There isn’t a more popular man at Aston Villa than Unai Emery.
Aston Villa were in a pretty bad way when Steven Gerrard was in charge and many were fearing the worst for the team.
But, not only has Emery lifted the dark cloud over Villa Park, but he has taken the team to heights fans were dreaming of.
Villa are in the Champions League because of Emery’s genius, but just how does he go about things behind-the-scenes.
It has been well-documented that he is very demanding, with long analysis meetings and so forth.
But one man who knows him better than anyone else is Aston Villa’s president of football operations, Monchi, who worked with him for several years at Sevilla.
Monchi shared an insight into what the man in the dugout is like when the cameras aren’t on him and how he has been ‘the real protagonist’ behind the club’s rise.
Remember, the Midlands outfit were hovering above the Premier League’s relegation zone under Gerrard, yet they recently beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Monchi shared that Emery is ‘the first to arrive’ and ‘the last to leave’, which shouldn’t be a surprise and how he also manages off the field ‘very well’, as he told TUTTOmercatoWEB.
Monchi hails Aston Villa manager Unai Emery
“Yes, something has changed in the last two years after his arrival,” said Monchi. “At that time the team was in difficulty and now we are fighting with the strongest clubs, our coach has done something good. He is the real protagonist of this miracle.
“He is very demanding, he is the first to arrive at the training centre and the last to leave. He works hard, but he also manages the off-field very well: his work in the locker room, with the group, is also very important.”
Aston Villa return to Premier League action
The Villa players have had a productive international window and now Premier League football returns with the fixture list set to be demaing again.
Emery has watched his team lose only one game in all competitions this term, as they sit fifth, are in the next round of the League Cup and have made a 100% to the Champions League.
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But the team isn’t performing as well as the paper suggests because the defence is still leaking goals and the home performances, for large parts, have been off-colour.
Hopefully, Villa’s trip to Fulham will change matters because they caused Manchester City real problems before the international break and this game isn’t going to be easy by any stretch.
