Eintracht Frankfurt vs Arsenal: Summer of goodwill escaping Unai Emery as Gunners show alarming lack of identity

The Gunners begin their Europa League campaign at Eintracht Frankfurt hoping to bounce back from their draw with Watford

In the Sunday evening glow that followed Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Watford, few trails of anger spilled out from Vicarage Road. The away end was instead consumed by a prevailing acceptance. Even the exasperation on Arsenal FanTV was slightly weary, as irritation turned to relief over a short-lived journey home.

It was Arsenal’s first true blip of the season, but what was most alarming was not the 31 shots faced, the comedy of individual errors, or captain/sinner/scapegoat Granit Xhaka admitting his side were “scared”, but that it all felt so numbingly familiar.

The hangover from last season’s late collapse, the flinching mettle away from home, a rickshaw defence who, despite David Luiz’s addition, proffer goals with the willingness of waiters and their serviettes. For those rat-racing to the train station, it was a rehash with only slightly different characters.

Under Unai Emery’s pragmatical rule, Arsenal have garnered intention without identity. Five games into this new season, they are playing 100 passes fewer on average per game than during Arsene Wenger’s last, yet feel only marginally more direct. Any attempt at a defensive press has been almost totally disregarded and the team are conceding far more territory than any other big six side as a result.

So after 14 months, the underlining question remains the most basic: what style is the coach actually trying to implement? Arsenal have no defined shape, no clear line-up, no answer to Mesut Ozil’s curdling, nor any flexibility to adapt to a match’s vicissitudes – a factor horribly exposed at Vicarage Road.

Those two dropped points borne the creeping toxicity of a long drag on a cigarette. It is, after all, too early in the campaign for the Emirates’ full paragon of rage. The frustration among fans will be measured, neatly bottled up and countered by hope. And, in the meantime, Emery’s grace is perhaps that despite seemingly unshakeable flaws, Arsenal seem to be standing still rather than regressing.

Last season’s finish represented a minor overall improvement. This season’s opening has not in fact met any major combustion whatsoever, just the stark realisation that Arsenal are still far adrift from recapturing the heady days prior to Wenger’s decline – an epiphany that hits with routine and without respite every August.

Can that pernicious cycle ever be broken under Emery, or is he simply the man charged with walking a plank between two ships? He is charismatic but far from magnetic, meticulous and astute but often uninspiring. Those are not slights against his capabilities, but merely the calculated risk taken by the club when choosing the Spaniard over more emotive but hazardous candidates such as Mikel Arteta and Patrick Vieira. Increasingly, whether it be at the end of this season or the next, there is an inevitability that Arsenal are destined to follow the same suit as Manchester United and Chelsea, and Emery’s tenure may be remembered as a necessary but unsung state of transition.

Emery observes his surroundings in Frankfurt (Getty) (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

It’s not to say Emery cannot still enjoy success in North London or to prematurely write Arsenal’s obituary this season. There remain a series of glimmering positives to hold on to: Aumabeyang’s goalscoring; Pepe’s abundant potential; Ceballos’ effortless transition; Guendouzi’s development; the clinging hope that Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin and the arrival of Kieran Tierney can overhaul the defence. There have also been great performances where the manager’s vision has been realised, such as in victories over Tottenham and Valencia last season, even if they are made to feel more like rarities rather than milestones.

Yet the club now lies in a precarious position where tonight’s tricky Europa League tie in Frankfurt will either add tar to the lung or go a long way to icing the fires of discontent. Either way, it’s hard to avoid the sense that despite playing under the same lingering summer sun, the good feeling that engulfed Arsenal during the transfer window has already begun to evaporate.