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There are varying levels of skill among players and managers. However, success often depends on chance and being the right fit for a specific role at a specific moment. On Wednesday four years ago, Unai Emery was dismissed from Arsenal and returned to Spain. Many believed that his tactics were not adaptable and that he would be better off staying in his home country.
The idea was not unreasonable. In 2012, he was fired from Spartak Moscow following a 5-1 loss to Dinamo that put them in seventh place. His stint at Paris Saint-Germain was uneventful, with the only notable event being when he was asked to cut the cake during Neymar’s extended birthday celebration. This suggested that the players’ egos still held power, leading to his departure in 2018.
In 2019, Arsenal let go of their coach after their 2-2 tie against Southampton, placing them in eighth position with only four wins in their first 13 games. Despite his previous success with teams like Valencia, Sevilla, Lorca Deportivo, and Almería, his press conferences were often confusing, leading to the assumption that he had difficulty communicating outside of Spain.
However, upon closer examination, we see that Spartak was a chaotic political situation, as their director general Valery Karpin had a tendency to fire managers in order to take over. PSG was also a difficult environment, but their success of winning seven trophies in two years is still impressive when compared to other teams that have followed.
Taking over for Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, in hindsight, seemed like an insurmountable challenge. Despite Wenger’s shortcomings towards the end of his tenure, it is typical for such influential figures to leave behind a trail of chaos for their successors. Emery’s time at Arsenal ended in a similar fashion to Galba, Robespierre, and David Moyes. It is worth noting that Ivan Gazidis, Sven Mislintat, and Raúl Sanllehi, who were all expected to aid in the transition to a post-Wenger era in their respective roles, also departed soon after.
Emery’s reign was no disaster: that he had the highest win percentage of any Arsenal manager other than Mikel Arteta and Wenger – better than Herbert Chapman or George Graham – perhaps says more about the financial stratification of modern football than anything else, but they did reach a Europa League final and finish fifth in the Premier League, two points off third, in his first season.
According to reports, Emery was surprised to be fired, indicating that he may not have been politically savvy enough to survive the chaotic aftermath of Wenger’s departure. Everyone was pushing the limits of their roles in the post-Wenger vacuum. If given more time, Emery may have been able to build a team with a similar level of quality as Arteta’s. However, by the time he was let go, Arsenal was struggling. This poor performance continued and Arteta has received more patience, likely due to the impatience with Emery. In this sense, Emery could be viewed as a necessary phase that Arsenal had to go through in order to reset. For him, as it would have been for anyone, it was the wrong time.
During Emery’s time at Aston Villa, the situation was vastly dissimilar. Prior to his arrival in the summer of 2018, the team had invested a net total of £250m in transfers. Despite Dean Smith’s successful promotion and an 11th-place finish, he was fired in November 2021 with Villa ranked fifth from the bottom. Under the leadership of Steven Gerrard, they managed to improve slightly and finish two places higher, but he was ultimately dismissed after a 3-0 loss to Fulham in October of last year.
Emery had the perfect situation. His team appeared, and proved to be, much stronger than their place in the league indicated. Unlike his previous job at Arsenal where he had to replace a beloved coach, he took over for a manager who never quite seemed like the right fit. Many believed that the manager was using the job as a stepping stone to eventually managing Liverpool, which may have been perceived as unfair.
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It seemed like a turnaround was imminent – interim manager Aaron Danks won his debut match 4-0 – but under Emery, the progress has been more significant than just the boost of a new leader. As of this weekend, only Manchester City has earned more points in the Premier League than Aston Villa since 2023, and only Bayern Munich in the top five European leagues has scored more goals at home (although no team in the top half of the Premier League has scored fewer goals away). This is despite injuries to key players such as Tyrone Mings, Emi Buendía, Jacob Ramsey, and Álex Moreno (who made his return against Legia Warsaw on Thursday).
Under Emery’s leadership, Villa has excelled at their offside trap, catching opponents offside 75% more than the team who ranks second in that category, Liverpool. This could suggest that they play with a high line, taking risks by pushing up aggressively. However, even with their average depth being the seventh lowest in the league, they have shown the ability to sit back and defend when needed. Their precision in timing when to release runners and execute the trap is a testament to their defensive prowess.
Villa may currently hold the fourth position, but previous patterns indicate that they are not truly contenders for the title. However, with only a third of the season completed, they were only two points behind the top. Their upcoming matches against Bournemouth, Manchester City, and Arsenal will challenge their perfect home record, but if they manage to achieve positive outcomes in these games, their perception as a team could shift. It is even possible that they could secure a spot in the Champions League.
However, even if Villa is not able to sustain this level of performance, and they end up qualifying for the Europa League instead, which has been Emery’s usual destination, there is a feeling that his reputation in England has been restored. He has shown that he is a talented manager when he has the right environment.
Source: theguardian.com
