Premier League - Manchester United v Arsenal
Amidst call for Unai Emery's resignation, reports claim Arsenal has already identified the top two candidates to replace him. (Photo: Reuters/Jason Cairnduff)

In the second half of Monday night's draw against Manchester United, Unai Emery revealed that he encouraged his Arsenal squad to play with more calmness as the team tried to score their own goal.

Just before the second half, Arsenal had to watch Scott McTominay strike, but Gunners leveled the scores courtesy of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the second period.

According to Emery, Arsenal did a good job in the first half but told the squad at the half-time break to play with more calmness so they could earn their point as well.

"And second half we were speaking in the dressing room: be calm and our objective was to score one goal and after to try to find our moment to get the possibility to win the match."

The Spanish said that Arsenal was competitive enough against Manchester United, but he admits they can do better. Perhaps he didn't quite get his message across?

There have been rumors claiming that some Arsenal players don't quite understand how Emery speaks English, but he doesn't agree that he has a communication problem with his squad. In fact, he said he is confident in his communication skills during his second season in England's Premier League.

Before the game on Monday, Emery was asked if his language skills had created a barrier to the way he managed Arsenal. The gaffer defended his English and said "players can understand me."

Emery's answer is in contrast to what Bukayo Saka previously said, admitting he doesn't always "understand" his coach, so he goes to Freddie Ljungberg to make the message clear.

However, Emery's issues with communication isn't always about his grasp of the English language. Alan Smith, who won two First Division titles with the Gunners and now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, recently wrote about murmurings he'd heard some Arsenal players are confused by Emery's instructions for the London Evening Standard.

Arsenal's coach is being questioned for the club's inconsistent results, which is reportedly due to his tendency to tinker too much and how quick he changes core parts of his team.

 

Asked about Monday night's result, Emery admitted that it's definitely not the best result for the club, though he thinks the draw is far for the two teams after an hour and a half.