Unai Emery says that he regards his time with Arsenal as broadly successful and has argued he needed more time to reconstruct the team.
Emery took charge of the Gunners from the summer of 2018 after leaving Paris Saint-Germain and remained at the Emirates Stadium for little over a year.
In his single season in charge, the Gunners finished fifth in the standings, narrowly missing out on the Champions League.
Speaking to beIN Sports, he was asked about his experiences coaching abroad with Spartak Moscow, PSG and Arsenal, and he explained the complicated situation he found in the post-Arsene Wenger era.
“Arsenal, they had to be rebuilt,” he said. “I was installed in a project that was going to take longer. We didn’t have time to do it and I left before the end of my contract.”
“It’s true that in Spain, maybe because I know the league better, maybe because I know how the footballers are developed better, that I know the language, I’m a coach better recognised for success.
“I believe that I adapted at PSG and Arsenal and I believe that with more time, we would have had better results. But I understand that the life of football is immediate results.
“I felt I was respected for my work in Paris and I felt that I was respected for my work at Arsenal.”
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He argued, however, that the difficulties he faced we not to do with coaching abroad.
“It’s not a question of culture,” he said. “I adapted to the culture and the language. At Paris, for example, I spoke French. Sometimes well, sometimes less well, to the players and to the press, and in England it was the same.
“I managed to transmit a personality to my teams in Paris and London.”
Emery, who is a three-time Europa League winner with Sevilla, is presently in charge of Villarreal. His side are fourth in La Liga.
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