Only a few months ago, the sense of optimism that reverberated around the vicinity of the Emirates Stadium was palpable. Arsene Wenger’s successor, Unai Emery, had reinvigorated the club. All of a sudden, the Gunners had an exciting future; one that was refreshingly impossible to predict. Fans had a man at the helm they barely knew but were willing to invest their faith in. Like the earliest stages of any relationship, Emery’s earliest encounters with the fans were slightly awkward, thoroughly polite and tingling with excitement. The Spaniard represented something enigmatic and new, after many years of more of the same, and he was exceedingly welcome. His arrival all but bridged the...
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