Straight
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa trip was extended for another day yesterday, making it 14, to the old Dean Court. The Premier League surprise team cemented their position in fourth place in the Champions League with 29 points – behind Arsenal with 33; Liverpool, 31; and City, 30 – after they came back from 1-0 down at Bournemouth to finish 2-2 after another frantic exchange. The game had the new vicious stamp: over-the-top enthusiasm, dizzying transitions, loads of lateral centers, a handful of lab-tested shots and a certain lack of control on finishes, largely underlined in five raucous Bournemouth attacks – two from Solanke , two from Semenyo and one from Luis Sinisterra – were all thwarted by Emiliano Martínez and El Dibu.
2
Neto, Marcos Senesi, Illia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez, Adam Smith, Antoine Semenyo (Luis Sinisterra, Min. 70), Ryan Christie, Marcus Tavernier (Dango Ouattara, Min. 93), Justin Kluivert (Philip Billing, Min. 70), Lewis Cook and D. Solanke
2
Emiliano Martínez, Diego Carlos, Ezri Konsa Ngoyo (Matthew Cash, min. 74), Pau Torres, Digne (Álex Moreno, min. 74), McGinn (Jhon Durán, min. 65), Tielemans, Leon Bailey (Moussa Diaby, min . . 74), Douglas Luiz, Ollie Watkins and Nicolo Zaniolo (Jacob Ramsey, Min. 45)
Goals 1-0 min 9: Antoine Semenyo. 1-1min 19: Leon Bailey. 2-1 min 51: D. Solanke. 2-2 mins 90: Ollie Watkins.
referee Thomas Bramall
Yellow cards Justin Kluivert (min. 12), Antoine Semenyo (min. 16), Pau Torres (min. 29), Nicolo Zaniolo (min. 43), Marcos Senesi (min. 49), Ryan Christie (min. 54) and Jhon Durán (min. 83)
It is impossible to understand this Villa without Emery, just as it is impossible to explain their fourth place in the Premier table without the goalkeeper of the Argentine team, a man who can stop with his reflexes, his imagination and his hands, with his knees, with one foot and also with charisma.
The draw is the safety valve of a game plan that involves the risk of giving up possession to the rival and then defending the transitions with a central defender named Pau Torres. The Vila-real defender, a true master of ball movement, is not exactly the most experienced goalscorer. But he has an unmatched ability to organize the game with his long passes and his additions in midfield. A value that Emery sees as compensatory and crucial in giving meaning to Villa’s attacks and creating an exit opportunity when Douglas Luiz, Tielemans or even Kamara are covered.
An opening from Torres to Diaby, who was running on the left wing, led to one of those typical lateral crosses: Ollie Watkins, the number nine, shot into the net in the 90th minute. The 2-2 draw added even more crumbs to Villa’s reputation as a stubborn and counter-attacking team with fleeting maneuvers and economical execution. According to Opta, Emery’s team has 15 games defined as counterattacks in this Premier League, more than any of his 19 rivals.
This statistic makes Emery and his coaching team proud, firmly anchored in a club that has built a bastion of power for them. Damià Vidagany, the director of football who was Emery’s right arm at Villa, told The Athletic he described the organization around the coach as “a strength”. A structure that, with the help of Monchi, the operations manager, wants to reproduce part of what Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain built so that Pep Guardiola enjoys freedom of action at City. That’s how Emery’s assistants, a determined student of Guardiolian’s work, explain it from Aston Villa.
14 months after arriving in Birmingham and aged 52, Emery is undergoing a long period of rehabilitation. The Irún coach does not forget that November 29th was the fourth anniversary of his dismissal from Arsenal, the bitterest point of his career. His aides point out that his disdain for politics and social relationships, coupled with his obsession with field work, isolated him to the point that he became vulnerable at Arsenal, where he inherited the difficult legacy of Arsène Wenger. At Villa, where he has an excellent relationship with owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris, his position is completely different. The staff notices it. Now their famous video sessions are long and silent, and their tactical and technical training, divided by position, often devoted solely to mechanizing specific actions based on the next opponent, is greeted by the boys with committed resignation.
“We stick our chests out”
“The mentality, the will to win, everything about him was absolutely brilliant,” said captain, Scot John McGinn, after the 2-1 win at Tottenham last week. “[Emery] He was obsessed with winning at home at Tottenham. Absolutely obsessed. He put it in our heads. Earlier, when they overtook us on the scoreboard, we collapsed. Now let’s stick our chest out. We are trained. It requires us to look at a lot of details, think and concentrate a lot.”
As at White Hart Lane, Villa once again conceded their first goal of the afternoon this Sunday against Andoni Iraola’s up-and-coming Bournemouth. As was the case then, the reaction was immediate. With Diaby sitting on the bench for more than an hour – the club’s most expensive signing last summer, €55m for Bayer – Tielemans struggled to find Zaniolo’s wide open spaces. Lacking harmony, the team held on to El Dibu’s stops and captured a point that cemented them as the Prime Minister’s revelation.
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