Gary Neville says Arsenal's "pathetic" recruitment made Unai Emery's job extremely difficult

Unai Emery

Gary Neville has slammed Arsenal's recruitment department after Unai Emery was sacked as the club's manager on Friday.

The Spaniard was dismissed following a 2-1 defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League, which extended the Gunners' winless streak in all competitions to seven games.

And Neville believes Emery, who has been replaced by caretaker boss Freddie Ljungberg, was let down by those in charge of Arsenal's transfer policy.

"He's been disrespected at times in the last few weeks, his accent and manner have been ridiculed - that was quite unsavoury," the former Manchester United defender told Sky Sports. "The reality is he's a top coach who couldn't find his way in this particular job. My feeling is sadness obviously, as a man's just lost his coaching role today.

It's been messy. The goal last week that we highlighted on Monday Night Football, that one where David Luiz was stepping up against Southampton, we've seen [Shkodran] Mustafi, we've seen Sokratis [Papastathopoulos] too let's be clear - these defenders are uncoachable, some of them.

"I don't know who's been responsible for recruitment over the last two or three years, they've chopped and changed, there have been new people brought in. But if I was in the boardroom at Arsenal I'd be giving them a right rocket. There's no way Emery is telling David Luiz to step up two or three times, there's hideous things you see from the other defenders and midfielders.

"You think of [Granit] Xhaka the other week, Emery is a man of honour and you see that behaviour - this is much deeper than the coach. Emery might be sailing his way back over the Channel this afternoon and be very happy to leave behind what is, quite simply a very average bunch of players.

"There's no way Unai Emery was telling the players to do those things. Some of the things we were seeing on the pitch were fantasy football really."

Ljungberg will take charge of Sunday's clash with Norwich at Carrow Road.

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).