Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has praised Unai Emery for getting the best out of Arsenal.
The Gunners ended a woeful away record by securing a 1-0 win over Watford on Monday evening, a game which saw Emery’s men clinch their first away clean sheet of the season in the Premier League.
Victory lifted Arsenal into fourth position with five games to play, although there is still work to be done with difficult trips to Wolves and Leicester City on the horizon.
However, Neville believes that Emery has done a fantastic job this season in competing with the likes of United and Chelsea, who he stated have a significantly better squad.
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“I think I said before the game, for them to be where they are with a game in hand over Chelsea, navigating the Europa League – we’ve always talked about how difficult it is to play Thursday and Sundays,” he told Sky Sports.
“I think it’s a brilliant performance when you think Chelsea and Manchester United have spent a fortune. Chelsea have the better squad, with Eden Hazard. Arsenal are nowhere near that. When you look at that Arsenal team… there’s a lot of questions to have answered.
“You think of Ramsey leaving, of Ozil, the defenders, the midfielders still don’t look right, you’re not convinced about the goalkeeper, the full-backs look like they could change every week and yet, he’s getting that level of performance out them. I think it’s a brilliant performance.”
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher agreed, while adding the Gunners need to invest in their defence this summer.
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“Unai Emery isn’t stupid. He’ll be thinking please get me into the Champions League and then he can get to grips with what’s going on here,” he said.
“He’s seen what he’s got in 12 months, but this team still needs sorting out. Gary’s right, he is doing a brilliant job with what he’s got. For him, it’s just get the results, forget performances.
“To perform like that against ten men is not great, but if he just gets the money for the defenders next season in the summer to improve this team.”
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