Emery’s stock continues to rise but Mourinho’s is treading water

While Manchester United and Arsenal played out an frenzied 2-2 draw at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening, there was a lot more on show than questionable defending and at times breathless attacking.

The game was a clash of managers whose stock is heading in different directions.

Arsenal are undergoing a transition similar to the one Wednesday’s opponents started to go through five years ago. Arsene Wenger left the building and Unai Emery was installed as the manager.

Emery came to The Emirates with a bruised reputation having failed to deliver in the Champions League for PSG, although the Spanish manager was perhaps harshly treated by a club increasingly looking to pander to one player.

Jose Mourinho meanwhile was entering a critical third season as Man United boss. While his reputation had taken a knock at best and a beating at worst, the former Chelsea boss took every chance he could to talk up his successes – even those with previous employers.

Emery has not been afforded the same war chest as his managerial counterpart. But what he has lacked in financial resources he has made up for with fantastic coaching and astute acquisitions.

A total of £71 million was spent in his first window as Arsenal boss. Although peanuts by today’s standards, every player brought in by the former Sevilla manager has played a pivotal role in Arsenal’s revival.

Emery has overseen a 20-game unbeaten run for The Gunners (photo credit: Premier League).

The three-time Europa League winning manager had his finest moment on the Arsenal touchline when he oversaw a 4-2 thrashing of Tottenham in December at The Emirates.

With the Gunners 2-1 down entering the second half the Spaniard introduced Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey, tinkering with his formation to great effect.

The in-game management highlighted what Arsenal desperately lacked in the latter years under Wenger and showcased a new tactical flexibility of the London outfit.

A key part of the come-from-behind victory was the play of Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira.

Signed for a reported fee of £26.4 million the former Sampdoria man is fast becoming the lynchpin in Emery’s Arsenal. This can definitely be seen as evidence than an identity is being established.

Torreira is making the kind of impact on Arsenal that Mourinho hoped Paul Pogba would bring to his United team.

A 20-game unbeaten run in all competitions has breathed life back in to the North London club that had long stagnated. Emery must be given tremendous credit for the changes he is implementing.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech highlighted as much in October saying,

“We’re started from scratch, basically, with the new manager.”

With right-back Hector Bellerin adding,

“It feels like a new club.”

While his predecessor often stressed creative freedom on the pitch, Emery has stressed a more disciplined and savvy approach to games. Of course, there will be hiccups along the way, but the blueprint for how Arsenal will play under Emery is there for all to see.

By contrast, if United have a style it is that of being constantly frustrating. Mourinho’s men have shown an aptitude for breathtaking attacking. Their 3-2 victories over Newcastle and Manchester City last season showed the best and worst of The Special One’s team.

Jose Mourinho’s team sheet had some expensive omissions on Wednesday evening. Pogba and Romelu Lukaku were on the substitutes bench and summer signing Fred was not afforded a place in the 18-man squad at all.

The value of those exclusions totalled around a staggering £223.83 million.

The Man United boss has overseen the club’s most expensive transfer periods in history. Yet one thing he has been unable to bring in is an identity.

Although United have had comeback victories of their own, they feel more desperate that calculated. A 3-2 home win over Newcastle was thrilling but for an hour United looked lost.

Mourinho’s men have often lacked a set way of playing leading to disjointed performances. The inconsistencies from the manager could be linked to the inconsistencies of his star players.

Questions have also been asked about the Portuguese’s man-management style. His relationship with Pogba has been under a microscope, as it has with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Lukaku. Footage of tense exchanges between Pogba and Mourinho refuse to go away.

The man once special for his ability to connect to players and galvanise them seems to be disconnected to the modern footballer.

Mourinho’s relationship with several United players has been questioned (photo credit: Premier League).

Their 2-2 draw against Southampton was their latest game in which they had to come from two goals down to secure a positive result. But it feels like treading water. While those moments will bolster the stock of United’s manager, it has only been for fleeting periods such is the inconsistency of the club.

The more United stagnate the more legitimate the questions become of Mourinho’s suitability for the United job become.

Mourinho’s management style continues to be called into question. Rendered obsolete by the passage of time there is a threat the two-time Champions League winner could go the same way as his old Arsenal nemesis – unable to adapt to a vastly changing football landscape.

Football is striving to become more inclusive and the introduction of social media has brought players of rival clubs closer together. That social development has hindered Mourinho’s attempt to forge a siege mentality, a tactic which worked so well at Chelsea and Inter Milan.

A man who thrives in exclusivity rather than the inclusiveness the modern player is becoming about.

Emery has embraced the modern footballer and in turn they have embraced him.

Although United started their transition from a long-term regime five years earlier, Arsenal have handled it much smoother.

Emery meanwhile has brushed off his disappointing reign in Paris to show why he was one of the most sought-after coaches in world football following his stint with Sevilla.

His stock had plateaued, but it is back on the rise.

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