Arsenal sack Unai Emery after Eintracht Frankfurt Europa League defeat

Unai Emery has been sacked by Arsenal following last night’s shambolic Europa League defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Speaking on behalf of the Arsenal board and our owners Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Josh Kroenke said: ‘Our most sincere thanks go to Unai and his colleagues who were unrelenting in their efforts to get the club back to competing at the level we all expect and demand.

‘We wish Unai and his team nothing but future success.’

The Spaniard took over from Arsene Wenger in the summer of 2018 and initially impressed, presiding over an impressive 11-game winning run.

Results and performances, however, dipped markedly towards the end of last season, culminating in a failure to secure Champions League qualification and a 4-1 Europa League final defeat against Chelsea.

Emery was backed in the transfer window during the summer with the likes of Nicolas Pepe, David Luiz and Kieran Tierney arriving to bolster a squad which had lost the services of Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny.

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The Gunners won their opening two matches of the campaign against Newcastle and Burnley, but a convincing 3-1 defeat at Anfield against Liverpool sparked an alarming run of which has seen Arsenal win just one of their last nine matches in all competitions.

Emery’s side needed only a draw to guarantee to their place in the knockout stage of this season’s Europa League but two second half goals from Daichi Kamada condemned Arsenal to their most embarrassing defeat of an already calamitous season.

The former PSG and Sevilla coach had been given a vote of confidence by the club’s board following the 2-0 defeat against Leicester ahead of the most recent international break, but last night’s farce, played out in front of a half empty Emirates Stadium, proved to be the final straw.

More to follow…