Aston Villa skipper John McGinn has hailed Unai Emery and the influence that he has had on the club since he arrived two years ago.
The 52-year-old celebrates two years in charge on Thursday, and the transformation under his guidance during that period has been sensational, having taken Villa from the brink of a relegation battle to sitting top of the Champions League table in the space of 24 months.
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Beyond the results, Emery has instilled and implemented an exciting brand of football, improved and developed almost every player at his disposal, assembled a squad capable of challenging on multiple fronts and rebuilt the connection between the team and supporters to a point that it’s now stronger than ever before.
It truly has been a magical tenure thus far, and while the hope is that we are far from done and the story has many more successful chapters to come, McGinn couldn’t speak highly enough of the Villa boss this week as we continue to make an excellent start to this season both domestically and in Europe.
“We are excited. I think the manager is the only person who does not get excited,” he said, as quoted by The Express and Star. “He just focuses his full energy all the time, like he says, every single day he is that demanding on us. He does not let us take our foot off the gas so we can use energy and enthusiasm, the excitement we have. His determination and intensity is unmatched.
“No matter what happens from now until whenever he leaves – we hope it’s never – he will certainly go down as one of our club’s greatest managers.
“He is just so driven. I have never met anyone like him. He has said to me a few times, he was an OK footballer but he wishes he had the determination and workrate he has as a manager. No-one can question what he puts in, the effort and everything which comes his way and our way is on the back of hard work.
“You feed off your leader. He is our leader and we feed off that. He is certainly improving a lot of us. There is a great feeling to the place.
“I know there are things we can improve on and off the pitch. We are aware of those things. But we are going in the right direction and hopefully everything can align over the next couple of years.”
That work ethic, determination and energy has ultimately driven the standards at the club to new levels, and in turn made us more competitive on the pitch despite the setbacks we’ve faced and the increasingly difficult challenges amid rising expectations.
It’s fascinating to hear McGinn talk about Emery in detail in terms of the tangible influence that he has on the players day in and day out at Bodymoor Heath, and he certainly won’t be content with where we’re currently at as he strives to achieve more.
The Basque coach noted in his first press conference as Villa boss that he wanted to take us into Europe and win a trophy. We’ve achieved that first objective, and it’s hoped that as we continue to build and improve, we can tick off that second box this season too as we look to compete at the top in the Premier League and Champions League too.
