Arsenal scenes of joy show Unai Emery has got players on side, says Alan Smith

Alan Smith6 October 2018

This week I was thinking back to the game last season when Alexis Sanchez scored at Crystal Palace and called some of the Arsenal players over to celebrate with him.

He was frustrated that not everyone was joining in the celebrations and it pointed to a lack of togetherness and that something was not quite right.

PA

When Mesut Ozil scored the second goal against Watford last weekend, I looked at the players and the genuine joy on their faces seemed to show a real togetherness.

It struck me Unai Emery is building something there. Arsenal have not been as watertight as he would have wanted them to be and there have not been many matches where they have not conceded two or three good chances to the opposition.

But this winning run they are on is going to engender confidence. It just looks like Emery has got something going there and the players are enjoying playing for him. It is so important for a new manager to get the players to buy into what you are trying to do, and Emery is doing that.

Fulham were poor defensively against Everton last weekend and Slavisa Jokanovic will be eager for them to improve on Sunday.

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