Unai Emery Thanks Arsenal Players, Fans, Staff After Firing

Arsenal published a letter of thanks from former manager Unai Emery on Friday following his dismissal earlier in the day.

In the letter, the former Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain boss expressed his gratitude to the fans, players and staff:

"To all the fans, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for helping me to understand and feel the greatness of Arsenal. To all of you who have supported us from every corner of the globe, all of you who have come to the Emirates, all of you who have waited in the rain and cold just to greet me after a game. I want to tell all of you that I have worked with passion, with commitment and with effort.

"I would have liked nothing more than to have achieved better results for you.

"It has been a year and a half full of emotions, of great moments and some other more bitter ones, but not a single day has gone by without me stopping to think about how lucky I have been to work for this club with these players and their professional and personal qualities.

"They have always honoured the shirt they wear. They deserve your support."

He also reserved praise and gratitude for several former and current staff members, including Ivan Gazidis, Raul Sanllehi, Edu and Vinai Venkatesham. 

Emery was let go following a 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in Thursday's UEFA Europa League action. That loss took Arsenal's winless streak to seven matches across all competitions.

In the Premier League, the Gunners sit in eighth place, eight points behind rivals Chelsea in fourth place.

Perhaps worse than the lack of results was the team's dire playing style and lack of identity. The Athletic's Michael Cox highlighted the win over Watford last season as a clear example:

Emery's time at the Emirates Stadium wasn't all bad; he took Arsenal all the way to the Europa League final last season but lost 4-1 to Chelsea in Baku.

The team didn't take a step forward in the 2019-20 campaign, however, and that's ultimately what doomed him. Rivals Tottenham Hotspur sacked their longtime coach Mauricio Pochettino 10 days prior to Emery's departure and replaced him with Jose Mourinho, who had been speculated as a possible target for Arsenal to replace Emery.

The Gunners reportedly have a large list of possible candidates, something the New York Times' Rory Smith thinks is a bad sign:

Pochettino, Massimiliano Allegri, Mikel Arteta and Nuno Espirito Santo are among the possible replacements, per PA Sport (h/t FourFourTwo).