Unai Emery

[Villa87]

Genius. First time he has said we are tired. He never makes excuses despite the light squad and injuries. 

[MWARLEY2]

Said it a couple of weeks back that Emery has given us the tools to win without having to play well. Follow the instruction and he will give us a massive chance of winning. 

The Genius Gentleman strikes again 

[bannedfromHandV]

41 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

He is right be shocked if no changes sunday

What changes? The teams tired because we have little to no options for rotation, particularly in midfield at the moment, that ain’t gonna change come Sunday.

[NurembergVillan]

He has now won more PL games in charge of Aston Villa than Steven Gerrard, with 18 fewer attempts.

Good Stevening.

[MWARLEY2]

Just realised. Just a win at OT on sunday and then thats gregorys record equalled isnt it ? 9 out 11 ? 

[ccfcman]

Plenty football left to play, but imagine the summer optimism thread (admittedly a thread started under that Scouse bluffer) if I told you we'd be ahead of Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea with 5 games to play. I'd have been laughed out of here.

He truly is the Sultan of Unai.

Perhaps even sectioned!

Edited April 25, 2023 by ccfcman

[Villarocker]

Genius! 

[Mantis]

"We're gonna win so much you may even get tired of winning, and you'll say ‘Please, please, it's too much winning. We can't take it anymore. Mr. Emery, it's too much.’ And I'll say ‘No it isn't. We have to keep winning. We have to win more.’"

- Unai Emery, on becoming Aston Villa manager

Edited April 25, 2023 by Mantis

[IrishVilla10]

He’s an animal 

[est1874]

Amazing. Love this man more than anything.

[Tom13]

1 hour ago, Kiwivillan said:

Off topic but Mamoa was in my local pub about a month ago. Drunk and obnoxious loud. One woman customer called him arrogant f***wit. His 5 foot nothing minder from Cheshunt was cool though. 

I have no idea what thought process I was going through to randomly drop on this post and think you were talking about the Brighton winger, Mitoma. That was a real strange thought

[Kiwivillan]

7 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

I have no idea what thought process I was going through to randomly drop on this post and think you were talking about the Brighton winger, Mitoma. That was a real strange thought

You need to get on my wavelength like Ollie needs to with Buendia 

[Tomaszk]

The boss bringing up those Leicester and Arsenal defeats is so funny.

He was utterly disgusted by them. Two OK-good performances IMO. He doesn't care. We conceded 8 at home in two games. Unacceptable.

I think we could finish 4th and it'll still piss him off.

The crème de la **** crème.

Edited April 25, 2023 by Tomaszk

[jayEm]

11 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

I have no idea what thought process I was going through to randomly drop on this post and think you were talking about the Brighton winger, Mitoma. That was a real strange thought

I genuinely read it as Moreno at first, somehow

[Kingman]

We're the only team in Premier League history to score in their first 20 games under a new head coach! 

[skarroki]

The guy has done an amazing job in getting all the players on board. Think what happened at Arsenal and the way he was treated has massively helped us - he has absolutely nothing to prove considering his brilliant career so far, but because of the Arsenal job it feels like he does for some reason and part of me feels like that's a percentage of where his drive is coming from. 

[AshVilla]

Give the guy a contract for life.

[Guest av1]

Nice article on the BBC finished off by Peter Crouch channelling his inner Ron Saunders. 

 

From a relegation battle to European contenders - it is hard to believe the transformation at Aston Villa.

Since Unai Emery's appointment as manager in November, Villa are second in the Premier League form table - only below Arsenal - and top if you take just the last 10 games into account.

When they last played Fulham in October, they ended the game in crisis, out of the relegation zone only on goals scored - and without a manager.

That 3-0 loss at Craven Cottage saw Villa fans, whose side had only won two of their opening 11 matches, boo the side off and brought an end to Steven Gerrard's reign in charge.

But Unai Emery has got the Villa faithful looking up - and dreaming of better times again.

A scrappy, hard-fought 1-0 win over Fulham at Villa Park on Tuesday took them up to fifth, above Tottenham, with five games of the season to go and a chance to return to European football after a 13-year absence.

"We are in the Europa position, it is still difficult to achieve," said Emery.

"The dreams are here and it's good for everybody - and we can share this with the supporters.

"We're now a candidate for fifth. But Tottenham plays tomorrow, Liverpool have [played] a match less than us, Brighton three matches and we have to play Liverpool, Tottenham and Brighton.

"With each match we are winning, it is giving us confidence and a chance to get there."

Emery started his job five months ago and instantly guided them to a 3-1 win over Manchester United and Villa have not looked back since. They have picked up 42 points out of 60 available since 6 November, with only Arsenal (44) having more in that period, although Manchester City have played three games less.

Villa have now won 13 of their 20 league games under the Spaniard, scoring in every match, and are unbeaten in 10 since a 4-2 loss against league leaders Arsenal in February.

"They're on the up, they could really go and do some damage," said former Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell on BT Sport.

"Who can begrudge them getting into Europe, from fighting relegation to the brink of Europe."

Before the start of the season, Gerrard - after taking Villa to 14th in 2021-22 - stripped Tyrone Mings of the captaincy, with John McGinn the replacement.

Against a lacklustre Fulham, the current captain set up the former one with Mings heading in from McGinn's first-half corner in a game of few chances.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam felt Emery, who had previously managed Sevilla, Paris St-Germain, Arsenal and Villarreal, had "transformed" the club.

"At the early part of the season, Steven was in there and made some big decisions like changing the captaincy and the players didn't like it," added Adam.

"Unai Emery has come in and seemingly transformed it. To get to where they are now, from where they were, and possibly finish in Europe will be a remarkable achievement for Villa."

Matches against European rivals to define season

Villa won the European Cup in 1982, but have not played in European competition since losing in the Europa League play-offs to Rapid Vienna in August 2010.

Their fate lies in their own hands with matches against four of the top eight - Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton - still to come, as well as a derby at Wolves.

They finished 14th last season and fifth or sixth will leave them in the Europa League next season, with seventh enough for a place in the Europa Conference League play-offs.

"I think they're well equipped for Europe," said former Villa striker Peter Crouch.

"The biggest asset is their manager, who always does well with the underdog and Aston Villa could potentially be that.

"There are teams who wouldn't want to play against Villa - I wouldn't bet against them now."[/quote.]

[mikeyp102]

Bbc social media going back to their Villa hating ways, on Instagram they are saying how well Emery has done and that Chelsea or Spurs should get him..rocket polishers  (sorry can’t post the picture)

Edited April 26, 2023 by mikeyp102

[nick76]

1 minute ago, mikeyp102 said:

Bbc social media going back to their Villa hating ways, on Instagram they are saying how well Emery has done and that Chelsea or Spurs should get him..rocket polishers  (sorry can’t post the picture)

Chelsea or Spurs, why would he go to a lower in the league positioned team