Unai Emery began his new job as Aston Villa’s Head Coach this week. The Spaniard came from Villarreal, who are currently seventh in La Liga and first in their European Conference League. I’ll be speaking with Arsenal supporter Dan George about Emery’s experience in North London, but before, let’s look at Emery’s playing style and managerial accolades.
PLAYING STYLE
Emery’s playing style has remained largely consistent across his stints at Sevilla, PSG, Arsenal, and Villarreal. I’ll look at how Emery wanted his players to perform while at Villarreal.
Emery frequently deploys his teams in his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, which Villa executed well against Brentford. When things aren’t going Emery’s way, he’s not hesitant to alter to a 4-4-2 formation.
Emery prefers to play on the counter, with a large number of players joining the attack. He frequently depends on attackers cutting in deep to force other players to overlap. The fullbacks will advance if his team has the ball for an extended period of time. As a result, the wide midfielders press inwards.
Emery’s centre backs have been prone to join the attack during spells of low creativity. This could suit Tyrone Mings, who brings the ball out of defence when his options are limited. Emery’s style appears to be a perfect fit for the Villa players.
HONOURS
Emery has an outstanding collection of trophies to his name, both domestically and in Europe. Emery won the Ligue 1, both cup competitions, and the French equivalent of the Community Shield during his stay at PSG. What really sticks out is his track record in Europe.
Between 2014 and 2016, the Spaniard won the Europa League three times in a row with Sevilla. He also led Villarreal to the Europa League title in 2021.
THE OPPOSITION | EMERY AT ARSENAL
I spoke with Dan George (@Dangeorge47) to find out more about Emeryβs time at Arsenal.
First of all, the managers relationship with the fans is massively important for Villa fans. How did Emery connect with the Arsenal fans?
The first thing that Arsenal fans liked about him was that he had a really aggressive management style on the touchline, he liked to impose himself from the touchline. He was always pacing up and down trying to manage the game as it goes on. There was a bit of a language barrier when he first came. He spoke English, just not amazingly. He didnβt have the best relationship with Arsenal fans but a lot has happened since then, heβs learnt a lot from his time at Arsenal before going back to Europe. Maybe this has improved in his time away.
In recent times pundits have been critical of Villaβs lack of a plan B, or in Gerrardβs case, a Plan A. How did Emery react when things went wrong?
The sample size is quite small with Emery because of his small stint with Arsenal. It went badly wrong a lot of the time with Emery, obviously missing out on the Champions League, and the big defeats we tasted in Europe. Having said that, there were times when it went well, for example Tottenham at home where we won 4-2. He struggled away from home against the top six sides though.
How was Emery in the transfer market? Did he like to look abroad or did he like proven talent?
He liked to look abroad for proven talents. If you look at the likes of Liechtensteiner and Sokratis. They were proven pros, but they were really old. I guess he was trying to stabilise the Arsenal squad at the time. However, one thing that Emery was brilliant at was bringing Bukayo Saka through. He handed him his debut. He played the youngsters a lot in Europe. Saka and Nketiah were the ones he played in the league. Overall, he liked to look abroad rather than in England so I wouldnβt be surprised to see an influx in Spanish players at Villa.
Villa can boast one of the brightest academies in the league with the likes of Kesler-Hayden, Iroegbunam and Azaz close to breaking through. Was Emery keen to bring through youth talent at Arsenal?
Iβve sort of already answered that one. Yes, he was! He handed Saka his debut and played Nketiah quite a bit. Smith Rowe was there too. Emery liked having a balance of youth and experience in his side. He liked potential and proven talent. I donβt see any reason why he wonβt bring the youth players in at the Villa.
@Dangeorge47
AUTHOR | ELLIS BURNETT
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive ellisburnett – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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