Arsenal chief Josh Kroenke reveals how long Unai Emery’s sacking was in the pipeline for after Spaniard’s exit

Emery’s 18-month tenure at the Emirates came to an end on Friday morning following a run of seven games without a win.

The 2-1 defeat to Frankfurt the previous evening was the final nail in Emery’s coffin, having overseen their worst run in 27 years.

The 48-year-old had lost the backing of the club’s hierarchy, with a large majority of the fan base also turning on the former Sevilla and PSG boss.

He was replaced by Freddie Ljungberg, who takes charge on a part-time basis, after head of football Raul Sanllehi and managing director Vinai Venkatesham had travelled to the United States to talk to Kroenke and his father, Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke.

“Like all of our fans and supporters around the globe, we’ve been concerned about our recent string of performances,” Josh Kroenke told Arsenal’s website.

“We wanted to support Unai and his staff until we decided it was time to make a change and ultimately we came to that decision over the last several weeks as a group between myself, Raul, Vinai and (technical director) Edu.”

Kroenke praised Emery’s work ethic but insisted the change was made in the hope of reaching their goals for the campaign with Ljungberg at the helm.

“Very difficult,” he replied, when asked how hard the decision to sack Emery had been.

“First and foremost Unai is a good man, someone that we all respect very much. His work ethic on a daily basis between him and his staff was fantastic.

“Ultimately we started to fall short of several goals that we set. We still feel that we can achieve those goals this season, which is why we decided to make the change now.”

Ljungberg has only been placed in interim charge, but Kroenke believes he can help turn things around at the Emirates Stadium.

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