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Mikel Arteta congratulated Unai Emery on his appointment as Villarreal boss, while acknowledging his predecessor has left him with a considerable but “beautiful challenge at Arsenal”.<\/p>\n
Emery was appointed to replace Javier Calleja on Thursday, eight months on from a winless run of seven matches across all competitions that resulted in him being sacked by the Gunners.<\/p>\n
Arteta was handed the reins as his permanent successor the following month and has guided Arsenal to the FA Cup final, although a midweek defeat to relegation-threatened Aston Villa showed inconsistency remains.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the former Manchester City assistant was keen to thank Emery for what has often appeared to be a flawed inheritance.<\/p>\n
“Congratulations for the new job, he’s going back to Spain,” he told a news conference ahead of Sunday’s final Premier League match versus Watford – another game where Arsenal will have a defining say on matters in the bottom three.<\/p>\n
“He’s a manager who has a lot of experience there and has been very successful there.<\/p>\n
“We wish him all the best from our side. There are a lot of people from our side who like him a lot and have huge respect for him.<\/p>\n
“Thanks from my side as well for what he did here with the players, trying to improve the team and the squad.<\/p>\n
“We wish him all the best and hopefully things will go well for him.”<\/p>\n
Arsenal head into the final matchday 10th in the table, with an eighth-place finish their best-case scenario.<\/p>\n
Victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup final is their only remaining route into European competition and Arteta acknowledges they have fallen some way from being a Champions League fixture during his playing days.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think the league table lies at the end of 10 months and with 38 games gone,” he said. “Hopefully next season will be very different.<\/p>\n
“We have a beautiful challenge, a demanding challenge but a beautiful challenge ahead of us.<\/p>\n
“We have to put this club back to where it belongs, which is with the top clubs in this country and Europe. In order to do that we have to make a lot of good decisions.”<\/p>\n
A 2-1 victory over Premier League champions Liverpool last week preceding a 2-0 FA Cup semi-final triumph against City has done nothing to obscure this reality.<\/p>\n
“It hurts so much, [but] it’s a beautiful challenge to bring the club into that position again,” Arteta added.<\/p>\n
“I know how difficult it is going to be, because we can see what other clubs have been doing over the last few seasons.<\/p>\n
“But I am very positive that we are going to be able to do it.”<\/p>\n
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Mikel Arteta congratulated Unai Emery on his appointment as Villarreal boss, while acknowledging his predecessor has left him with a considerable but “beautiful challenge at Arsenal”. Emery was appointed to replace Javier Calleja on Thursday, eight months on from a winless run of seven matches across all competitions that resulted in him being sacked by … Continue reading Arteta wishes Emery well at Villarreal as he faces up to Arsenal rebuild<\/span><\/a> Continue Reading