Premier League midseason report card: Arsenal

What grade do Arsenal receive for their performances during the first half of the 2018-19 Premier League season?

Unai Emery’s first few months in charge of Arsenal are perfectly summed up by five words. New packaging, same old results.

Returning to the top four is proving a challenge for a top-heavy team bearing uncomfortable similarities to the one Emery’s predecessor Arsene Wenger left behind.

The Good

Just like under Wenger, Emery’s Arsenal have purred in attack. No team has produced more attractive football when they’ve clicked into gear in the final third.

Wins over Fulham and Leicester provided some of the slickest goals Premier League audiences have seen this season. Those performances were the highlights of a 22-match unbeaten run in all competitions that stretched from August to mid-December.

Emery has kept Arsenal easy on the eye because of how he’s used the ample attacking talent inherited from Wenger. Strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have thrived on the Spaniard’s watch.

Creative midfielder Alex Iwobi has also progressed, while Aaron Ramsey remains a maestro.

Emery has also add a few subtle changes to the Gunners’ approach play. There’s more emphasis on width, with full-backs Hector Bellerin, Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac playing higher up the pitch.

It’s also true Arsenal are moving the ball quicker. Emery’s team is more direct than Wenger’s, while the former’s emphasis on pressing has meant swifter transitions and winning the ball more often in dangerous areas.

Neat and tidy possession through midfield was a hallmark of the Wenger era, and it’s remained a staple under Emery. Summer signings Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira have both picked impressive passes between the lines.

An expansive and attractive style of play was Wenger’s true lasting legacy when he stepped down after nearly 22 years back in May. Emery has maintained the style, and even improved it slightly.

He has enough goals, pace and ingenuity in this team to keep top-four hopes alive.

The Bad

Defense was a problem for Wenger, and it’s remained an issue for Emery. Arsenal have conceded goals with alarming regularity because of a habit of allowing big chances.

It hasn’t helped neither centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos nor goalkeeper Bernd Leno have solidified things since arriving in the summer.

They were both signings of Arsenal’s convoluted post-Wenger structure. Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat and executive Raul Sanllehi are responsible for bringing players in, leaving Emery to coach them.

It’s easy to think of the phrase “too many cooks in the kitchen” when considering the Gunners’ current decision-making process. The case of Ramsey only raises further concerns about who exactly is calling the shots.

Ramsey is a player Emery initially intended to build his team around, despite the midfielder being out of contract next summer. Even so, the Welshman has since been told he can leave on a free transfer at the end of the season.

It’s a bizarre situation since Ramsey is still just 27 and has contributed two goals and six assists in all competitions.

Ramsey isn’t the only creative talent seemingly on his way out. Mesut Ozil has been routinely overlooked by Emery as the season has progressed.

Emery questioned Ozil’s fit for physical tests away from home when he left him out of a trip to Bournemouth. He cited “tactical reasons” for overlooking Ozil for the recent 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.

Omitting Ozil altogether is a risk since he’s the most creative player in the squad, one who can unlock defenses at any time. His wizardry in the 3-1 win over Leicester in October offered a reminder of what the mercurial 30-year-old, who happens to be the club’s highest-earner, brings to the team.

The idea languid Ozil may not suit Emery’s press-heavy style surely could have been determined when the latter took the job. Waiting a few months to discover Ozil doesn’t run a lot, hardly breaking news, is time wasted by the new boss.

Not acting fast enough to determine Ozil’s future isn’t the only worry about Emery.

There’s also a disturbing trend of not winning the big games. Arsenal were beaten by Manchester City and Chelsea in Emery’s first two matches in charge.

The Gunners have since failed to beat Liverpool and Manchester United. They also blew the chance for silverware after getting brushed aside by Spurs in the Carabao Cup, a tournament Arsenal reached the final of last season.

A series of results this mediocre against the big boys is an unsettling reminder of a career-long issue for Emery. His Paris Saint-Germain teams couldn’t overcome Barcelona or Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, he was unable to get the better of City chief Pep Guardiola when the pair competed in La Liga:

Arsenal won’t kick on from the Wenger era until they start beating the best.

What’s Next?

The top four and a place in next season’s Champions League has to be in Emery’s sights. Winning the Europa League, a trophy he lifted three times with Sevilla, may be an easier route.

Progress in the league will likely be the priority, though. It will demand fortifying a defense needing more than just fresh coaching ideas to improve.

Emery’s to-do list must also include beating a big team in a big game. With return fixtures against every member of the top six to come, he’ll have plenty of opportunities.

If Emery can’t do those things, uncomfortable questions will be raised about Arsenal’s post-Wenger plans.

This is a club still trying to compete the same ways the Frenchman did. Namely by spending shrewdly and on the cheap, alongside developing young players.

Arsenal’s new structure has promised more of the same but done better.

If Emery can’t deliver within familiar confines, it will look like Gunners fans have, to borrow another shopworn phrase, been sold a bill of goods.

Grade: B-

Some positives but worrying questions marks still remain.