Unai Emery, emigrate after success

“Villarreal has given me the opportunity. We have risen to the occasion.” “It is a personal and professional decision. When the opportunities are there, you have to take them“, Unai Emery said this Tuesday in his farewell press conference for Villarreal. »I thank Emery for everything, but he has left us with a changed foot«, pointed out Fernando Roig, president of the entity.

The coach from Gruipuzcoa leaves the Yellow Submarine after two and a half seasons of absolute success in the city of Castellón. In his first season, Villarreal finished seventh in the league and became champion of the Europa League in an agonizing final against Manchester United, decided after 22 penalties. It was Villarreal’s first title, which also meant qualifying for the Champions League the following season.

A Champions League that for Villarreal, a city of just 50,000 inhabitants, was a dream from which they have not yet awakened. Unai Emery led the team to the semi-finals of Europe’s top competition, leaving behind ocean liners like Bayern Munich, and making Liverpool sweat on the verge of the grand final. An epic and unexpected journey that also shows the greatness of football.

“Get out of the comfort zone.” It is a phrase that Unai Emery has rooted in her personality. The Basque has a very varied career and this signing for Aston Villa is not his first challenge away from home, certainly not the last. His career full of challenges leaves us with a clear idea of ​​the Gipuzkoan, that of emigrating after sporting success in the continuous search for challenges.

His first adventure came after passing through Valencia. In the capital of Turia he lived two notable first seasons, placing the team third, classified for the Champions League. In 2011 the club underwent an important reconversion stage. The departures of David Villa, Mata and Silva weakened the squad, and the team hit a slump that ended with the non-continuity of Emery after his great work in the first seasons.

The hard Russian stage

The Hondarribia coach signed for Spartak Moscow, a team that played in the Champions League at the time. He barely lasted two months at the helm of the Russian team, being fired due to the poor results achieved.

In 2013 he took the reins of Sevilla, his most successful stage as a coach in the elite. He won three Europa League titles in a row, making the team from Seville the most successful club in this competition. He also reached a Copa del Rey final, but was defeated by FC Barcelona. After this successful and outstanding journey in Nervión, Emery once again set his sights on a foreign club, this time a giant team like PSG.

His time in the Parisian team will always be remembered for Barcelona’s 6-1 comeback in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. However, the Basque won Ligue 1, two League Cups, two French Cups and two French Super Cups. After two seasons in Paris, Emery headed to London to sign for Arsenal.

With the Gunners he finished the campaign as 5th classified and finalist in the Europa League. After a single season and a bad start in the next, Arsenal fired the Spanish manager. The following season he finally signed with a Villarreal that he now leaves after living a historic and sportingly lofty stage, to return again to the Premier League and take on a new important challenge away from home.

In fact, it is the second chance for the Basque coach to leave Villarreal. In September 2021, Newcastle bet everything on the Spaniard, but at that point Emery decided to decline that dizzying offer. “Villarreal CF is my home and I am 100% committed,” the Basque said on that occasion. Now, Unai Emery takes on an Aston Villa that is ranked 15th in the Premier League, but with a raw material yet to be exploited, a context where Emery moves like a fish in water.