Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0 in the Premier League on Sunday
Monday 11 March 2019 06:43, UK
Are Arsenal different under their new manager, Unai Emery, compared to their last few seasons under Arsene Wenger? The Sky Sports pundits analyse...
Arsenal faced a crunch game against Manchester United in the race for the top four, and came out as 2-0 winners on Sunday afternoon, putting them two points clear of their opponents in fourth spot.
Following the game, Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville and Graeme Souness discussed how they have changed under Emery and their chances of finishing in the top four in a few months time...
I think there have been moments when they've lost games and people have said 'oh, it's not different than last year' - it's a lot different in the sense that I've seen two games live here - this one and the Tottenham game - where the atmosphere has been absolutely outstanding. The performance today and last week at Wembley was also outstanding with a team that doesn't inspire you that much.
There's an energy about them and I think he's achieving the maximum with the players. There will be a couple of bumps in the road, they need a couple of good transfer windows to still to get them back to where the Arsenal fans wants them but at the moment, it is a really good start. At this moment in time, they're in real good shape to finish in the top four.
When you think of the Arsene Wenger teams of the last few years, even when they were playing well, you wouldn't get the stadium like it was today. It feels like there is an intensity in the stadium and a real big atmosphere. Coming here over the last four or five years, I haven't really seen that.
"If you judge where teams should finish judging on how we see the squad, I think Arsenal should finish in sixth, and at this moment, they're in fourth. That shows the job that he is doing and that shows the change in the team and the stadium."
Where it hasn't changed is that they're still conceding lots of goals, they still look awful at times defensively and are still getting rolled over in big games by high scores.
I think Arsenal's squad of players are the worst in the top six. If you judge where teams should finish judging on how we see the squad, I think Arsenal should finish in sixth, and at this moment, they're in fourth. That shows the job that he is doing and that shows the change in the team and the stadium. The team he wants is a more intensive team that what we saw under Arsene Wenger.
If you go back to the early part of the season, Petr Cech was in goal and then Bernrd Leno came in, they were playing a lot of daft football around their box and getting caught out. He's looked at the Premier League and realised our football is more intense than the stuff he has been used to working in and I don't think they look vulnerable from those positions anymore.
I'm impressed by him and I think the manager's priority is to get the most from that group of players and I think he is, by and large, out of this group. Yes, they're vulnerable and he'll need time to maybe buy a few players who he thinks can defend better and be more creative - he's certainly got a strike force that few have - and providing he gets the backing, I think he'll do a really good job here. He's a man, in my opinion, who knows what he's doing.
