Sunday Supplement: Unai Emery has done well to stabilise Arsenal after Arsene Wenger

Unai Emery deserves credit for stabilising Arsenal following Arsene Wenger’s departure even if their form has suffered in recent weeks, according to Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail.

Emery’s side sit fifth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, thanks largely to a 22-game unbeaten run before Christmas that saw fans hopeful of a return to Champions League football next season.

But five defeats in their last 10 – including damaging cup losses to Tottenham and Manchester United – have tempered expectations at the Emirates, and Mokbel believes Emery faces a tough job to avoid the kind of slump that afflicted United in the years following Sir Alex Ferguson.

“They had a fantastic bounce after losing those opening two games, and it was all looking very rosy, but now it’s five losses in their last 10 games, which is really inconsistent,” he told Sunday Supplement.

“They’ve had a lot of injuries, particularly at the back, but have they progressed? I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how they’ve adapted to the post-Wenger era.

“When Ferguson left United, we saw with that season under David Moyes, how difficult it can be when a guy who has been at a club for so long, how difficult it can be the following season for the new guy to make progress and stamp his authority on the team and the squad.

“After that initial bounce, Emery is finding now that he has a job on his hands to get the club back into the top four.

“At the start of the season it looked a shoo-in to get into the top four, and I’m not suggesting he is under pressure, but the proof of how far they have come will be there at the end of the season.

“Under Wenger, they had a policy of going for a younger player with a sell-on value and they seem to be going for older, ready-made players now.

“But if they make that outlay and don’t get into the Champions League, that’s when they’ve got a problem financially.”