Charlie Nicholas believes Unai Emery was doomed at Arsenal from the moment he failed to deal with the Granit Xhaka incident ‘correctly’.
Emery lost his job at the Emirates on Friday morning, 18 months after he took over from Gunners legend Arsene Wenger.
Under Emery, Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League last season – while losing the Europa League final to Chelsea – and had slipped to eighth in the table this term.
Nicholas insists Arsenal had no choice but to sack Emery and says the manager was unable to ‘rescue the situation’ following Xhaka’s shocking clash with his own fans.
‘I hate the sacking game, I am never one that wanted to play it too often, but Unai Emery had to go,’ Nicholas told Sky Sports.
‘There was no way of rescuing the situation. It has been complete meltdown since the captaincy situation and they never handled it correctly.
‘The results and style have been poor – there has not been a style. This is from a guy, who every club I have seen him at has had a DNA and style, particularly with Valencia and Sevilla.
‘He didn’t control who he brought in at PSG but he let them play. I have, although it doesn’t give him any merit, some sympathy.
‘Emery inherited a very bad defence and a lack of structure. The lack of backing and leadership from upstairs is terrifying and I couldn’t see him being demanding or going against them.
‘It says it all how he spent £72m on Nicolas Pepe, which hasn’t worked.
‘There is no togetherness and spirit in the Arsenal side, so the fact he has left should sharpen a lot of them up. I am sticking with a 3-2 Arsenal win at Norwich win at the weekend.’
Emery has been replaced on a temporary basis by assistant and former Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg.
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