Unai Emery met a group of fans in Southampton – and gave a brilliant response to what was seemingly a jibe from one fan about his time with the Gunners.
The Spaniard was appointed as Arsenal manager following the departure of Arsene Wenger in 2018.
Emery was not seen as one of the initial favourites to replace Wenger at the club. However, his interview impressed Gunners chiefs, and he eventually landed the role ahead of Mikel Arteta.
The ex-Paris Saint-Germain boss started life brightly at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners won seven of their first nine Premier League games in the 2018/19 season. Those results included a huge 5-1 win away at Fulham.
Emery’s side then went on a six-game unbeaten run between February and April, but lost three of their final five matches of the season. They ended the campaign in fifth place – one point off the Champions League spots.
They also reached the Europa League final, but suffered a disappointing 4-1 loss to Chelsea.
Emery and Arsenal never seemed to truly recover from that defeat. That was despite the club’s transfer record being broken to sign Nicolas Pepe for £72 million that summer.
The Gunners’ performances then began to dip. The Spaniard was sacked following a 2-2 draw against Southampton, with the side in eighth place in the table at the time.
Unai Emery heckled by fan outside St. Mary’s Stadium
Now the manager of Villarreal, Emery has had an incredible spell in charge of his new club. The Yellow Submarine won the Europa League title in 2021, defeating Manchester United in the final. Last season, they reached the semi-finals of the Champions League before losing to Liverpool.
The 50-year-old is back in England this week, with his side taking on Southampton and Fulham in friendly matches. But whilst most Arsenal fans have come to appreciate his standing as a manager, even if it didn’t quite work out at the Emirates, one fan waited outside St. Mary’s Stadium to poke at their former manager’s English skills.
One of the jibes aimed at Unai Emery towards the end of his time at Arsenal was his pronunciation of ‘good evening’ as ‘good ebening’, as well as claims that the language barrier held him back.
According to The Independent, the Spaniard insisted on speaking English in the dressing room. However, he also admitted in an interview with The Guardian that he felt “alone” at the club, and that the language barrier did hold him back.
Still, Emery’s commitment to learning and speaking English (and continuing to speak English in some interviews as Villarreal manager) have to be commended – although one fan seemingly doesn’t quite see it that way.
After Unai Emery approached a number of fans asking for autographs, he was asked to say ‘good ebening’, before another fan added that he had ‘done very good’ at Arsenal.
His response? The middle finger.
The crowd then reacted with laughter and anger. Emery seemed to take it in his stride, with a smile – but he certainly got his message across.
Featured Image Credit: Twitter
