Unai Emery

[MrBlack]

1 hour ago, Mark Albrighton said:

Bit in The Athletic, don’t think it’s been posted previously. Bit of an overview, but elsewhere in the article it references Unai’s team and the integration of the current back room team at Villa, with particular reference to VT’s favourite set piece coach.

The Athletic link

Nice feel good piece on us by ol' Gregg. All very true, and some nice insight on the coaching setup.

The way he described Coutinho makes it sound like he was our best forward before he got injured. Whilst that is clearly not the case, it did remind me that at his core he is an exceptional footballer. 

Be interesting to see what magic Emery can work on Coutinho and whether it sees him somewhere close to his best or he's one we just cut out losses on in the summer. I'd back Emery to be thinking he can get the best out of him.

[6065_Villa]

It feels like right time right place as far as Unai and Villa are concerned as Andy Townsend would say it really does. He's got the players ticking, the fans believing and the opposition running scared. Bit of luck with our results and that of the team's around us who knows what will happen. Either way next season should be an absolute cracker.

[HalfTimePost]

Everyone blame Gregg when we don't

 

[TRO]

5 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Nice feel good piece on us by ol' Gregg. All very true, and some nice insight on the coaching setup.

The way he described Coutinho makes it sound like he was our best forward before he got injured. Whilst that is clearly not the case, it did remind me that at his core he is an exceptional footballer. 

Be interesting to see what magic Emery can work on Coutinho and whether it sees him somewhere close to his best or he's one we just cut out losses on in the summer. I'd back Emery to be thinking he can get the best out of him.

Me too.....I have a hunch, he will.

[Brumstopdogs]

 

[Made In Aston]

Is it too late to change next season's badge? 

[The Fun Factory]

On 17/04/2023 at 16:39, Tayls said:

What’s he doing at 6mins there? Is he gesturing to the crowd to throw up some distractions with their hands? Or something else with the defence? 

I have no idea. He is certainly throwing a few shapes around. Not sure how much the players take on board all of that on pitchside!

[MrBlack]

On 17/04/2023 at 16:39, Tayls said:

What’s he doing at 6mins there? Is he gesturing to the crowd to throw up some distractions with their hands? Or something else with the defence? 

Hard to tell as they don't show the football alongside that clip, but definitely looks like a reaction to the crowd of some kind.  Crowd are singing Unai Emery's claret and blue at the time as well and his hand actions seem to be in time with the chant so maybe just encouraging the noise to continue.

[The Fun Factory]

Unai has obviously done an unbelievable job with us thus far, but I wouldn't say that we were relegation candidates under Gerrard. The squad was underperforming because of dreadful coaching. This is way above what we were expecting but looking at our squad and expenditure we should have been looking for a mid-table position as a minimum under Stevie G.

[sparrow1988]

13 hours ago, Made In Aston said:

Is it too late to change next season's badge? 

With Unai on the badge we could actually bring back the “prepared” and it would be true for a change. 

[Indigo]

 

[TRO]

No one is more aware, than Unai himself, that, this is just the start....He has acknowledged as much, and has touched on how plans will be made for the long term...for a time of sustainability.

It was encouraging to hear him declare, "I want to be here for a long time"....how reassuring is that?....we equally want him here for a long time.

We all know, he can't keep this up, without reinforcements, and this is where the collective ambition of the club, will be witnessed, because Nass has targeted this super guy, with the verve of a sniper.....They all seem on the same page, and that is hugely powerful.

I can only imagine the delight, in Nass, actually looking forward to signing the cheques for this maestro.

what a time to be a Villa Fan.

ps I can't tell you the joy, I feel for all the younger fans, who have only seen Villa struggle.....it's their time now.

 

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by TRO

[viivvaa66]

37 minutes ago, TRO said:

ps I can't tell you the joy, I feel for all the younger fans, who have only seen Villa struggle.....it's their time now.

At the moment I try to be super optimistic, but somewhere in the back of my mind I always think when will we do it the Villa way and **** it up. I have seen us relegated to third tier, get back up again, then winning the league, celebrate winning in Europe and not long after see us getting relegated again. And that seems how we do thing, when we look like we are on the up, we fall to new depths.

I really hope it different this time, but Villa have disappointed me so many times that I think disappointment is part of being a Villa fan. 

[TRO]

16 minutes ago, viivvaa66 said:

At the moment I try to be super optimistic, but somewhere in the back of my mind I always think when will we do it the Villa way and **** it up. I have seen us relegated to third tier, get back up again, then winning the league, celebrate winning in Europe and not long after see us getting relegated again. And that seems how we do thing, when we look like we are on the up, we fall to new depths.

I really hope it different this time, but Villa have disappointed me so many times that I think disappointment is part of being a Villa fan. 

Villa have disappointed in the past, because we repeatedly, got things wrong

No one can say unconditionally, that we will keep this form up......but I do feel, something is changing. I am not bold enough to dismiss opponents, as another cull, But i now fear no one.

Things change in football, who would have thought, we would lose Jack, who we relied on so much....that has taken some time to be weaned off, we now have an 11 back, just like, we had in the late 70's, early 80's...there are parallels, despite the differences in time.

I can remember, way before Ron Saunders came, and it was much like the last 15 years of mediocrity......He changed the mentality, and I see a modern day version of that opening up, now.....I think its really exciting, without getting too carried away.

Unai, is creating many things Ron did, with the character, personality in the players, the doggedness to the belief it all brought....and that belief means the fans too.....We as a bunch of fans have been kept down, for years but I hope we can embrace this new era with grace and dignity and not get too cocky, as that can undo us......stay humble, stay proud, stay resolute.

There will be set backs along the way, when changes are made or new ideas introduced......but the base of it all, will be sustained.

Right now, we have top class owners and manager, all with huge ambition, as long as that lasts, we will be relentless.....its all a team game, the whole lot.... unity is key.

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by TRO

[ejs1111]

8 minutes ago, duke313 said:

This is starting to feel (for want of a better phrase), our “Spurs moment”. Where they went from being a top half PL team that simply made up the numbers, to a team that regularly challenged for European places. With the right player recruitment, we will challenge for CL football, much like Spurs did.

to add on to that- its also feeling like next season and beyond... as long as we have UE at the helm- we will be a threat to win trophies every season.  Albeit in the 2 cups or in a European tournament.  UE's track record is that good.  This manager just knows how to win.  Full stop.

Even if we get stretched thin in Europe and finish outside of the top6 one year- I'd still fully expect UE to win a cup or a European trophy of some kind that year to keep the European run moving forward the following season.  The man is just a winner.

[stewiek2]

I always enjoy James's videos. And he did coach for a period in the US so does have some coaching input. Good little video...

 

[Mantis]

11 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

Unai has obviously done an unbelievable job with us thus far, but I wouldn't say that we were relegation candidates under Gerrard. The squad was underperforming because of dreadful coaching. This is way above what we were expecting but looking at our squad and expenditure we should have been looking for a mid-table position as a minimum under Stevie G.

We weren't serious relegation candidates but we were definitely serious candidates for relegation candidates, if that makes sense. A few more weeks and we'd have been right in it. Very similar to where we were when Smith was sacked, although we looked even more hopeless under Gerrard.

That's why Emery has done such a phenomenal job. To turn us from potential relegation battlers to serious European contenders is something I'd expect from him in a year to 18 months, not 6 months.

[ForeroGabe]

Men in Blazers on youtube just posted this. Good watch

 

[CVByrne]

Why he is a genius. He studies the opposition in so much detail he works out how they will play.

For example, lets think back to Villa Park a year ago when Gerrard wanted us to play out from the back against Arsenal. Arteta would have been telling his players on the training pitch, this Villa team are learning to play out from the back, they are learning the system and sticking to it, they are vulnerable and we need to make sure our high press is as intense as possible. The first half despite them on only being 1-0 in the half was complete domination by Arsenal. 

Jump forward to Newcastle last weekend. Villa are now looking very good playing out from the back, we are ready to show what we've learnt under Emery - or so Howe thinks - he has Newcastle ready for the aggressive high press while all week Villa have worked on Martinez dinked passes over it and Buendia starting close to CBs and then running all the way into midfield (CB won't follow) this produces 4 CMs for Villa and we always outnumbered Newcastle and could mostly win the ball. Emery knew Howe would look to fix this at half time so told Martinez if they drop a man out of the press into cover the spare man in midfield play it out to Mings or Konsa to trigger their press. 

He is teaching the team solely about space, there is always space. If they press high there is space behind, if they are compact play patient. He studies teams to know their systems and it's why we do so well against the bottom half teams. They are easier to work out. 

The Spurs game, Emery has us knowing you keep it tight and get to 0-0 at half time away to a side who is under pressure to get 3 points at home to Villa. In the second half they have to open up more and take more risks to get the goal this leaves them vulnerable to our quick counters. It's why he was so happy at half time and the players were expecting him to be angry. Why he was so mad at our loss to Arsenal is because he had told them not to kick possession directly back to Arsenal and to be brave and pass it around. The only player who did what he was asked to do in the closing stages was Mings. Nearly every other player hit it long and lost possession in final 10/15 mins. 

For Emery you are not blamed for making mistakes doing what you've been told to do. The system means less goals are conceded via these mistakes than via kicking possession directly back to the opposition. The results have been so good the players believe. It's exactly like Villareal players said, they believed if they did what Emery told them they could win any game against anyone. 

[Zatman]

20 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

Unai has obviously done an unbelievable job with us thus far, but I wouldn't say that we were relegation candidates under Gerrard. The squad was underperforming because of dreadful coaching. This is way above what we were expecting but looking at our squad and expenditure we should have been looking for a mid-table position as a minimum under Stevie G.

We were though, we had zero ideas and the next win looked miles off. We would be were Leicester is if he kept going

People always said it was a top 10 squad and they are proving it now with Unai genius is pushing us further on