Jamie Carragher Believes Unai Emery Will Adopt a Rafa Benitez Blueprint for Success at Arsenal

Jamie Carragher thinks Unai Emery will take a similar approach to that of Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool side as he bids to bring success back to Arsenal.

Carragher was a part of that Liverpool team that won the FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and spent four consecutive years inside the top four.

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Emery took over at Arsenal this summer following Arsene Wenger’s departure. After 20 successful years with the club, Wenger’s influence began to wane in recent seasons with the Gunners dropping well off the pace.

Arsenal finished outside of the top four for the second year running last season and the club has turned to Emery to take them back. The Spaniard has had great success in his last two roles with PSG and Sevilla winning eight major honours.

Emery has brought a high tempo pressing style to the club and performances in preseason have been very encouraging for fans. Delivering results like a 5-1 win over his former employers PSG has suggested the Emirates could be and excellent stage for neutral fans next season.

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It seems Carragher thinks differently though with him recently claiming he expects Emery to focus more on discipline and structure. 

Rather than building on Arsenal’s already implemented attacking approach and star power like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the former Liverpool defender expects Emery to adopt a more rigid approach.

Comparing the new Arsenal boss to Benitez on the Premier League Season Launch Show, Carragher was quoted by the Express as saying:

“In the past, Arsenal have won games on great football, individual brilliance and having great attacking players, what we'll see Arsenal do more this season is win games tactically.

“He is going to be a very similar manager to a manager I had in Rafa Benitez, going from a team that wasn't one of the giants in Spain but was still competing and winning trophies.

“He makes it difficult for teams to play against them and will play 4-2-3-1. It will be very similar to Rafa.” Carragher said.

Carragher was making his return to the Sky Sports punditry team after being suspended towards the end of last season for spitting at a rival fan.

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Emery will kick off the new campaign with Arsenal on Sunday where they face a tough opening fixture against last season’s champions  Manchester City.