Unai Emery has received a monumental amount of praise after he masterminded a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
The turnaround at Villa under Emery has been sensational. It is hard to believe that the Villa manager only took over the club two years ago when they were amidst a relegation battle.
Yet, in that time, he has managed to not only take the team to Europe but he has also reached the Champions League.
Now, after Jhon Duran’s incredible effort saw out another Villa victory, the work Emery has done at the Claret and Blue side has received additional attention and praise
Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher label Unai Emery ‘genius’ after Champions League victory over Bayern Munich
Emery’s achievements in England at Villa are unmatched by any rival manager. The rise of the Birmingham outfit has been significant, and their victory over Bayern Munich only proves that the club is now one of the best in the country.
With the Premier League boasting many brilliant managers across the 20 teams, Jamie Carragher told CBS Sports that he believes only Pep Guardiola is better than the Villa boss.
“I think he is fantastic, he is one of the best coaches in European football,” he said. “He has had great success in Europe, not in this particular competition, but in the Europa League with Sevilla and Villarreal.
“I would say in the English league, you have Pep Guardiola above everybody else, and he [Emery] comes second.
“He’s not at one of the biggest clubs but when you look at the effect a manager can have on a football club. I always believe that the manager is the most important person at the club, and he is a testament to that.
“That was a team who were flirty with relegation, and in a couple of years, they are in the Champions League. It is phenomenal what he has done.”
While Emery has enjoyed a highly successful period at multiple clubs, his reputation in England wasn’t great before moving to Villa.
The Spaniard was chosen to succeed the legendary Arsene Wenger but was soon sacked after failing to live up to expectations.
However, looking back on his time at Arsenal, Thierry Henry believes the Gunners made a mistake.
“He’s a tactical genius,” he added. He always goes out there and makes sure his team has an advantage tactically because that’s how he operates. We know what he did in Spain.
“For me, and no disrespect to Mikel Arteta, he is doing extremely well at Arsenal. If we kept him longer at Arsenal, he would have been a success.
“He showed it straight after he left the club; I have massive respect for him.”
Unai Emery is finally getting the respect he deserves at Aston Villa
After all his success at Villa, Emery is now getting the praise he deserves from the pundits.
Few managers in the world would have been able to perform the turnaround the Spaniard has completed in such a short space of time.
In September, Emery became the quickest Villa manager to win 50 games, proving his ability further.
Emery has turned players such as Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa into some of England’s finest stars while also promoting academy players regularly.
Going forward, it will no doubt be difficult for Villa to hold onto their star manager. However, if they want to continue building upwards, they must.
