Arsenal have 'everything' but Emery needs time, says Cazorla

Arsenal need to give Unai Emery time and believe in themselves, according to former Emirates Stadium favourite Santi Cazorla.

Gunners boss Emery is under pressure in his second season in the Premier League, with the team - who missed out on Champions League qualification last term - sixth in the table after 12 games, eight points off the top four.

Arsenal are winless in five in all competitions, while Granit Xhaka has been stripped of the club's captaincy and divisive playmaker Mesut Ozil has struggled for regular minutes.

Yet Spaniard Cazorla, who won two FA Cups in a six-year Arsenal career, is urging patience with countryman Emery and says Arsenal have "everything" to be successful.

"Unai Emery is a good coach and it's a very good team," he told the Independent. "I watch them play often, but he needs time. It's a new generation and it's very difficult to compete against teams like Manchester City and Liverpool.

"It's difficult to know [what has gone wrong]. They have the players, they have the fans, the stadium, they have everything to do it but they have to believe it."

 

May 10, 2019

Cazorla left Arsenal for former club Villarreal in 2018 amid a near-two-year injury lay-off, meaning he was unable to say goodbye to Gunners fans on the pitch.

The 34-year-old hopes to get the opportunity to play at the home of the London club again before he retires, while he could be open to a role at Arsenal post-retirement.

"When you are at a big club like Arsenal, sometimes you don't realise what it means to be there until you are gone," he said. "I never got to say a proper goodbye.

"It was the biggest team I played for in my career and I miss everything about Arsenal. I don't know what my legacy is there, you would have to ask the fans, but I want to say thank you to them all. I would like to play at the Emirates one last time before I retire. 

"I don't know what I will do afterwards - maybe a coach, maybe a sporting director - but I would love to go back to Arsenal. I lived in London for six years. My son loved it there. In the future, we will see if I have the possibility."