Unai Emery has now spent three years in charge of Aston Villa. He was appointed as the new head coach of the club on 24 October 2022, switching allegiances from **Villarreal**after a payment to the tune of £5.2 million. However, he had to wait until November to take his place in the dugout, gaining the reins of an outfit who had won just two of their last eleven games under Steven Gerrard.
Villa were in 16th position when he came to the Midlands, but the impact was immediate with a 3-1 win against **Man United**before the international break. Few could have foreseen what has happened in the following three years, as firm foundations have flourished with success domestically and abroad.
A clear tactical framework
In Emery’s first stint in England, he had the unenviable task of taking over from Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. He began as an advocate of a 4-2-3-1 system, but by the beginning of 2019, the manager was muddling his way through an array of setups, including a diamond, a back three, and a front two.
He got great output from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but the identity of the team was always in question, especially after the free-flowing legacy left by his predecessor.
At Villa, there was no era-defining manager to try and live up to. Emery could set the standard, and he fell back on his favourite formation: a 4-4-2 with a couple of standout features. The wide men in his midfields are often tens or wide forwards who excel at getting into consistent, goalscoring positions.
The fullbacks give width, and the focus is on getting key talent in the middle of the field. The formula worked wonders with **Sevilla**and **Villarreal,**and at another villa, the blueprint has worked brilliantly.
Ollie Watkins would hit his stride with Emery as his central forward, and Jacob Ramsey confirmed his reputation as one of the best young players in England, grabbing goals and assists from cutbacks as one of his pocket players. With a settled structure, other players have put a platform to perform.
An aligned recruitment structure
In the summer of 2023, **Monchi**arrived from **Sevilla**as the President of Football Operations. With Emery in the dugout, the pair produced a historic run of three Europa League titles in a row from 2014 until 2016. In a different competitive context, they could lean on a clear roadmap for success.
Emery is one of the best in the business at empowering players who are at the above-average level to compete with the elite. Having battled **Barcelona**and Real Madrid in Spain, he set his sights on toppling the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, and **Man City**with some smart signings in the windows.
Youri Tielemans was a free pickup from **Leicester,**and he has an outstanding sense of when and where to put his passes. With the protection of a double pivot, or eventually in a deeper role next to Amadou Onana or Boubacar Kamara, he has enjoyed freedom to find and connect with attackers.
Morgan Rogers has been a steal for £8 million from Middlesbrough. A winger in the academy, he has the vision, physique, and bullish presence to beat up teams by driving through the middle of the pitch. Not a conventional ten, he is another player in the perfect environment for his skills to thrive.
At the start of 2025, the team got a double boost of loanees in the winter window. Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford have frustrated at some of the biggest clubs in the world, but both men showed that in the right structure, their skills could be channelled into creating constant threat for opponents.
Of course, there have been misses in the market, and the PSR pinch was felt this summer. However, the likes of Jhon Duran, Moussa Diaby, and **Pau Torres**are further credit to the work of the Villans, who have found a way to remain in contention at the top end of the Premier League.
An abundance of history-making moments
All the pieces of the puzzle can be in place, but they need to come together with the right results. Without hesitation, Villa bought into Emery’s ideas, and they have reaped immeasurable rewards.
Villa amassed 49 points from their 25 Premier League fixtures under Emery in the 2022/23 campaign, picking up a lower total than only Liverpool, Arsenal, and **Man City**in that time. The transformative impact of the new head coach earned him a nomination for the Manager of the Year Award as he guided the group to their highest finish in the English top tier for over a decade.
The big scalps started to come in his first full season. Most notably of all, the team defeated **Man City**and **Arsenal**1-0 at Villa Park in the same week, setting a new club record of 15 consecutive league victories at their ground. The team finished fourth in the table, qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in their history, and also reached the semi-final stage of the Conference League.
There were bumps in the road in the 2024/25 season, but much more history was made in another year of positives. The Villans marked the return of elite European football to their home with a 1-0 beating of Bayern Munich as they finished in the top eight of a reformatted league phase in the competition.
The journey continued until the quarterfinals and even though Paris Saint-Germain ground them down, Emery’s men earned a 3-2 triumph in the second leg that will live long in the memory.
Villa also reached the **FA Cup**semifinal for the first time in a decade and secured back-to-back top-six **Premier League**finishes for the first time since 2010 under Martin O’Neill. The final day heartbreak at **Old Trafford**will still sting, but there could be a perfect ending to complete this fairytale chapter.
The struggles from the first five weeks of the 2025/26 season are not completely a thing of the past, but the side have stabilised in their standard structure. Emery is also back in the Europa League, which he won a fourth time with **Villarreal**in 2021, and the talent of his squad makes Villa a top candidate for the trophy.
The Spaniard is already serenaded at the Holte End, but he has not brought home a major honour. If he could end the club’s 29-year drought, his historic achievements would be immortalised forever.
For now, Villa are grateful to have a man who is making fans believe that big things are possible again.