After Aston Villa confirmed the appointment of Unai Emery as our new Head Coach, a new era begins at the club as we hope he can oversee a successful period at the helm.
As per the club’s official statement, the 50-year-old will begin work on November 1, which means his first game in charge will be the home clash with Man Utd next Sunday.
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In the more immediate future it’s hoped that interim boss Aaron Danks can lead the side to another positive result against Newcastle Utd this weekend, but ultimately the excitement will now build as we await Emery’s first press conference and more importantly, a first look at how he intends to set this Villa side up.
Speculation has been rife for days now since Steven Gerrard’s departure, and while other names were perhaps more strongly linked in the initial period following his sacking, it is Emery who the Villa hierarchy wanted and who has been convinced to take the job and it will hopefully prove to be the right match at the right time.
High level, ambitious appointment from Villa
In the interests of not only attracting top level players moving forward, but also to reassure the top talents we currently have in the squad that our ambition and objectives haven’t wavered despite the disappointment over the last 12 months, it was important to make a statement appointment.
Emery is exactly that given what he has achieved in his coaching career to date, and that is an important factor having ultimately made a mistake by going with Gerrard last November.
He has a proven track-record to suggest that he’s better equipped and prepared for this role, and while we undoubtedly would have wanted an exciting new Head Coach with a long-term plan in mind, it’s also a solid appointment of a coach who is a safer bet compared to some of the other names being linked.
Experience and pedigree at the top level
Emery led Valencia to two third-place La Liga finishes, he won three consecutive Europa League titles with Sevilla and seven trophies in two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.
In his most recent role at Villarreal, he won the Europa League once again and took them to a Champions League semi-final.
While he often gets ridiculed for his time at Arsenal, the facts are he collected 70 points in his only full season in charge, which is the best tally for the Gunners since the 2016/17 campaign. Further, he took them to their first European final since 2005/06 and had an average of 1.73 PPG.
Emery has won a lot, experienced a lot and arguably has a point to prove on his return to the Premier League. It’s a high-level appointment from Villa, one that hopefully works out for us, both in the short and long term.
Coaching qualities – aggressive style, tactically flexible
Under Emery, Villa are likely to adopt a more aggressive style of play and while he has shown a preference for a 4-2-3-1 system previously which would suit us, he has also shown exceptional tactical flexibility.
Based on his work at other clubs, he’ll look to make us very hard to break down and will want a side playing with intensity and urgency to put pressure on teams while counter attacking with the pace and power we have in attack. Villarreal had the fourth best defensive record in La Liga last season, while only Barcelona have conceded less goals so far this year.
Having lacked good coaching over the last year in terms of improving individuals and the team as a whole, being adaptable in the use of formations and personnel used within those systems, this should hopefully now be a breath of fresh air for both the players and supporters.
There’s lots to be excited about when it comes to Emery’s arrival, and so now it’s hoped that he successfully gets his ideas across to the squad, we enjoy a strong start under his stewardship to start moving in the right direction before he can begin stamping his mark on the group in the January transfer window.
Villa will no doubt want this to be a long-term fix now after the failed Gerrard experiment, and Emery ticks a lot of the right boxes to reassure us that he could be exactly what we need.