Aston Villa boss has received praise from his fellow vital figure in the club for his incredible work so far.
In the past few days, the news about Unai Emery and Manchester United has been circling around in the media. His remarkable work has attracted plenty in the football world and it is only logical that a number of elite sides have admired him and hoped to lure him to join them whenever their manager was under fire.
When it comes to rebuilding and spotting raw talent or even hidden potentials in the snubbed players, Emery is the right figure to do so. Such is his expertise Damian Vidagany, the club’s director of footbaall, hails as reported in AS via Sportwitness.
“Unai’s ability to improve a player is like a blank cheque. He doesn’t take over a team, spend money, and leave you with a graveyard of flops. On the contrary: he takes the flops and turns them into superstars.”
Vidagany first worked together with Emery back in Valencia from 2008 to 2012. He was still working as a chief media officer in Los Ches and saw with his own eyes how he developed the team despite losing their top stars again and again. During his spell there, his team finished third behind Barcelona and Real Madrid in the last three seasons before he left for Spartak Moscow.
“I experienced Unai’s time at Valencia. I remember they sold (Raul) Albiol, (David) Villa, (David) Silva, (Juan) Mata, Joaquín… and replaced them with Soldado, Aduriz, Jonas, Jordi Alba. And he’s capable of generating a flow of talent.”
Emery is also credited to spot and improve Morgan Rogers to be a star despite being snubbed by Manchester City in his early career. Signing him helped boost Villa’s form in the second half of the 2023/24 and onwards leading them to qualify to Champions League in the following season for the first time since the 1980s.
During the interview with AS, the former journalist who left Valencia in 2017 also shared Emery’s secret. It is nonetheless his mentality and obsession in football.
“He calls himself a hard worker, but he’s not doing himself justice. It’s tactical talent. And, above all, Unai is ambition.”
“Every defeat is a tragedy. Every victory, a constructive analysis in search of another. At 55, he has the same energy he had when I met him at 36 in Valencia. It’s admirable.”
Thus, the club management seemed quite calm even though they lost their key figures last summer. They know Emery would turn things around and he is doing it again now. It is interesting how far he would lead this new Aston Villa team to. More silverware is certainly expected in the future as Basque manager is set to stay beyond 2029. He has all the support he needs from Vidagany himself and Roberto Olabe apart from the owners of course.
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