Unai Emery: Aston Villa go “from black and white to full colour” in three years

On 6 November 2022, a packed house at Villa Park exploded with joy when Aston Villa beat Manchester United at home for the first time since 1995.

It’s a dream start for new head coach Unai Emery, less than a week after work permit hurdles that delayed his appointment were finally cleared.

There had been fleeting moments of happiness in the past, but nothing like this in years. It was as if the club had finally emerged into the light after years of gloom.

Excitement was at its peak in the dressing room after the match, with handshakes, hugs, songs, dances and the feeling that something new had begun, that the sleeping giant Aston Villa had finally woken up from its slumber.

But amid the hysteria and celebrations, Emery and his team were more measured, and Unai’s objective analysis of the victory was clear.

And he wasn’t happy. Villa had won but it was on the players’ terms. This was an extreme event, chaotic and uncontrolled. This was not the football Unai dreamed of.

He realized at that moment that the non-stop, frantic, 100-mile-per-hour football the fans demanded was the exact opposite of the controlled, patient, measured, deliberate, dominating game he wanted to install at the club.

All Unai and his team had to do was to convince everyone at the club (players, owners, managers, fans) that this was the path the club should take. And if they didn’t, he’d move on. Three years later, it’s still there.