Aston Villa: Why Unai Emery has returned to Premier League
- Published
In football, as in life, timing is everything and the time is now right for Unai Emery to return to the country where he feels he has unfinished business.
His appointment as Aston Villa manager means he will be back in the Premier League almost three years since being sacked by Arsenal.
Emery could have returned last November when he received an offer from Newcastle United following the departure of Steve Bruce, although at that point he was involved in a Champions League campaign with Villarreal which eventually took them to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by Liverpool.
The Newcastle offer also came at a bad time because being settled at Villarreal allowed him to spend a lot more time with his son - something he had been unable to do with all the travelling in his previous jobs - and he also felt secure and wanted at a club that were pushing in the right direction.
As well as taking Villarreal to the Champions League semi-final, Emery also led them to Europa League success in the 2020-21 season, beating Manchester United in the final.
Injuries and a lack of a certain something means that his current Villarreal side seem to have hit a bit of a wall and are in need of refreshing, especially if they are to go in the direction Emery wanted.
But that will now be someone else's job as Emery sets out on his latest mission to prove just how good he can be when given a proper chance, something he always felt was denied him at Arsenal.
The impression many have is that things did not go well for him at Arsenal, but the reality is that in his first season he went 22 games without losing and also took Arsenal to the final of the Europa League.
Having previously led Paris St-Germain to the French league title and won three Europa Leagues with Sevilla, Emery was sacked after 18 months at Arsenal following a seven-match winless run that left them eight points off the top four.
He never felt he had the necessary authority to make the decisions needed to take them in the right direction and that he was not backed by the powers that be in confrontations with some of the huge personalities there.
Eventually they were shown the door, but only when Arsenal gave new manager Mikel Arteta the backing they had withheld for Emery.
Emery has also managed Valencia, Sevilla and Paris St-Germain
He comes to Aston Villa a wiser, older man, better prepared following his bruising spell at Arsenal, revitalised by his success at Villarreal and raring to go to help reignite the fortunes of a massive club.
Wise coaches, given a choice, would always prefer to join a team on a poor run of form rather than one flying high. Not withstanding Villa's 4-0 home win against Brentford on Sunday, that applies very much to this side.
But more than that, Emery comes to Villa because all the pieces have fallen into place. His son Lander has encouraged him to take this offer, one that he has known about for a few days and which was put on the table by the agent Jorge Mendes, whom Emery asked to help.
Villarreal were always aware that he would at some point want to try his luck again in the Premier League, which was why they put a release clause of 6m euros (£5.2m) in his contract by way of compensation.
Everything about this move feels right to Emery. His English - much ridiculed when he was at Arsenal, particularly when they happened to lose - is something he has maintained because he always knew at some point in his career he would have need to start speaking it again. That time is now.
Above all, what he sees at Villa is huge potential, a sleeping giant with an extensive and deeply loyal fanbase and a squad that he can improve almost straight away.
Much of the talk, however, has been about a planned, ambitious project rather than a quickfire quest for glory - a plan that in the first instance will hopefully establish Villa as a regular top-half-of-the-table side before launching a push for bigger and better things. Emery will need time, but he has the commitment and resolve to take Villa where they want to be.
It will be a project that will see him as manager, as Villa's first choice in that role, and one who will have a valued and definitive input in the important decisions - all the things he felt he did not fully have at Arsenal.
He will now attempt to do what he did at Villarreal. He will try to instil order, identity and that same winning mentality by ensuring that his side will be as strong physically and mentally as they can possibly be, as well as tactically flexible, with a genuine belief that on their day there is not a side in the world they are not capable of beating.
Emery rejoins a Premier League as the latest addition to what is without question the strongest managerial contingent ever seen in any league in the world.
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