Unai Emery has Aston Villa from the relegation zone to the Champions League-Ranks led. A weapon of the team: the best offside trap in Europe. Now the duel with the front runner is on arsenal at.
Unai Emery has retained his politeness, even though it has brought him much ridicule in the past. From his tenure as Arséne Wenger’s successor at FC arsenal From 2018 to the end of 2019, what English audiences will remember most is his English, which has a strong accent because of his origins – Emery comes from the Basque Country. The public made fun of him for consistently ending his press conferences and interviews with a “good evening” opened with what he sounds like: “gutt ibbening”.
Four years after he left arsenal Emery (52) still begins his analysis by wishing the other person a good evening, but no one laughs at him anymore. The coach is in his second attempt to convince the English public that he is the architect of the world’s most astonishing story Premier League this year. As he Aston Villa took over in October 2022 as successor to Steven Gerrard, the club fought against relegation. This season the club is playing for the Champions League-Places and will be a triple winner after the 1-0 win against them during the week Manchester City even mentioned as a candidate for the title, including by City coach Pep Guardiola.
22 shots on goal in the win against City
It happens rarely enough that Manchester City loses a game, but like this, this way, the club is under Guardiola never lost. Aston Villa played the subscription champions against the wall, shot 22 times on goal and could have scored significantly more goals than just the winning goal from former Leverkusen player Leon Bailey in the 74th minute. At the time of the Corona ghost games Aston Villa a 7:2 against the then champions FC Liverpool succeeded, but the success was against Manchester City means more because it took place in front of a roaring audience Villa Park – and because he, unlike back then Liverpool-Dismantling was not an anomaly, but rather representative of the club’s upswing.
Leon Bailey (below) celebrates the winning goal against City with his teammates
villa, as the club is simply known in England, is third in the table and a power, especially at home. The club won 14 games in a row in front of their home crowd, equaling their own record from 1903 and 1931. Should home win number 15 be achieved on Saturday, it would be a special triumph in several respects: Aston Villa receives arsenal, the league leaders and the club where Emery had once failed and been ridiculed for his English. A win against the leaders would be a satisfaction for Emery, even if he would never admit it – and his team should definitely be considered championship contenders.
600 million euros invested in transfers
The recovery, as amazing as it is, is no coincidence. Aston Villalocated in Birmingham, the second largest city in England, is a club with a great tradition, winning the championship seven times, most recently in 1981, and even the European Cup in 1982 by winning the final against FC Bayern. With the introduction of the Premier League became Aston Villa left behind – several changes of ownership, financial difficulties, sporting mediocrity, and even relegation at one point. Since returning to the Premier League four years ago Aston Villa almost 600 million euros invested in transfers to bring back the old glory and a sporty one level to achieve that corresponds to the stature of the club.
The obligation of Steven Gerrard as successor to promotion coach Dean Smith was a maneuver that suited the club’s ambitions because Gerrard is one of the biggest names in English football this millennium. But how Frank Lampard at FC Chelsea had to too Gerrard realize that an illustrious career as a player does not guarantee success as a coach. He was released after less than a year. Found with a little delay Aston Villa the right man to realize the club’s high standards – namely Unai Emery.
Infamous video analysis
He has three times with FC Seville the Europe League won, once with Villarreal. He also led the club to the semi-finals of the Champions League. In addition, Emery held his own with Paris respectably Saint Germain. Because the view of him in England was shaped by his unfortunate involvement with arsenalthe English audience is amazed at his methods Aston Villa function. Emery is extremely detail-obsessed and his hours-long video analyzes are notorious. Many players report that every training session brings a gain in knowledge. Symbolic of the good Coaching there is a special weapon Aston Villas, namely the best offside trap in Europe. The portal “The Athletic” recently calculated that the team allowed opponents to go offside 4.8 times per game – more than any other club in the major European leagues.
Emery benefits from being at Aston Villa works with long-standing allies, namely the sports directors Damian Vidagany and Ramon Rodríguez Verdejocalled Monchi. They keep the coach’s back free so that he can concentrate on his core competence, working with the team. Questions about whether Aston Villa to compete for the championship, Emery moderates. “We still have a lot to do”he said after the midweek win against Manchester City. He’s planning the next one coupon Saturday against arsenal.