How Unai Emery’s Men Became Dark Horses

What do Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Bournemouth, Tottenham, Liverpool, Burnley, Newcastle, Manchester, and Nottingham Forest have in common>? They are the ten Premier League clubs with a bigger net spend than Aston Villa. However, after 16 games, only two teams find themselves above the Villans.  This has been a tremendous effort by Unai Emery in a season that was said to be the most competitive in the league’s history.

When the Spaniard took charge of Aston Villa, few would have expected the Spaniard to make Aston Villa a force to be reckoned with. His previous spell in the Premier League at Arsenal was a big reason for this, which ended in disastrous circumstances.

However, apart from that, Emery was a serial winner elsewhere with 12 trophies, including one league title (with Paris Saint Germain) and four Europa League titles (three with Sevilla and one with Villareal).

And the 52-year-old has found his groove in his second stint in the league, making a team that has outperformed the expectations of even the most optimistic Villa fans. So, what is Emery’s new mantra that has transformed the club into a winning juggernaut?

Aston Villa tactics 2022-23

When Unai Emery was appointed Aston Villa manager in November 2022, Aston Villa were a mess. The club had only won three out of 13 games and were one point above the relegation zone. On top of that, they scored 4.62 goals less according to the Expected Goals (xG), the fourth worst in the league and 5.21 less on the Expected Points (xP), the second-worst league.

One of the first things Emery changed was instructing his team to keep the ball. The Spaniard wanted more possession, no matter which half the ball was. Less possession to the opposition meant fewer chances of them creating something meaningful in attack.

The mantra was simple: keep the ball and patiently wait for the opposition to commit a mistake. Most of the time, the error came from one particular situation. With the club keeping the ball in their half, the opposition were forced to deploy a high press. This left gaps between their attack and midfield, where Villa thrived. Using quick passing, they would bypass the high press and use their wingers on full-backs to stretch the opposition’s defence.

Another commandment that Emery drilled into his squad was the compact nature of the defence. The centre backs appeared under strict instructions to keep the backline shape intact. This meant that even though the opposition got near the…