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Unai Emery is the head coach of Aston Villa, having been appointed on 24 October 2022. It is the second time he has taken charge of a Premier League club, having been head coach of Arsenal from May 2018 to November 2019. As a player, Emery spent much of his career in the lower leagues, however, he did appear five times in LaLiga for Real ...
Aug 14, 2018 · The making of Unai Emery: From Almeria's dice roller to Arsene Wenger's anointed heir at Arsenal. Profile: Emery is a man characterised by his seriousness and relentless drive.But dig deeper, and ...
5 days ago · Unai Emery has confirmed Alex Moreno is close to leaving Villa with several clubs including Nottingham Forest interested in signing the left-back.
- Overview
- That high defensive line
- The world's best goalkeeper
- Playing out from the back
- Super John McGinn in midfield
- Watkins becoming a top-class striker
- What next for Emery's Aston Villa?
With Aston Villa in fantastic form and knowing that victory on Friday will take them to the top of the Premier League, Unai Emery still finds time to talk tactics. In the players' lounge at the club's training ground, he is talking Sky Sports through some of the graphics that highlight Villa's success. As ever, it is an education...
One of the biggest differences between Aston Villa and every other team in the Premier League this season is the number of times that they have caught the opposition offside. It is 82 occasions now, 26 more than Tottenham, and double that of almost everyone else.
It is an illustration not just that Villa are playing with a high defensive line but that the trap is succeeding in catching the opponent out on a regular basis. It has long been a principle of Emery's play. But, he admits, it was never quite like this before coming to Villa…
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Emery says: "I have always worked with the back four trying to hold the line. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower. For example, when I started as a coach 20 years ago, I started off so high at the beginning. Sometimes we were struggling and I changed it a bit.
"But always I was managing higher rather than lower. We were doing it at Villarreal too but not like here, where we are so high. When I arrived here and started working with the players, they were progressively getting more comfortable being high.
Image: Emiliano Martinez has swept up behind his defence more than any other goalkeeper
It is not just the defenders who must focus but the man behind them. Emiliano Martinez is Aston Villa's shot stopper but also their sweeper keeper. "The goalkeeper is making that commitment to protect and to cover the back four when there is a long ball."
The statistics show that Martinez, winner of the Yashin Award as the best goalkeeper in the world following his World Cup success with Argentina, has successfully swept up behind his defence more times than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League this season.
Another metric that has him leading the way among his peers is the length of time that Martinez spends in possession of the ball with each touch. He averages over four seconds on the ball per touch. It is normal to see him stand motionless, inviting players to press.
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Once Martinez has picked out a pass, Villa need to progress the ball up the pitch and there is no defender in the Premier League who is doing that better than Pau Torres this season. The summer signing from Villarreal has carried the ball over 3km in total.
Only Manchester City's Ruben Dias comes close to registering those numbers as a defender. It reflects how comfortable the Villa man is on the ball - but also reflects how football is changing and the responsibility of those players at the back has shifted.
Image: Pau Torres has carried the ball further than any other Premier League defender
Emery says: "As a coach, I am learning as well and football is changing. Twenty years ago, it was completely different. But this competition now compared to even five years ago? There was a time when goalkeepers did not have the skill to play in the build-up.
"Now, some of the goalkeepers are better with their feet than the other players. With centre-backs, it is similar. For example, when I was at Arsenal, we played against Brighton with Lewis Dunk. He never played. They were playing long balls. He never built up.
"But he adapted. Now, he is completely different, playing in the build-up, confident with the ball." With Clement Lenglet set to replace the injured Pau against Sheffield United, could it be an issue? "Clement is working on the same ideas as Pau Torres."
Image: John McGinn's changing heatmaps at Aston Villa reveal his new role this season
Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara have been the bedrock of Villa's midfield this season but John McGinn has been a revelation in a more advanced role. Two seasons ago, he was involved in his own half as much as the opposition's but that has changed now.
He shifted to the left half-space this season after an injury to Jacob Ramsey and is enjoying himself. Emery is delighted to discover that McGinn ranks third in the Premier League for dribbles this season but is also towards the top for ground duels.
Capable of cutting through teams with an ambitious pass or scoring himself, the combination of qualities that McGinn has brought to Villa's play in the final third of the pitch is unusual. Of course, there is a manager at the club who still wants more.
Image: John McGinn's stats for Aston Villa highlight his all-round contribution
Emery says: "I push him to get into the box more to score goals. I cannot only give the responsibility to our strikers. I want to have goals from wingers, from midfield. Even centre-backs. I am always pushing Ezri Konsa. I say to him, 'Konsa, I need one goal from you!'
Image: Ollie Watkins' changing heatmaps at Aston Villa show that he is now in the box more
At the top end of the pitch, Ollie Watkins has been the man scoring most of the goals. Indeed, only Erling Haaland has scored more Premier League goals than the forward in 2023 if penalties, now taken by Douglas Luiz for Aston Villa, are excluded from the totals.
It shows how Watkins' game has transformed. Under Dean Smith and Steven Gerrard, much of his work was done outside of the penalty box. He still performs that function in this Villa team but has added more goals to his game. He is in the form of his career.
Image: Ollie Watkins ranks second for non-penalty goals in the Premier League in 2023
Emery says: "We tried to set him as a striker who we could thread balls in behind to and who could score goals with his head. We are working collectively and individually with him. I have an assistant doing that individual work, analysing what we want from him.
"We give him a good structure so that he is comfortable but I have worked with a lot of strikers and they always score goals. I had Edinson Cavani. I had Alvaro Negredo. I had David Villa. I had Carlos Bacca. I had Gerard Moreno. I had Roberto Soldado.
That cup final could come domestically or in Europe before the season is through but it is the Premier League that is the focus right now. Aston Villa can go top of the Premier League with victory over bottom club Sheffield United at Villa Park on Friday evening.
But their run in the Europa Conference League offers a reason to believe that Villa can sustain their Premier League success throughout the campaign. There is depth in this Villa squad, necessitated by those European fixtures and strengthened by them.
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Shinya Unai, MD, is a surgeon in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute. He sees patients at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus. Specialty Interests: Adult cardiac surgery, complex re-operative heart surgery, surgery of the aorta/root, Ozaki procedure, Ross procedure ...
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Sep 30, 2023 · Unai Emery masterminded Aston Villa's highest top-flight finish since 2010 last season, but his team's stunning 6-1 triumph over Brighton suggests they can aim even higher this term.
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Shinya Unai is a Thoracic Surgeon and a General Surgeon in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Unai is highly rated in 25 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Infective Endocarditis, Endocarditis, Aortic Valve Stenosis, Aortic Valve Replacement, and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Re...
