Unai Emery saw his Aston Villa side recover from a poor first-half to come back to beat Wolves 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Aston Villa have enjoyed a fine start to the season, winning five out of six games in all competitions; the only blip on Unai Emery‘s record being a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal.
After a week in which Villa kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win over Young Boys, the derby win over Wolves saw Emery’s side move up to third in the Premier League and only behind Liverpool and Manchester City on goal difference.
The first-half at Villa Park will have infuriated Emery as it was undoubtedly Villa’s worst half of the campaign so far and they went in at the break 1-0 down to a Mateus Cunha strike after Diego Carlos misplaced a pass straight to the Brazilian.
After Emery had a chance to address his players at half-time it was a much-improved showing, with goals from Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Jhon Duran completing the turnaround.
- READ MORE: ‘Crucial’ Aston Villa star sent clear message to Unai Emery with flawless display vs Wolves
Stan Collymore praises Unai Emery for Aston Villa comeback vs Wolves
Emery is a perfectionist and he was left dismayed by what he saw from his Villa players in the first-half against a Wolves side who have only picked up one point so far this season.
The Villa boss marched down the tunnel before the referee had even blown for half-time and made two changes at the break, bringing on Ian Maatsen and Leon Bailey for Lucas Digne and John McGinn.
The proactive approach from Emery deserves praise and former Villan Stan Collymore has done just that following the win.
Collymore posted on X: “The impressive thing about Unai Emery is that he understands the need to marry cold technical performance with fast, emotional urgency.
“Went in early at half-time and gave a b******ing, something too many technomanagers are afraid to do.
“Yet he’s as tactically savvy as almost anyone. Fascinating guy.”
Aston Villa look set for another positive season under Emery
Emery is adored by the Villa faithful and looks set to continue to upset the traditional Premier League ‘Big Six’ this season.
Whilst it is of course still very early in the campaign, Villa have looked every bit a top four side as they have won games when they have played well, as well as when they have been under par such as against Wolves.
Even against Arsenal, the only game Villa have lost so far, you could argue Emery’s team were the better side and would have won the game had Watkins found form in the early weeks of the season.
Next up for Villa is a trip to face Ipswich Town before Bayern Munich come to Villa Park in a mouthwatering first home game in the Champions League for 41 years and you’d be brave to bet against Emery masterminding wins in both games given the form the club are in.
