Arsenal legend Thierry Henry shares new Unai Emery theory and says 'if we kept him a bit longer'

Unai Emery was sacked by Arsenal in 2019 and replaced by Mikel Arteta, but Thierry Henry believes things could have been different under the now-Aston Villa manager

Arsenal icon Thierry Henry has expressed his belief that Unai Emery could have been successful at the Emirates Stadium had he been afforded more time. Despite being at the helm for only 18 months before Mikel Arteta took over, Henry is convinced Emery had the potential to transform Arsenal into title contenders, a sentiment he shared with CBS Sports:.

"He's a tactical genius.," Henry said, reports the Mirror. "He always goes out there and makes sure that his team has an advantage tactically because that's how he operates." Henry highlighted Emery's achievements post-Arsenal, including Europa League triumphs and leading Aston Villa to Champions League qualification, adding: "We all know what he did in Spain [winning the Europa League four times with Sevilla and Villarreal]. It's no disrespect to what Mikel Arteta is doing and he's doing extremely well for Arsenal, but I just thought that if we kept him a bit longer he would have been a success at Arsenal."

"He did show it straight after when he left the club. I have massive respect for him." Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool defender and fellow pundit, also praised Emery after Aston Villa's 1-0 defeat of Bayern Munich, saying: "I think he's fantastic. I think he's one of the best coaches in European football."

Carragher added: "He's had great success in Europe, not in this particular competition but in the Europa League specifically with Sevilla and Villarreal. I would say in the English Premier League we have Pep Guardiola above everybody else and he comes second." He went on to highlight Emery's impact, saying: "He's not at one of the biggest clubs and when you think of the effect a manager can have on a football club... I always believe the manager is the most important person at a club and he is testament to that."

Commenting on Emery's transformative effect on Villa, he continued: "That was a team who were flirting with relegation [when he joined] and within a couple of years they're in the Champions League. It's phenomenal what he's done."

Emery's reputation was further boosted after orchestrating a memorable night in Villa's history. The victory over Bayern during their first heavyweight clash in the Champions League at Villa Park was capped by Jhon Duran's decisive goal, which sent a strong message to Villa's European rivals.

Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel

Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!

By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.

To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!

If you're curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.