Unai Emery

[charlatan]

Hope his managerial methods are clearer to the players than that book was to me.

[Mister E]

Don't know if this has been posted elsewhere, but this commentary gives me a very good feeling about Emery's likely impact on those players whom we think are underperforming (yes, Ollie and McGinn, I'm partocularly looking at you!):

Unai Emery, a serial winner in Europe but with a point to prove in England

By Gregg Evans 
Oct 25, 2022
Unai Emery was clear with his message.

“I am better prepared now to take on a job in the Premier League,” he said en route to the Champions League semi-finals with Villarreal earlier this year.

His dismissal at Arsenal in 2019 left Emery with unfinished business in England.

“As a coach, I still want to keep having more experiences and motivations… and I still have that (winning the) Champions League dream,” he said.

Step forward Aston Villa to offer the 50-year-old a platform he always hoped would arrive. Serious work is needed to drag Villa away from the lower half of the table before they can even think about breaking into the European competitions their new manager has had so much success in.

With 12 games already passed, he’ll be expected to start making immediate inroads when he starts work on November 1 following Saturday’s game at Newcastle United, of all clubs. Emery turned down the job at St James’s Park in November 2021 to stay at Villarreal, citing the Champions League adventure as more appealing than a relegation battle, which at the time Newcastle were heavily involved in.

“I thought a lot about the opportunity to return to England, to a serious project,” he told The Athletic in April this year. “I liked the idea, but I was also grateful to Villarreal for the opportunity they gave me.”

The decision to stay has played on his mind over the last 12 months, which is why choosing Villa was made easier.

When Emery listened to what the owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens (NSWE) had planned for the club — a push for Europe, the stadium upgrade and continued investment — he knew this was the right opportunity and, after receiving assurances from his family, wasted no time accepting the challenge.

Multiple interviews were conducted and CEO Christian Purslow flew out to Spain after Villa’s 4-0 win over Brentford to continue discussions. Those final talks, which involved agent Jorge Mendes, moved faster than anticipated. Purslow is known in the industry as a man in a hurry and he was able to thrash out a deal, which includes paying Villarreal a £5.25million ($6m) release clause, in time to announce Emery as the new manager four days after Steven Gerrard’s brutal but inevitable dismissal.

NSWE and Purslow have shown since taking over at Villa in July 2018 that they mean business. High-profile appointments are typically speedy transitions.

Dean Smith was appointed as Steve Bruce’s replacement seven days after his sacking. Gerrard replaced Smith five days after his exit and Johan Lange, the sporting director, replaced Jesus Garcia Pitarch just three days after his departure was confirmed in 2020. Villa always have a plan that is executed in a timely fashion.

They gauged whether Mauricio Pochettino would be interested in this job and had a list of others under consideration including Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim. Emery, though, quickly moved to top of the pile. With his European pedigree and knowledge of the Premier League, he was recognised as the perfect fit.

There aren’t many clubs in England outside of the established “Big Six” who could have tempted Emery to join, but Villa have serious pulling power under this ownership structure and are able to act decisively when putting together deals.

Incredibly, when negotiations began there was the threat of the club propping up the table. Had Villa lost to Brentford on Sunday they could have been bottom of the division, but caretaker manager Aaron Danks, alongside goalkeeper coach Neil Cutler, bought the club some time by overseeing an emphatic 4-0 win.

The pair will continue to hold the fort until after the Newcastle match when Emery, who faces a delayed start because of work permit paperwork, will start to put his own stamp on the team.

The make-up of his backroom team has not been revealed yet, so Danks and Cutler will seek assurances that they remain in jobs in the coming days.

Neither has been told what the future holds and both are in limbo until they receive clarity. Danks, who was hired from Anderlecht in July 2021, is a well-respected coach who is liked by the players but wasn’t heavily involved under Gerrard.

Cutler, recognised as one of the very best in his field, has been at the club for four years and has a strong relationship with goalkeeper (and captain for the last game) Emiliano Martinez. Emery has taken his own goalkeeping coach, Javi Garcia, with him to each of his last four jobs in football, though.

The achievements of the new regime will determine the feeling from the stands towards Purslow after the failed appointment of Gerrard. For the first time in Purslow’s four years at the club, he was beginning to come under some external heat, but the strength of this new appointment has offered a timely boost.

Emery — who wants his teams to be strong physically and tactically flexible — is firmly set on rebuilding his reputation in England.

He was a manager with serious momentum before he moved to London in the summer of 2018, first by making Valencia clearly the third-best team in La Liga behind Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid and then leading Sevilla to an unprecedented three consecutive Europa League trophies from 2014.

In two years with Paris Saint-Germain, he won seven of the 10 available trophies, but was eliminated in the Champions League last 16 by Barcelona, having won the first leg in Paris 4-0, and then Real Madrid in March 2018. He’s worked with world-class superstars such as Kylian Mbappe and Neymar and showed he can deliver titles even if the elusive one slipped by in France.

Arsenal thought long and hard about appointing him as Arsene Wenger’s replacement. Initially it looked to be a wise appointment, but things fell apart and unravelled spectacularly.

A point off third in April 2019 and on course for a Europa League final, Arsenal looked set to return to the Champions League in Emery’s first season only to finish fifth and lose that final in Azerbaijan 4-1 to Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea.

Three defeats in seven days — against Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester City — then a draw with Brighton cost them top four finish, before that loss in Baku denied them the Europa League (and a place in next season’s Champions League).

There were difficulties with star player Mesut Ozil while the appointment of Granit Xhaka as captain was controversial with both supporters and team-mates.

After 16 months in charge, he was fired. Like Gerrard, Emery’s last job in England ended with vociferous calls for his sacking from the stands.

He became a figure of fun, with some particularly unfair focus on Emery’s language skills and accent.

Often, in his video sessions with players, he couldn’t be as clear and concise with the instructions he delivered in a second language.

Addressing the issue earlier this year, he said: “I had a decent level, although I needed to improve. When results are bad it’s not the same. You lack the linguistic depth to explain. And take, ‘Good ebening’: OK, it’s, ‘Good evening’, but when I said, ‘Good ebening’ and won it was fun; when we were losing it was a disgrace.”

Emery’s argument was he never felt truly supported internally at Arsenal when the going got tough and also didn’t have the necessary authority to make the decisions to take the club in the right direction.

His sole focus on coaching contrasted with predecessor Arsene Wenger’s more holistic approach and left him isolated. Chief executive Ivan Gazidis left six months on from Emery’s appointment to take the same role at AC Milan. Head of recruitment Sven Mislintat stepped down after just over a year. Raul Sanllehi, the head of football relations, followed after two. Emery had been sacked by then anyway, unable to build a powerbase within the club.

But if he was mocked at Arsenal and left fighting to rebuild a reputation, then he leaves Spain ahead of a return to England with the spring firmly back in his step.

In a statement, Villarreal highlighted that Emery has “gone down in history” with his achievements. The club based in a city with a population of just 50,000 had punched above their weight for years, but never won a trophy until Emery arrived.

Like in his other success stories at Valencia and Sevilla, he was immediately given more power over transfers and off-pitch matters than most of his predecessors at the Estadio de la Ceramica, dealing directly on a day-to-day basis with Fernando Roig, the hands-on club president.

His debut season brought the club’s first final in its 98-year history. In doing so they surpassed 1987-88 Cup Winners’ Cup victors Mechelen of Belgium (population 86,000) in becoming the smallest of small-town clubs ever to lift a European trophy.

They beat Arsenal in the Europa League semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate before overcoming Manchester United in a dramatic penalty shootout.

He got the best out of under-performing players, many of whom had been cast aside by English clubs, written off as flops or sold to raise funds.

Former Bournemouth forward Arnaut Danjuma thrived under the Spaniard and has increased significantly in value.

“Unai is someone who works with you to improve,” Danjuma told The Athletic earlier this year. “He has spent so much time with me, helping me, from the day I arrived. When I came, straight away he spoke English with me, just for me to understand the system, the tactics, that he wants me to play. He has been a key factor for me in performing, 100 per cent.”

The ex-Arsenal midfielder, Matteo Guendouzi, described Emery as “so unique”.

When Villarreal won the Europa League, Guendouzi tweeted in support of his old manager, saying: “What a journey! This football… so smart and elegant! You know how to win trophies! I am honoured and proud to have had the opportunity to evolve by your side. Words will never be strong enough to qualify your personality, your benevolence and your authenticity in human relationships.”

Last season’s incredible Champions League adventure helped re-establish Emery as one of most-discussed managers in the game as he took Villarreal all the way to the semi-finals before losing to Liverpool.

Along the way, there were brilliant performances and tactical masterclasses. Beating Juventus 4-1 on aggregate in the round of 16 was followed by an even more impressive 2-1 aggregate win over Bayern Munich.

Emery dedicates so much time to opposition analysis — he famously said that he watched 17 Manchester United games to prepare for the 2021 Europa League final — that every game is different. After beating Bayern 1-0 at home, Villarreal had the difficult task of stopping the German giants at home.

Granted, there was some desperate defending along the way, but Emery identified ways to shock Bayern. He asked his team to slowly play their way out of trouble from the back, splitting his two centre-halves wide and packing the midfield area with players. It was bold, some might say too risky, but it worked and Villarreal drew 1-1 to progress.

Emery’s attention to detail and commitment to helping his players and teams is well known in football.

“I like to work hard on the details, to know the players well,” he explains. “Difficult games motivate me a lot. You try to surprise the rival coach, for your team to be better than them tactically.”

It’s that kind of tactical nous that Villa hope will help them compete in games against the biggest teams in the league. Villa were unable to beat an established top-six team under Gerrard and showed no signs of progression.

Emery will aim to slowly start unpicking those troubles and spark the change to get Villa climbing the table.

He leaves Villarreal in seventh position, which is where they finished last season after an inconsistent campaign that only ended with European Conference League qualification.

Dropping from the Champions League to the Conference League meant the squad’s wage bill had to be cut in the summer and injuries to key attackers Gerard Moreno and Danjuma hurt.

There was also a feeling that Emery had achieved all he could at the club. He knew of Villa’s interest for a few weeks and the chance to return to the Premier League, while the resources available were very attractive.

“Yes, I’m a better coach now, with all my experiences, the lessons learned, everything I have been through,” he said in April. “I still have very important challenges and ambitions. Anyone who works in football has to love football and feel passion. If you love it as I do (then), the good times, the bad times, you take them on happily.”

At Villarreal, the last week has been emotional with the death of long serving and much loved club vice president Jose Manuel Llaneza.

For Emery, leaving was not easy, given everything he had been through together, but ultimately, the time felt right.

Getting a manager of his stature is a huge coup for Villa. It’s as exciting as when Martin O’Neill, the man tipped to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s heir, arrived from Celtic and got Villa back into Europe.

The hope now is that Emery can emulate success and restore the feel-good factor at the club.

[sid1964]

Listening to the Paul McGrath Podcast - i wonder how long it will be before our players start to complain about the amount of time they are spending at Bodymoor Heath

[Dave P]

I don’t want to sound like a worrying miseryarse, but is the work permit a formality?

[Risso]

I don’t want to sound like a worrying miseryarse, but is the work permit a formality?

Given his track record, yes.

[mallo]

"He knew of Villa’s interest for a few weeks and the chance to return to the Premier League, while the resources available were very attractive."

Interesting.

[Axl Rose]

He was mocked at Arsenal by that twat, Ozil. Ridiculous. Ozil was once an excellent player, but just became a bellend.

I would absolutely love it if Emery is a massive success here.

[Clampy]

If the style of football continues in the same vein of last Sunday, I think one player who it will benefit when he's back is Iroegbunam.

[Breezeblock]

Lager is feckin dreadful.  End of discussion.

What he said!

[Monty]

Anyone else just really, really up for this?

[Drummond]

Anyone else just really, really up for this?

I've not seen anyone not be. In my view, this is the best appointment we could have made. With everything I've read, and looking at his record, I'm just not sure who would have been any better for where we are and where we want to go.

[Monty]

Anyone else just really, really up for this?

I've not seen anyone not be. In my view, this is the best appointment we could have made. With everything I've read, and looking at his record, I'm just not sure who would have been any better for where we are and where we want to go.

Agreed entirely. I can't fault any of it. I just can't wait to see us baffling some oppo with tactics, being right at the cutting edge of preparation and style and everything. We've never even been close to this before, maybe not since the 1890s.

[LeeB]

Anyone else just really, really up for this?

I've not seen anyone not be. In my view, this is the best appointment we could have made. With everything I've read, and looking at his record, I'm just not sure who would have been any better for where we are and where we want to go.

Agreed entirely. I can't fault any of it. I just can't wait to see us baffling some oppo with tactics, being right at the cutting edge of preparation and style and everything. We've never even been close to this before, maybe not since the 1890s.

Yep, I'm massively aroused. Imagine being smarter than opposition? It's always felt like a pipe dream

[eamonn]

The Athletics below the line comments from other fans mention that he loves a draw/setting his team up for a point/away draw in the league and in knockout two-leg football. I hope we'll still be brave and sexy too.

[Monty]

I'm less concerned than I used to be about playing the sexy stuff, though I don't doubt we will too. I just want us to be very fucking competent indeed. Looks like that's going to be the way.