Unai Emery Lauds Arsenal 'Intensity' as Rotated Squad Cruise Past Southampton
Arsenal manager Unai Emery was full of praise for his side on Sunday after their 2-0 win over Southampton, a result which has pushed the north London outfit back into the top four.
Goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Henrikh Mkhitaryan put the hosts into a comfortable lead early on and despite a few nervy moments throughout the match, Arsenal were able to hold on till the final whistle to secure a seventh straight home win in the Premier League.
Speaking after the match, Emery admitted that his side were starting to play to his style and even singled out Arsenal's fringe players for adapting quickly during the club's busy fixture schedule.
"Everyone played like we want, and after the match on Thursday, playing today and Wednesday we needed different players because playing this intensity is not easy, and the performance like we want we need everybody," Emery said, quoted by Sky Sports.
"I'm very happy because the players worked a lot, and we decided to make some changes to bring in new players, to keep up the energy. In the first half we played very well but we wanted to carry on in the second, but it's not easy 90 minutes with this intensity.
"We have players who can come in, and we can be a better competitive team playing a lot of matches with players with different characteristics, but who have the character to play with the level we want."
Arsenal welcome another side from the south coast Bournemouth to Emirates Stadium on Wednesday before preparing for their crucial match against bitter rivals Tottenham next weekend.