Unai Emery

[Footy-Vill]

Emery and masterclass are often used in same sentence when he makes a victory.
El rey Emery!

[Footy-Vill]

I think we are completely missing this language point  Footy is making.  Get into position to receive the ball, control and pass it forward to your team mate I reckon could be totally different in Spanish or indeed Scottish. I wish i knew the languages better.

Exactly when Alex was signed you can hear the alluring tones of a quite wonderful senorita interview him. In Spainish. On the official website
They'll be a lot more interest in Aston Villa from Spain with Emery.

That's like saying we would be more interested in Spanish football if Eddie Howe was appointed Villareal manager.

To be fair, there was quite a bit more media reporting on La Liga when Moyes was at Real Sociedad and Neville was at Valencia.

On the other hand, those were rather novel. Given there are probably a hundred Spanish head coaches working in football leagues across the world, Emery at at Villa is just one more of them.

Guaranteed when he's finished taking us where we are heading to the top we'll all be wanting to speak Spanish!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Years and years of meek acceptance of mediocrity. Absolutely agree.

What was is it, a week, ten days ago we were 3 or 4 points off top 6/7 and within that time we suddenly become a midtable side? I blame the Rags; 148 years without any local competition, it's put some in an ambition coma. As long as we have 'bragging rights' (puke) everything is hunky dory?

[Brazilian Villain]

Guaranteed when he's finished taking us where we are heading to the top we'll all be wanting to speak Spanish!

¡Si, señor!

[OCD]

There's a good article in the Athletic about why Emery was so pissed off.

Why was Unai Emery so angry at Aston Villa on Saturday?

When Unai Emery last lost three league games in a row, his Arsenal team subsequently missed out on Champions League football and the setback played a part in his eventual sacking.

It was April 2019 when Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City all found ways to out-manoeuvre Emery’s side during a painful and season-defining period.

Not since May 2016 when the Basque was manager of Sevilla had he experienced such a bad run of domestic results, and even then he quickly made amends by seeing off Liverpool to win the Europa League in the same month. Never during his two and-a-bit seasons at Villarreal did his side lose three on the bounce in La Liga, and every year they had European football to contend with, too.

Perhaps that goes some way to explaining why Emery was so angry after Aston Villa’s 4-2 defeat to Arsenal at the weekend. And let’s get it right, he was raging.

Such are the high standards he expects — even at a club of Villa’s stature — that defeats to the two outstanding teams of the season, Arsenal and Manchester City (plus Leicester), cut deep. So deep, in fact, that he got stuck into his players both publicly and privately to remind them that a run of defeats like this is unacceptable.

The 51-year-old, who has plans to work his team longer and harder this week, did not hold back, saying he was “embarrassed”. Yet the core of Emery’s frustration isn’t so much with the defeats, but how Villa are losing. He says his team are not brave enough in possession, not taking enough risks and failing to stick to the game plan.

This is what needs to change because, after a brilliant start, Villa are in danger of losing momentum before games against four of the sides beneath them in the Premier League.

Arsenal’s third goal made Emery’s blood boil. So what happened?
Villa were drawing 2-2 and already into the third minute of stoppage time when they coughed up a third goal to Arsenal.

Yes, the manner was cruel — the ball hitting the bar and bouncing in off Emiliano Martinez — but it was still a gift, presented via a long, aimless ball pumped forward by Boubacar Kamara. It was this that sent the Villa manager into a rage. Emery is asking his players to be brave in possession and pick the right passes in the moments when they are trying to see out games, but one careless ball on this occasion was costly.

Here, you can see Kamara receiving a pass from Matty Cash in the 92nd minute.

But rather than keeping possession with a simple pass nearby, Kamara opts to clear it upfield. That gave possession back to Arsenal and within seconds they were 3-2 up.

“That long ball is an example of what I do not want to create and build here,” Emery said afterwards.

Harsh on Kamara? Yes. But look at what happened in the 15 minutes before…
It has been a tough month for Kamara, but to single the Frenchman out for the most recent defeat would be unfair.

He actually recorded his highest passing accuracy figure (93 per cent) for the season and it was his long ball that set up Leon Bailey for a late opportunity that crashed off the crossbar. How things could have been different had that gone in.

What Emery deemed as a late mistake (the 92nd-minute long ball) was, in fact, one of only two passes he misplaced all game. The real source of annoyance was a frantic final 15 minutes where Villa lost their cool and forgot to follow the game plan.

Here’s a breakdown of what happened.

After 80 minutes, Ezri Konsa kicked it long and immediately gave the ball back to Arsenal. Emery says he is asking his players to retain possession in these moments.

In the 84th minute, Martinez initially looked like he was going to play a goal kick short to either Konsa or Tyrone Mings. This is what Emery wants.

… but instead, the goalkeeper received a booking for time-wasting and then kicked it long. Villa quickly lost possession again and gave Arsenal another chance to build an attack.

On 85 minutes, Bailey dropped back to cover in defence but was careless and kicked the ball out of play to concede possession again.

A little more than sixty seconds later, Martinez again went long and Villa lost possession.

After that, John McGinn won possession but then tried a long ball that was cut out.

On 88 minutes, Martinez again kicked it long and Arsenal win possession.

Seconds later, Konsa passed the ball back to Martinez in a way that Emery likes.

… but the goalkeeper again kicked it long and Villa quickly lost possession.

On 91 minutes, Jacob Ramsey won possession deep into his own half and played a good pass to Jhon Duran, who shot straight at Aaron Ramsdale when the sensible option perhaps would have been to take it into the corner and run down the clock.

Then came Kamara’s misplaced long ball and the relentless pressure proved to be too much for Villa to withstand, even if the decisive goal came through a huge slice of bad luck.

And that was just the final 15 minutes!

So what needs to change?
Emery is asking his players to work on their combination play and think carefully about the best way to retain possession and build out from the back.

Scoring goals has not been a problem and ironically, the best-worked sequence of the season came on Saturday when Philippe Coutinho finished off a fine move that started with Martinez.

Finding consistency is fundamental, though, and it requires total buy-in from the players to get it right. Martinez, for example, recorded his lowest passing accuracy of the season (46 per cent) and that made it difficult to gain any real authority in the game, especially in the second half.

After finding a way to successfully hold onto leads under Emery in the early games, Villa have started to wilt too easily again. The shape they hold when defending is good as Kamara often drops in as a third centre-half, the full-backs tuck inside and two midfield players add support in wide areas. The problem is in possession and Villa had just 33 per cent of it against Arsenal, while also giving the ball away 111 times from just 489 touches.

“The manager wants us to stick to a game plan and try to outplay opponents,” says Ollie Watkins. “We know we can do it but we haven’t been playing out from the back well enough yet.”

Defending low for too long
When Emery was asked to take over from the failing Steven Gerrard in October, he watched every game Villa had played this season and some from 2021-22.

One of his findings was that Villa were defending too low for too long in games. His first plan was to find a way to change that and certainly, since the World Cup break, Villa have, at times, played with a much higher defensive line.

The risk, of course, will always be allowing teams to find runners in behind and both Leicester and Manchester City were quick to take advantage. There are strengths and weaknesses in every formation, though, so this is an area that perhaps Emery himself should consider adjusting if the losing run continues.

Villa's revolution under Emery: Long video sessions, meticulous detail and clever in-game changes

So how long will this take?
When The Athletic asked Emery if he could accept losing if his team stuck to the exact plan he had set out, he replied: “Of course. We have to be consistent in the idea we want to win.”

It’s why he believes the previous mistakes made when playing out from the back — Douglas Luiz at Brighton, Leander Dendoncker against Stevenage and Kamara against Leicester — should be used as building blocks.

“We have to work to break lines and stick together with the more difficult things.”

It took his Villarreal side months to find the right formula and it all came together during the run to the Champions League semi-finals and most notably during the quarter-final double-header with Bayern Munich.

When holding onto the lead, instead of lobbing long balls into space, Villarreal tried, as often as they could, to pass between themselves in triangles and pick the right moment only to release the ball forward.

Unai Emery wants to change Aston Vila’s style of play (Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Of course, this was just one match, but Emery’s ability to get the better of superior opposition with a well-rehearsed plan is one of the reasons he has enjoyed so much success in Europe over the years.

A demanding week at Bodymoor Heath working on shape and building out from the back is already underway as Villa prepare for Saturday’s trip to Everton at Goodison Park.

The players already know to expect long, detailed weeks, often with a specific focus on new opponents, but on the back of defeats, the intensity is cranked up further.

Emery’s meticulous attention to detail has been felt since he first arrived, but the players and the press saw a different side to him at the weekend as he made his feelings clear; it’s his way only.

“I will demand them to play better and demand myself to push them to do more.”

[villadelph]

Love it.

[Nelly]

OCD, thanks so much for posting that. Really interesting to read that 15 minute spell of failings, in particular. It actually made me wonder how much harder it is when you add in a sceptical, nervous Villa Park crowd - that angry sound of rising frustration at coming under pressure from passing it around and wanting to get rid. Maybe we as fans also need to grow into this passing philosophy.

I have to admit, I thought Martinez sending longer balls was a change as a response to some of the poor goals Villa have recently conceded when trying to play out from the back.

[pauliewalnuts]

It actually made me wonder how much harder it is when you add in a sceptical, nervous Villa Park crowd - that angry sound of rising frustration at coming under pressure from passing it around and wanting to get rid. Maybe we as fans also need to grow into this passing philosophy.

The crowd aren't noisy about the fact we're passing it around or because they want to get rid - they're on edge at 2-2 an injury time against Arsenal as the most Villa thing EVER is to throw it away.

Anything that stopped Arsenal getting another chance - keeping the ball or leathering it into Witton Lane - would have been accepted, so long as it worked.

[brontebilly]

Was taking off Luiz a key factor in the inability to retain possession late on? Good article

[Nev]

A really interesting read and one that heartens me in the light of recent results. There is a method here and we're seeing signs of it working. We're not getting thrashed but making mistakes that are then punished by a combination of good opposition play and lousy luck.
Both the players and the crowd (including myself) need to come to terms with this so that last 10 minutes, when that anxiety creeps in and we all feel the overwhelming desire to bellow "get rid", we need to recognise that this is not the instruction for the players. It's hard though, as is watching us play out from the back without shitting it.

I'd rather Duran did go for goal in the 91st minute but the Manager has proven that he can be a success and maybe his pragmatism is more useful than the fans naivety.

[SamTheMouse]

Both the players and the crowd (including myself) need to come to terms with this so that last 10 minutes, when that anxiety creeps in and we all feel the overwhelming desire to bellow "get rid", we need to recognise that this is not the instruction for the players. It's hard though, as is watching us play out from the back without shitting it.

I was just about to post something like this. I bet most of us quite like it when, late on, one of our defenders absolutely hoofs the ball a mile up field to 'ease the pressure'. I know I'm guilty of that myself. I feel like it allows me to unclench my arse for a few seconds.

But that's the change in mentality that Emery clearly wants, and it's definitely the way forward. Keep the ball away from your opponent, no matter what minute of the game it is.

[john e]

We need better players to play out from the back
Mings and Konsa are the biggest weakness in the way Emery wants to play in this side

it’s alright saying when we lump it forward we lose possession but we also lose it when we try and play out very often not making it past the half way line before losing it and they are on top of us bearing down on goal

I mean Konsa’s touch is so poor he got robbed in his own box and gifted a chance to Odeguard that he managed to put wide that was right up there with Ronnie Rosenthal

I’m all on board with the Emery way I’ve waited untold years to watch a Villa team play passing and possession football but it won’t happen with our current defenders
They aren’t technically good enough

[villadelph]

We need better players to play out from the back

I’m all on board with the Emery way I’ve waited untold years to watch a Villa team play passing and possession football but it won’t happen with our current defenders
They aren’t technically good enough

Hopefully Diego can step up..

[Lastfootstamper]

I think Mings is okay, he possesses an element of ability and seems to enjoy passing the football. His biggest handicap is having to play alongside Konsa, who is truly beyond awful with the ball at his feet and with nothing in his locker, not short, long or hooooof.

[Brazilian Villain]

There's a good article in the Athletic about why Emery was so pissed off.

Very informative and thanks for posting, good article apart from this little snippet.

Such are the high standards he expects — even at a club of Villa’s stature