand that."
Emery won 43 of his 78 games in charge at Arsenal, with his 55 per cent win ratio only just shy of Arteta’s 57 per cent, which comes from 93 wins from 162 games. It is clear that Arteta knows he has benefited from Emery’s work with the young players.
Back in January 2021, Arteta was trying to convince Martin Odegaard that Arsenal was the place for him to blossom on loan from Real Madrid. Odegaard recently recounted what it was that persuaded him to join the club, who he now captains.
"He told me his plan, everything he was building towards," he said. "He knew exactly what needed to change at the club. He told me all about these amazing young players in the squad - Saka, Martinelli, Smith Rowe, etc., etc. He told me how he wanted me to fit in and how I was going to improve."
That trio have risen to prominence under Arteta, but they were given a first opportunity under Emery.
