Under the spotlight: Unai Emery’s impact at Aston Villa
Unai Emery has done a magnificent job since replacing Steven Gerrard as Aston Villa head coach towards the tail end of October.
The work that he has done since his arrival is the best advertisement for a mid-season sacking in some time.
Such instability is to be avoided, of course, but in a division as high-stakes as the Premier League it is an occasionally necessary evil. That was clearly the case here – Villa were bound for a relegation battle when the axe fell.
Not any longer. The Villans have risen up the table since Emery was appointed and are on a fine run of form. Organised defensively and coherent going forward, they look a completely different outfit to before his reign.
Ahead of Villa’s Premier League clash with Leicester City this Saturday afternoon, we decided to take a look at the job the Basque is doing with the help of Twenty3’s Toolbox.
Historic importance
Do not get it twisted – Villa, like Everton and Newcastle, are one of the biggest clubs in English football. Founded in 1874 they have a not insignificant amount of silverware under their belts.
Villa have won seven league titles, seven FA Cups, five League Cups, one European Cup and one European Super Cup. This history is a help and a hindrance, however. It inspires but can also place real pressure on the modern incarnation.
That pressure certainly did not help Gerrard. The Liverpool legend took charge at Villa Park in November of 2021 and led the club to a 14th-placed Premier League finish in his first season at the helm.
Villa began the 2022-23 campaign slowly, however, winning just two of their opening 12 Premier League games. That, coupled with the looming spectre of a relegation battle, prompted the ownership to act.
Bringing in the professor
Appointing Emery, a professor of football, was just what the doctor ordered. He immediately stabilised Villa and, ahead of this weekend, they are placed 11th in the Premier League table.
They are just one point behind both Chelsea and Liverpool and, given the concertinaed nature of the league this year, stand a chance of qualifying for Europe. Brighton, in sixth, are three points ahead.
Villa had won two of 12 games – as well as earning four draws and suffering six defeats – when Emery took over. Since then they have won six matches and lost just two of them.
Such a record speaks for itself but perhaps Emery’s biggest achievement has been fostering a real sense of patience, positivity and unity at the club – something that was lacking in Gerrard’s final days.
A seasoned coach
Not that it is overly surprising that Emery has done so well.
The 51-year-old Basque entered coaching with Lorca Deportiva back in 2004. Since then he has held a variety of positions all over Europe including Almería, Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and, most recently, Villarreal.
And he has won things. He led Sevilla to three consecutive Europa League titles between 2013 and 2016 and won the competition again with Villarreal in 2020-21 – also making the final with Arsenal in 2018-19.
Emery also enjoyed material success with PSG – leading them to glory in Ligue 1 as well as lifting two Coupe de France titles, two Coupe de la Ligue titles and two Trophée des Champions titles.
Organised and stable
Villa are average in the majority of their underlying metrics – as their position in the table reflects.
But they do excel when it comes to their defensive work. The Villans boast the eighth-best defence in the league – having conceded 27 goals so far this term – are fourth in terms of ball recoveries in the opposition half (605) and are seventh in terms of defensive duels won (831).
Those may not be stellar statistics but it does reflect the feeling that, in many facets of their game, Villa are better than the 11th place that they currently occupy.
Serious teams are built on strong defences and that is something that Emery knows how to do well. If his charges can continue on their upward trajectory, a European challenge is well within the bounds of reality.
Talented personnel
Emery does have genuine talent at his disposal.
Emiliano Martínez is his goalkeeper – a man who just led his nation, Argentina, to their first World Cup since the days of Diego Maradona. He could start for most clubs in the European game.
Boubacar Kamara is the man who links the defence with the midfield. A precocious Frenchman signed from Marseille during the summer, he looks a terrific prospect. Nobody at Villa has won more than his 78 defensive duels and he has also made 67 interceptions and won 25 aerial duels while completing 539 passes.
Leading the line is the talented Ollie Watkins – a man who has contributed four goals and three assists so far this term, a real dual threat. He, with the help of several of his teammates, have the tools needed to compensate for the departure of Danny Ings to West Ham United during the January transfer window.
All graphics in this article were produced with the Twenty3 Toolbox. For more information, please get in touch below.