Careful what you wish for? Emery restoring Arsenal intensity after Wenger exit, says Wright

Ian Wright has heaped praise on Unai Emery after Arsenal’s dramatic derby day victory over Tottenham on Sunday.

The Gunners found themselves 2-1 down at half-time, before Emery made a double change for the second period, with Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette coming on for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi.

Both Ramsey and Lacazette played a huge part in Arsenal’s second half comeback as Emery’s side went on to win 4-2 and subsequently leapfrogged Spurs into fourth place in the league table.

Speaking on Match of the Day 2 on Sunday evening, former Arsenal forward Wright claimed that Emery has brought an ‘intensity’ to the club that’s been lacking for some time.

“I thought that was fantastic,” Wright said when asked for his thoughts on the win.

“When you consider when he [Emery] came in, people said ‘be careful what you wish for’. They lost to City and Chelsea.

“He’s got a very meticulous approach, a very ruthless approach.

“We’ve seen he’s not afraid to make the changes.

“What he’s given Arsenal back now is that intensity.

“We got it back today.

“When you look at Spurs and the way they played against Chelsea, you needed Arsenal to come out firing.”

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted a brace on the day, before Lacazette put the Gunners in front and Lucas Torreira notched his first goal for the club.

Former Sevilla and PSG manager Emery has impressed since his arrival last summer, with Arsenal now 19 games unbeaten in all competitions.

Previous boss Arsene Wenger had a successful 22-year reign as manager of the Gunners but struggled to improve the team during the final years of his tenure.

Emery will now be hoping that his side are able to maintain their spot in the top four of the Premier League table, with Arsenal failing to qualify for the Champions League in either of the last two seasons.

The Gunners face a trip to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United on Wednesday before they host Huddersfield Town next weekend.