Unai Emery has been singing the praises of Monchi, one of the contenders to become Arsenal’s new technical director. “I worked very well with him in Sevilla for three and a half years and my relationship with him is good,” Emery said. “He is a good person and a good professional. I can say he is working in Roma and this issue is the club’s responsibility.”
The hierarchy are currently refining their search for someone to oversee the technical side in addition to replacing Sven Mislintat, the outgoing head of recruitment. The influence of Emery’s first-hand experience of working alongside Monchi remains to be seen but the Arsenal manager said that it was more important to get the appointment right than rush to a speedy conclusion.
“Maybe if you do this recruitment quickly, maybe you can do with a mistake,” he said. “It’s better to do it with calm and finding the best possible person to do this work. The club is working on that. It is not my issue.”
It is a busy time off the pitch, with Emery stressing that Arsenal are still focused on bringing up to two players in over the winter window, with a wide player and a central defender still on his agenda. “We need and we can sign some players to help after the injuries to Rob Holding, Danny Welbeck, Héctor Bellerín. We only want to sign one or two players who can help us with our performance. The club knows our intention and is working.”
Arsenal host a resurgent Manchester United in the FA Cup on Friday night and Emery outlined how impressed he has been with a team revived under their new manager. “They are a different team,” he said. “It is the same players but with a very big performance now. I was watching their last matches. Each player has big confidence with a big performance. Now they are very dangerous. For us it is good – a very big test in this competition.”
Emery evidently did his homework to appreciate why this is a particularly meaningful fixture. “Arsenal and Manchester United [have both] played 20 finals in the FA Cup, we have won 13, they have won 12. For this competition it is the best match you can play.”