Unai Emery’s only England experience before Aston Villa was his mixed spell with Arsenal.
The Spaniard was in charge at Arsenal from the summer of 2018 to November 2019, and in his first season, he helped the Gunners finish fifth and make it to the Europa League final.
The Aston Villa boss has been speaking to [DAZN](https://www.dazn.com/es-ES/news/f%C3%BAtbol/unai-emery-aprendizajes-dura-salida-arsenal-unicos-seis-meses-20-anos-estado-sin-entrenar/m8xedz8i651m1vne4zzkqbw9l) in Spain, assessing his managerial career so far.
Emery discussed his period at Arsenal and insisted the time spent at the Emirates helped him improve as a coach. He’s also hopeful of avoiding Gunners mistakes at Aston Villa, partly thanks to a stronger structure.
_“Learning in the sense of getting to know more about the Premier League, mastering the language better and managing myself better within a club with a more protected structure_. _When things went wrong at Arsenal, we were more fragile because all that was not there. That hasn’t happened here \[at Aston Villa\] yet, let’s hope it doesn’t,”_ he said.
Emery helped Aston Villa qualify for the Champions League for the first time in over four decades.
The Villans have struggled recently, failing to win seven consecutive matches and the poor run ended with a 3-1 win over Brentford on Wednesday.
Emery also talked about what happened after Arsenal sacked him, and the 53-year-old has explained how he took advantage of the break to make improvements.
_“After leaving Arsenal, I took advantage of the first six months that was when the pandemic hit. They were the only ones in 20 years that I have been without training. So, I also took advantage of it to try to find and change certain things,”_ Emery explained.
_“I made some changes in my coaching staff to find new things, new eyes towards football. When you have been working together for a long time, you see football more or less the same._
_“At Villarreal, I was able to experience that process to broaden my views on football from another prism. It helped me understand more things within football. Tactically, emotionally, management. And when I arrived at Aston Villa, I tried to bring that entire process of contribution.”_