Unai Emery selalu meraih trofi bersama klubnya dalam empat tahun terakhir (Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Jakarta - Setelah 22 tahun Arsenal punya manajer baru. Menggantikan Arsene Wenger yang pergi musim panas ini, manajemen The Gunners menunjuk Unai Emery sebagai bos baru di Emirates Stadium. Berikut data dan fakta Unai Emery, dikutip dari Reuters - Unai Emery lahir pada 3 November 1971 di Hondarribia, Spanyol.
- Karier sepakbolanya dimulai di tahun 1990 saat dia bermain sebagai gelandang di Real Sociedad B, yang ketika itu ada di Divisi 2 Liga Spanyol. - Di tim utama Real Sociedad dia hanya tampil di lima pertandingan pada ajang La Liga. Dia kemudian memperkuat Toledo, Racing Ferrol, Leganes, dan Lorca Deportivo. Karier Manajerial - Setelah karier sebagai pemain tuntas di musim 2004/2005 karena cedera lutut, Emery langsung jadi pelatih di Lorca Deportivo. - Klub berikutnya yang dia latih adalah Almeria, Valencia, dan Spartak Moscow. Berikunya Sevilla yang merasakan sentuhannya pada 2013. - Bersama Sevilla dia tiga kali beruntun menjuarai Liga Europa mulai dari 2014. - Di Juni 2016 dia bergabung dengan Paris Saint Germain dan memenangi Piala Prancis di musim perdana. - Pada tahun kedua di PSG, dia mengantar klub kaya Prancis itu merebut treble Piala Domestik. Trofi Sevilla Juara Liga Europa: 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16. Paris Saint Germain Ligue 1: 2017-18. Coupe de France: 2016-17, 2017-18. Coupe de la Ligue: 2016-17, 2017-18. Prestasi Individu Pelatih Terbaik Eropa: 2013-14.
London - Arsenal secara resmi mengumumkan Unai Emery sebagai manajer baru. Penunjukan Emery mengonfirmasi kabar yang beredar belakangan ini. Emery dalam beberapa hari terakhir memang sudah kencang dikaitkan dengan Arsenal. Statusnya yang tak terikat dengan klub karena baru meninggalkan Paris Saint-Germain memudahkan The Gunners melakukan tahapan-tahapan negosiasi. Arsenal pun kemudian mengumumkan Emery sebagai manajer baru mulai musim 2018/2019.
"Unai Emery akan menjadi pelatih kepala yang baru untuk kami. Dia bergabung dengan klub setelah menyelesaikan periode dua musim di Paris Saint-Germain, di mana dia baru-baru ini 'mendaratkan' treble yakni Ligue 1, Coupe de France, dan Coupe de la Ligue," ungkap pernyataan resmi Arsenal. Kedatangan Emery menandai era baru Arsenal, setelah berakhirnya periode 22 tahun Arsene Wenger di klub London utara tersebut. Belum diketahui berapa lama durasi kontrak eks pelatih Sevilla dan PSG ini. "Unai punya rekam jejak sukses yang luar biasa selama kariernya, telah mengembangkan sejumlah talenta muda terbaik di Eropa dan memainkan gaya sepakbola yang menarik dan progresif yang cocok dengan Arsenal," ungkap Chief Executive Arsenal Ivan Gazidis. "Pendekatan kerja keras dan gairahnya, serta caranya menghargai nilai-nilai di dalam dan luar lapangan membuatnya sosok yang ideal untuk membawa kami bergerak maju," tambah Gazidis. Emery mengaku tak sabar memimpin Arsenal di pertandingan-pertandingan, menyebut tim ini salah satu yang terbaik. "Saya bersemangat untuk bergabung dengan salah satu klub terbaik di permainan ini," katanya dilansir Sky Sports . "Arsenal dikenal dan dicintai di seluruh dunia karena gaya permainannya, komitmennya terhadap para pemain muda, stadionnya yang fantastis, dan cara klub ini dijalankan." "Saya sangat antusias bisa diberikan tanggung jawab untuk memulai episode baru yang penting dalam sejarah Arsenal ini," tandas Emery. Emery membawa PSG memenangi satu gelar Liga Prancis dan masing-masing dua titel di Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, dan, Piala Super Prancis. Bersama Sevilla dia meraih tiga gelar Liga Europa secara beruntun dari 2014-2016. [Gambas:Twitter]
LONDON, KOMPAS.com - Unai Emery akhirnya resmi didaulat menjadi pelatih baru Arsenal menggantikan Arsene Wenger, Rabu (23/5/2018).
"Kami dengan bangga mengumumkan bahwa Unai Emery akan menjadi pelatih baru Arsenal," ucap Stan Kroenke, pemegang saham mayoritas Arsenal di situs web resmi klub.
"Dia merupakan pelatih juara dan sudah terbukti. Kami percaya dia merupakan sosok yang tepat untuk pekerjaan ini dan akan mempersembahkan gelar bagi kami dan para suporter," tuturnya.
Emery hadir di Arsenal sebagai pengganti Arsene Wenger. Mantan pelatih Paris Saint-Germain itu diharapkan bisa memberikan nuansa baru kepada tim setelah 22 tahun dibesut Wenger.
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A new dawn. A new era. A new chapter.#WelcomeUnai pic.twitter.com/kGrE2gMLQl
Unai Emery declared his intention to turn Arsenal into “the best team in the Premier League and also the world” after being confirmed as the managerial successor to Arsène Wenger on a three-year contract.
On a day of hyperbole, the chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, suggested that the Arsenal job was the most coveted in football and made it plain that in Emery, the club believed they had the man to rekindle former glories.
Unai Emery’s drive and energy at centre stage on day one at Arsenal | Amy Lawrence Read more
Emery spoke in English at his unveiling at Emirates Stadium, which was a surprise – it was decent enough – and he described the challenge in front of him as a “dream come true”.
The 46-year-old Spaniard’s title is that of head coach and he will concentrate on coaching and man-managing the first-team, while Raúl Sanllehí and Sven Mislintat, whom Gazidis has appointed to recruitment positions, will oversee transfers.
Emery has agreed to work within the new structure and he knows that the club will operate on a £50m transfer budget next season. He suggested that he did not envisage wholesale changes to the squad, which finished sixth in this past Premier League campaign. “This team is a big team, with big players, and we think we need to change little things – a few players.” he said. “The target is to be a candidate and to challenge for the title. It is very important for the club, after two years outside the Champions League, to work this way, to be the best club, the best team in the Premier League and also in the world.”
Emery was asked about his style. “My idea is to be protagonists,” he said. “The history here is a team that love playing with possession and I like that personality. When you don’t have possession, I want a squad that are very, very intensive with the pressing. The two things are important for me to be protagonists – possession of the ball and pressing when you don’t have the ball.”
Gazidis spoke at length about the process that led to Emery’s appointment – the starting point of which, he said, was that “every coach in the world would be interested in this position. We believe there is not a position in world football that is more attractive than Arsenal football club.”
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Gazidis, Sanllehí and Mislintat drew up an eight-man shortlist, which is known to have included the Manchester City assistant coach, Mikel Arteta, and the Juventus manager, Max Allegri. “All of those eight people were interested in the position and all of those eight people took part in extensive, in-person interviews with us,” Gazidis said. “None of them at any stage withdrew their interest.”
The announcement that Wenger would step down at the end of the season after 22 years was made on 20 April and Gazidis said the interviews took place between 25 April and Tuesday of last week. The list was whittled down to three contenders and, at that point, Arteta was the favourite. Emery was interviewed on 10 May.
But, after a collective brainstorm, Gazidis said that last Friday he, Sanllehí and Mislintat unanimously agreed to recommend Emery to the board. He gave an illustration of the thoroughness when he said the formal recommendation was supported by a 100-page dossier that contained references, analysis, background information and videos of each of the three contenders in action on the sideline.
Gazidis added that trusted, external experts were brought in to offer “unprejudiced opinions” and that, until the very end, “Raúl, Sven and I spoke to each other as little as possible because we didn’t want to pollute each other’s viewpoints.”
Emery met with the London-based members of the club’s board on Monday before flying to Atlanta that night with Gazidis and Sanllehí to meet the majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, and his son, Josh. They returned on the Tuesday night red-eye. “All of the board members were energised and enthusiastic about the recommendation and enthusiastically endorsed it,” Gazidis said.
Gazidis has restructured the club, particularly over the past season, and he could not have sounded more bullish about Arsenal’s prospects of success, even when it was put to him that Manchester United had struggled after the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson after 26 years. An overriding theme was Emery’s energy and the chemistry that Gazidis has felt with him.
“We have a big challenge ahead,” Gazidis said. “But I feel we can face it with confidence. We’ve done an awful lot of groundwork over a number of years. So there’s been some very, very dramatic changes across the club to try to prepare for this moment and to give Unai the support he will need.
“Everything in football is a risk. There are no such things as guarantees. That’s why it’s elite competition. But I have every confidence that we’ve done everything we can to give ourselves the best chance of success.”
He added: “I do think the new way of working, the new energy – it’s not a criticism of Arsène – I just think that change stimulates the environment and I think it’s going to be very positive.
“I could not possibly feel better about this appointment. And the feeling that myself and Unai have between each other – and we’ve spent a lot of time over the last few days together – is I feel better and better about it by the hour.”
