Unai Emery took over as manager of English Premier League side Aston Villa in October 2022; since then, they have had a string of good results.
They are currently sitting in ninth place in the league and will be looking for a top-ten finish. Let’s take a closer look at how well Villa have fared since Emery took over the reins from Steven Gerrard.
The Rest of the Legue
It’s important to provide some context to judge Emery’s job so far.
Largely, the league has been quite a surprise this season, at both ends. Firstly, at the top, Newcastle are ahead of schedule and pushing for top-four while the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs, and Liverpool falter and fail to cement their claim to the final top-four position. Teams have changed their coaches to combat this – Spurs, namely, but also Chelsea, who hoped to be in the top-four race but have sacked two manages, leaving those who buy Chelsea tickets sort of any idea of how the Blues will return to the top.
Brighton have continued their smart ascent, replacing Graham Potter with Roberto Di Zerbi. Brentford have been quietly solid, and Fulham have done the same – two unsung stories because everyone else has struggled. It was in the middle of this bottom-half struggle – seeing Everton, Wolves, West Ham, and Villa themselves – decided to change their coach…
Have Villa progressed under Emery?
On October 20th, 2022, Aston Villa sacked Steven Gerrard after just 11 months at the helm due to a poor run of performances, ending in a 3-0 away defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage. Emery was appointed the new Villa manager four days later, on October 24th.
Let’s quickly examine some of their Premier League results since Emery joined.
In his first game in charge, they travelled away to Newcastle United and lost 4-0, then beat Manchester United 3-1 at home (Villa Park) in their next outing.
Their next game was also against United, this time in the third round of the EFL Cup (Carabao Cup), which Villa lost 4-2. They then travelled away to Brighton & Hove Albion on November 13th, winning 2-1.
There was a Premier League break for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and then when they returned from the break, they played Brighton again, this time at home, in a game that ended in a 2-2 draw on December 8th.
They have also beaten Chelsea 1-0, Tottenham Hotspur 2-0, Leeds United 2-1, Southampton 1-0, Everton 2-0, Crystal Palace 1-0, and Bournemouth 3-0.
In other words, they have been relatively impressive under Emery, and there’s no doubt he is a good manager. They might be much lower in the league if they had stuck with Gerrard.
A closer look at some of Villa’s stats under Emery
Here are six impressive Villa stats since Emery took over in October 2022:
● Despite being the team with the eighth fewest shots (160), they have scored the fifth most goals (24).
● Under Emery, Villa have picked up an impressive 1.85 points per game
● They are ranked the twelfth team for touches in the opposition boxes
● In their first 16 games under Emery, they scored on each occasion (averaging an impressive 1.6 goals per game)
● Argentinian World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emi Martinez has managed to keep a staggering 33 clean sheets, most of which came under Emery’s leadership
● Since Emery took charge, only league leaders Arsenal (35) have managed to pick up more points than Villa (26) – at the time of writing
● Ollie Watkins became the first Villa player in over 30 years to score goals in five consecutive top-flight league games. Emery has managed to revive Watkins to his former ability
Where can Villa finish by the end of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign?
With ten games to go until the end of the season and Aston Villa currently sitting in 11th place, the best thing they could ask for would be for a top 10 finish, which is looking more likely by the week.
