Unai Emery is too similar to Arsene Wenger to lead Gunners revolution, says Tony Adams

The former Gunners captain says the new boss has presided over two ‘Wenger performances’ in their defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea.

While admitting Emery needs time, Adams has been saddened by two displays which lacked any ‘steel and resilience’ — mirroring the latter years under Wenger.

He said: “After Arsene, I was so excited with the prospect of a real change — it was a great chance to do things differently but against City it was an Arsene Wenger performance — only more so.

“I felt so sad about that. Everyone knows what Arsenal have been missing — it’s that steel, that resilience.

"Whether Emery can coach it or not I don’t know yet, it is early days.


“But then away to Chelsea they were all over the place again — you’re not watching them thinking ‘there’s a change here’.

“It’s the same goalkeeper, the same style of play — it just feels the same, there’s no one rocking the boat.

“Chief executive Ivan Gazidis has gone for a ‘head coach’ because they don’t want someone with the power Arsene had.

“But they still want to appease the fans with a style of play like Arsene had. They don’t want to lose the ideology of the ‘beautiful game’ . . . whatever that is.

“I don’t think you are going to have success that way because there are clubs doing it far better, with better players and more money than us.

“Good luck if you think you are trying to outplay Manchester City.”

Adams felt Emery should have selected new keeper Bernd Leno and was dismayed to see holding midfielder Lucas Torreira start on the bench.

And he added: “When you sign an experienced defender like Stephan Lichtsteiner, you should play him.”



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