Unai Emery has expressed his “surprise” at Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking at Tottenham Hotspur, saying that Arsenal’s long-time rivals were doing “very good work” under Pochettino’s management.

Emery, who regards Pochettino as a friend, was backed last week by the Arsenal hierarchy despite his own difficult run of results this season.

“Maybe in the last matches they did not achieve good results, but I think overall their way in the last years with Pochettino was perfect,” said Emery.

“And now, they decided to change. I don’t know exactly the real reason for doing that, but they have their way and we have our way and then we are going to battle in our moments.

“I think it's a surprise how it's finishing, that relationship with Pochettino. But I don't know exactly why and I don't know exactly how he [Jose Mourinho] is going to change their performance.

“He [Mourinho] is a very good coach. Really, his career is very strong with the titles, with the experience. But I think also, Pochettino's work in Tottenham was amazing.”

Meanwhile, Emery has said he plans to return Granit Xhaka to the Arsenal side following his decision to strip the midfielder of the captain’s armband before the international break.