The new manager’s most fascinating challenge will be changing the brittle mentality that marked Arsène Wenger’s final years
For the dawn of a new era, Arsenal spent the eve of the season stretching their legs inside an empty Emirates Stadium. It is an unusual measure for the players to train on the pitch reserved for match day rather than at the sanctuary of their London Colney base in the Hertfordshire countryside. The rationale was simple enough. Unai Emery has been to the stadium a few times but never with his team. Some of his staff had not even been anywhere near it. A handful of the freshly recruited players were yet to see the place, had no feel for the dressing room or the walk down the tunnel and out on to the turf they will be expected to perform on come Sunday afternoon against the champions, Manchester City. Plenty of faces needed to familiarise themselves with the place they will call home.
Related: Uncertainty and possibility: the first days of Unai Emery at Arsenal
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