I worked with passion, commitment — Sacked Arsenal coach Emery

London, Nov. 30 (IANS): Unai Emery, who has been sacked as the head coach of Arsenal, has penned down an emotional letter wherein he expressed gratitude to the fans for their support to the club.

Emery and his coaching team was sacked by Arsenal on Friday following club’s 1-2 Europa League defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.

“It has been an honour to be the Arsenal head coach,” Emery said in a letter posted on the official website of the club.

“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,” he added.

Emery further said he would have liked nothing more than to have achieved better results for the club.

“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,” he said.

“I had already experienced a lot in football, but I have enjoyed and learned a lot in England, in the Premier League, about respect for professionals and about the purity of football,” he added.

Arsenal are currently placed at the eighth spot in the Premier League standings with 18 points from 13 matches.

The club, while announcing Emery’s removal, said that the decision was taken “due to results and performances not being at the level required”.

Emery tenure lasted for only 18 months, having been the club’s choice to succeed Arsene Wenger in May 2018 after the Frenchman’s 22-year tenure.

Freddie Ljungberg, who played for the club between 1998 and 2007, has been appointed as the interim head coach.