Former Arsenal boss Unai Emery says he didn ’ t get enough time to transform the London giants who were on a “ downward slope ” when he was appointed , France Football magazine reported on Monday .

Emery had 18 months at the Emirates Stadium after a two – year stint with Paris Saint -Germain and a spell which included winning three straight Europa League titles with Sevilla.

“ Arsenal had been on a downward slope for two years when I joined them , ” Emery told France Football .

“ We stopped the rot and took the club to the Europa League final ( where they lost 4 -1 to Chelsea ) and took fifth place in the Premier League, ” Emery said in defence of his tenure that ended in November 2019 after a run of seven games in all competitions without a win .

“ That season we had qualification for the Champions League in our own hands but it all went wrong.

“ We lost our four captains ( Laurent) Koscielny, ( Petr ) Cech , ( Aaron ) Ramsey and ( Nacho ) Monreal and we really missed them .

“ Some of our top players didn ’ t have the right attitude and were asking for more than they were giving . ”

“ I needed more time to manage to transform this club , into the new Arsenal I had been hoping to build , ” added Emery, currently without a club .

Emery also claimed he could have succeeded at PSG had VAR been in place when his charges were Champions League last -16 victims to Barcelona .

“ In the home leg we did really well with top-level football ( winning 4 -0 ) . But in the return we were eliminated because VAR did not yet exist . We lost ( 6 -1 ) because of refereeing decisions and this was clear. ”

Source:- AFP