Arsenal title winner Alan Smith has questioned how manager Unai Emery relates to his players when he still struggles with his English.
He wrote for the London Evening Standard: "Listening to Unai Emery talk publicly for a season and a bit, one big question always rears up. If the media finds him difficult to understand because of a weak grasp of English, if his intended points don't entirely make sense, what on earth do the players think? Can they possibly be motivated by such confusing rhetoric?
"It's a question worth asking after some wayward displays, most recently at Sheffield United on Monday night. There seems to be a disconnect between pitch and touchline, between players and manager when things need fixing.
"Some of that, clearly, comes down to communication, the lack of which inevitably leads to a gap opening up.
"Footballers have notoriously short attention spans as it is. So in team meetings that drag on for an hour or more, do Emery's words lead to confusion?
"If they do, and if the Spaniard's training ground instructions don't hit the mark either, you do start to wonder how he can possibly educate and inspire this Arsenal squad."
