The 10 key moments it all went wrong for Unai Emery at Arsenal

Unai Emery was sacked as Arsenal head coach on Friday morning as a difficult 18 months culminated in the Spaniard's exit.

The 48 year-old was appointed as successor to Arsene Wenger in May 2018 having won plenty of trophies at Sevilla and Paris St-Germain.

Few would have anticipated such a shambolic end to his reign at the Emirates Stadium as a sparse crowd watched his final game at the helm - a 2-1 Europa League defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.

The result extended a winless run to seven games and saw the curtain fall on Emery's tenure, with former Under-23s manager and assistant head coach Freddie Ljungberg appointed as his replacement on an interim basis.

But how did it go so wrong? Here Dan Zeqiri puts his finger on the 10 key moments...

Chelsea 3 Arsenal 2, August 2018

A harsh, wise-after-the-event pick at first glance, but Arsenal's second-half performance at Stamford Bridge adumbrated several themes and frustrations of Emery's reign. Following a 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City on the opening day which caused no reputational damage, there were signs of Arsenal playing to an Emery blueprint in the first 45 minutes at Chelsea.

They played a high line, pressed up when the opportunity arose and combined with advanced full-backs to carve Chelsea open and create four or five clear-cut chances in a pulsating game between two teams adapting to new coaches. Arsenal's high line was exposed as they conceded twice, but they scored two themselves and it should have been more. There was a staunch defence of Emery's approach from Gary Neville on Monday Night Football, who pointed to the tactical foundations being laid.

Emery had clearly seen enough basketball for one day though, and Arsenal recoiled into their shells in the second period. Defending deep on the edge of their penalty area and ceding possession, they eventually succumbed to a late Marcos Alonso winner. With 36 games remaining the result was no disaster, but the conservatism and about-turns of strategy that dogged Emery were in evidence that day.

Defensive injuries, Christmas 2018

Even the most flawed coaches can be the victim of misfortune. Emery guided Arsenal to a 22-unbeaten run through autumn, including a run of nine Premier League wins in 12 matches. A magnificent performance in a 4-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates, an impressive midfield showing from Lucas Torriera and Granit Xhaka against Liverpool and brilliant team goals against Leicester and Fulham bought Emery some credit.

Their underlying metrics told a different tale - more on that shortly - but after a post-November international break switch to a back three there were signs of greater stability. However, Rob Holding tore his knee ligaments at Old Trafford on December 5 before Hector Bellerin did the same against Chelsea on January 19.

In between those two season-ending injuries, Sokratis was lost to suspension and so too Shkodran Mustafi to a hamstring injury. Xhaka consequently started games at left-back or left centre-back, while club captain Laurent Koscielny was rushed back from a career-threatening Achilles injury. That haste was a big factor in Koscielny's decision to force a way out in the summer.

Handling of Ozil and Ramsey, 2018-19

Arsenal decided to withdraw a contract offer to Aaron Ramsey in November 2018 while their new football executive team's stance on Mesut Ozil has been transparent - they would dearly love to sell him, if only they could find a buyer.

How much influence Emery exerted on these important decisions is a murky subject. Regardless of each players qualities however, there was at least a logic to moving on from both on account of age, injuries and their status as crucial pillars of Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.

In the season's early months, Emery was reluctant to build his team around Ramsey while Ozil was frequently sidelined following a training ground bust-up. Ozil was not selected for an away match at Bournemouth with Emery plainly stating that he considered the fixture 'too physical' for the playmaker.

These are the contentious decisions all head coaches make to stamp their authority on a team (look how Pep Guardiola defenestrated Joe Hart, for instance). However, with Arsenal's season hitting the skids in early February when they lost a Europa League first leg away at BATE Borisov, both Ramsey and Ozil were reintegrated as Emery tried to revive the team.

It worked, with Ramsey's excellence at the heart of an uptick in league results that put Arsenal third with seven games remaining, but how much respect did Emery lose for back-tracking? The loss of Ramsey to a season-ending hamstring injury disrupted that brief patch of rhythmic, convincing football.

Arsenal 2 Crystal Palace 3, April 2019

One low bar for Emery to clear in his first season was improving Arsenal's dismal away form. Arsenal won just four away league games in Wenger's final season but Emery increased that total to a mere six.

Arsenal's timid and cautious approach on their travels to the Premier League's middle class would cost them Champions League football, losing at West Ham in January before a damning run of defeats at Everton, Leicester and Wolves in March and April. The limp 1-0 loss at Goodison Park was especially poor, with Arsenal mustering just seven shots on goal and two on target - shot-shyness was a recurring theme of the Emery era.

That said, Manchester United and Tottenham's twin capitulations gave Arsenal the chance to stumble into the promised land if only they could maintain their strong home form.

That too deserted them, with a calamitous 3-2 defeat at home to Crystal Palace draining belief in Emery. The coach was too clever by half in his team selection as he tried to balance Premier League targets with progress in Europe, and took too many risks by picking Carl Jenkisnon, Dinos Mavropanos and Mohamed Elneny against a slippery Palace attack. A terrible Mustafi error let Wilfried Zaha in to put Palace in front minutes after an Arsenal equaliser. The subsequent 1-1 draw with Brighton sealed Arsenal's fate.

Chelsea 4 Arsenal 1, Europa League final 2019

Emery's three successive Europa League titles at Sevilla must have been a swaying factor when Arsenal pivoted to the Spaniard unexpectedly when poised to appoint Mikel Arteta.

To Emery's credit, Arsenal vanquished Napoli and Valencia comfortably over two legs - with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's hat-trick in the Mestalla a truly outstanding individual performance.

Champions League qualification rested on beating Chelsea in Baku, a team who seemed to have checked out on their own beleaguered coach Maurizio Sarri. A midfield diamond, with Ramsey harrying Jorginho out of the game, had worked perfectly in January's 2-0 league victory, but in the Welshman's absence Emery elected for a 3-4-1-2 system.

A reasonable first-half display in a low-quality final finished goalless, but Arsenal never recovered from Olivier Giroud's opening goal. Chelsea started to move the ball at greater speed and find space between Arsenal's three centre-halves and Eden Hazard tormented them on the counter-attack. Ozil was hooked for youngster Joe Willock in one of history's most pointed substitutions and Arsenal missed out on their major target for the season.

Rather than trying to instill a philosophy or consistent pattern of play in his first season, Emery had decided to manage on a game-by-game basis to try and eke out results. Not an invalid approach per se, but what is left to work with if the results do not materialise?

The numbers game, 2018-19

A fifth-place finish in the Premier League and reaching the Europa League final looked, on paper, a decent attempt from Emery in his debut season in a new league. However, closer inspection told a different story.

We shall stick to the facts. Arsenal's 467 shots on goal in the Premier League was the 11th best in the division. Their 78 Big Chances created was the ninth best. Their shot conversion rate in the league was highest since Opta records began, meaning they did exceedingly well to score as many as they did - and that would prove unsustainable.

They conceded 497 shots - more than they attempted themselves - the 11th most in the league, on their way to conceding 51 goals in 38 matches. They conceded 81 Big Chances - again, more than they created at the other end - the seventh most in the league. The signs were there that Arsenal's performance was thoroughly mediocre.

Watford 2 Arsenal 2, September 2019

There was renewed optimism after the summer arrivals of Nicolas Pepe, Kieran Tierney, Dani Ceballos and David Luiz, plus the acquisition of exciting young talents Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba.

Arsenal's positive window left Emery with no excuses. Arsenal's first four games produced chaotic and error-strewn football, but seven points from Newcastle, Burnley, Liverpool and Spurs was a reasonable tally. Unconvincing performances could be put down to new arrivals bedding in and players returning to full fitness.

After September's international break, Arsenal had a kinder run of fixtures in which Emery was expected to finally cultivate an identity for his team. They were a tactical mess in the first game back at Watford however, throwing away a two-goal lead to drop crucial points. The overall pattern of the game was more galling than the scoreline, with Watford amassing 31 shots on Arsenal's goal who played like a Spanish second division team at the Nou Camp - cowering on the edge of their penalty area and hanging on for dear life.

The ease with which teams accessed Arsenal's final third continued all season. Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Wolves and Southampton peppered Arsenal's goal with 73 shots between them on their visits to the Emirates this season.

The Xhaka debacle, summer to October 2019

Emery's approach to captaincy was contradictory and poorly communicated, with reports suggesting his training ground messages to players were much the same.

If Emery truly valued the importance of the armband, he would have chosen one captain and vice-captain. Instead, he preferred a leadership group of five captains, reflective of a cultural difference in how captaincy is viewed in England compared to Spain or Italy.

Nothing wrong with that, but this minor issue turned into a soap opera thanks to Emery's decision to delay naming Koscielny's successor. Far from creating a shared or collegiate approach to leadership, it cast an undue amount of scrutiny on whichever player was the recipient of the armband.

After a vote among Arsenal's players that man was Xhaka, already a divisive figure among supporters but a thoroughly professional and exemplary figure in the dressing room. For a coach who liked to tailor his team to the opposition, Emery picked Xhaka for every game of significance regardless of form or suitability, making him a lightning rod for supporter discontent.

Simmering tensions finally erupted during a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace, when home fans cheered Xhaka being substituted and then jeered him for trudging slowly off the pitch. The Swiss responded with cupped ears and expletives and was later stripped of the captaincy, causing division in the dressing room.

Handling of Torreira and Pepe, Autumn 2019

The bloodless and sterile nature of the team's performances caused fans to lose faith in Emery, but his handling of individual players sowed more seeds of doubt.

Not only were Lucas Torreira and Pepe expected to be key players for Arsenal on the pitch, they are also significant long-term investments. In Arsenal's new sporting structure, the head coach is supposed to work with and ameliorate the value of the players signed by the recruitment team (with some input from the coach).

The primary hope is that Torreira and Pepe can become great Arsenal players, but also assets who could be sold for profit to replenish the squad, just as Liverpool did so successfully with Philippe Coutinho.

Emery's persistent use of Torreira in an advanced midfield role led the Uruguayan to question his Arsenal future, while another tactical lurch to three at the back left no room for club record signing Pepe. An instant win for the new coach is to reinstate both in their natural positions.

Empty seats and apathy, November 2019

The coup de grace for Emery was a 2-1 home defeat to Frankfurt in front of a frightfully low attendance at the Emirates. Empty seats were a feature of successive league games as supporters started to tune out. Club executives spoke of 'noise' around Arsenal, but it is silence that really damages a coach's standing as well as Arsenal's stature.

Under Wenger, there was often a chasm between Arsenal at their best and worst which caused debate and division. There were no such quarrels under Emery because Arsenal's performance were relentless in their monotony and passivity, entirely in the image of their head coach. The Emirates had never been so united, but for all the wrong reasons.