Just because I love Eddie Howe, doesn’t mean I have to rubbish Unai Emery

Unai Emery was announced (see below) as the new manager of Aston Villa back in October 2022.

Back then, I was amused to see some Aston Villa fans declaring their euphoria at the fact they had attracted a manager who turned down Newcastle United (similar declarations when they brought in Steven Gerrard and players such as Diego Carlos and Coutinho…).

As for Newcastle United fans, I saw some of them slagging Unai Emery off, how he was too scared to take the NUFC job, too scared of relegation back in Autumn 2021..however, I think the truth is a little different that what the two sets of fans (Villa and Newcastle) were claiming back then.

Unai Emery talking to The Athletic – 4 November 2021:

“The Newcastle project is an attractive project, something to build, different to Arsenal.

“With Arsenal, you first had to knock down the walls, which is hard work, then start to build again. Newcastle no, it was just about building, from the ground up. So it is different, and I liked the idea.

“The Premier League is an attractive league for all us coaches. So when Newcastle called me, I thought a lot about the opportunity to return to England, to a serious project. For me, it was a source of pride, satisfaction and I appreciated it.

“The opportunity of a club like Newcastle, what it could turn out to be, it is normal for me to listen to the offer, to consider it.

“I thought about the offer and I spoke with (Villarreal president) Fernando Roig but I also had to take into account that we were in the Champions League with Villarreal, mid-season. In the end, with a lot of respect for Villarreal, and a lot of respect for Newcastle, I decided to stay here. I am happy here and we are doing an important job.”

I love the job that Eddie Howe has done at Newcastle United and I wouldn’t swap him at this point for anybody else.

Not saying he is now best manager in the world BUT who knows what he is going to go on to achieve, still only 45 and done so much already at Newcastle and at Bournemouth (took them from brink of falling into non-league, all the way through the divisions to the Premier League).

Anyway, just because I love Eddie Howe, doesn’t mean I have to rubbish Unai Emery.

As he mentions above, they were very different times back in Autumn 2021 ago.

Back then, it was only months after Unai Emery had led Villarreal to the first ever trophy (Europa League) in their entire history, he was an absolute hero at the Spanish club. What’s more, he was in the middle of a Champions League campaign, indeed, he ended up taking them to within a whisker of the final, only just losing out to Liverpool in the semis.

Villarreal still did ok under Unai Emery as well, despite their Champions League distractions, ending up seventh in La Liga in 2021/22 and currently now fifth this season, thanks largely to the platform their now former Manager gave them, his legacy.

When joining Aston Villa in October 2022, Unai Emery by then had plenty distance (around a year and a half) from winning that first ever trophy for Villarreal.

I can understand why after deliberating, he finally turned down Newcastle United, I think it would have tainted his Villarreal legacy to an extent if so soon after winning that trophy, he had walked away (and in the middle of a Champions League campaign).

In his brief time at Arsenal, Unai Emery oversaw a 2-1 win on Tyneside on 15 September 2018, then a 1-0 win on the first day of the following season, courtesy of a Steve Bruce shambles in his (Bruce’s) first NUFC game on 11 August 2019.

Coming right bang up to date, I think it is fair to say that Unai Emery has gone a long way to proving that the new Newcastle United owners had great judgement, when narrowing down their search to Eddie Howe and Unai Emery back in Autumn 2021, to replace the woeful Steve Bruce.

In the 17 Premier League matches with Unai Emery in charge, Aston Villa have picked up 35 points (before he took charge, Villa only had 12 points from their first 13 PL matches of the season).

In Newcastle United’s most recent 17 PL matches, Eddie Howe has also picked up 35 points.

Both managers averaging over two points per game in just over five months.

Eddie Howe has proved himself to be definitely the right choice for Newcastle United.

However, that doesn’t then necessarily mean that Unai Emery would have been the wrong choice.

Aston Villa official announcement – 24 October 2022:

‘Aston Villa is delighted to announce the appointment of Unai Emery as the club’s new Head Coach.

Unai joins from Villarreal, whom he led to Europa League success by beating Manchester United in the final in 2021 as well as the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.

A highly experienced top level coach who has managed over 900 games, Unai has also previously managed in the Premier League during a spell with Arsenal, leading the Gunners to a Europa League final.

He has also enjoyed notable success at Sevilla and at Paris Saint Germain. In Seville, he won three successive Europa League titles between 2013 and 2016 before going on to lift a Ligue 1 championship in France as well as two French Cups, two French League Cups and two Trophée des Champions.

Unai will take over from November 1st after his work permit formalities are completed.’