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Paul Merson: 'Arsenal should replace Unai Emery with Chris Wilder'

By Leo Nieboer | 16 November 2019

Paul Merson insists that Arsenal would benefit from sacking Unai Emery and replacing the Spaniard with Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder.

Paul Merson has insisted that Arsenal would benefit from sacking Unai Emery and replacing the Spaniard with Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder.

The Gunners manager finds himself under serious pressure following a poor run of form that has seen Arsenal manage just one win from their last six games.

Wilder, meanwhile, has shocked many people by guiding the Blades to fifth in the Premier League table, all while playing an attractive, expansive style of football not normally seen with promoted teams.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Star, Merson said: "Chris Wilder has done a fantastic job at Sheffield United and deserves a crack at a really big job at some point.

"I think they have actually been a bit unlucky in some games this season but to see them up there in fifth is phenomenal. I watched them play Arsenal and there was only one team who knew what they were doing. Arsenal had no idea. That's good coaching.

"Managers like Unai Emery and Manuel Pellegrini are under pressure, and okay, you never know for sure if a manager can make such a big step up. But Chris Wilder has got to be in the conversation the next time a big job comes up. He deserves it."

Despite the pressure on Emery, Arsenal's board have publicly insisted that the former Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain man is not under threat of losing his job.