Andoni Iraola believes Unai Emery is one of the very best managers in world football.placeholder image
Andoni Iraola believes Unai Emery is one of the very best managers in world football. | Getty Images
What Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said about Unai Emery after Aston Villa’s 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium.
Andoni Iraola believes Unai Emery is one of the best managers in the world, let alone just in the Premier League.
AFC Bournemouth’s head coach, from the same region of Spain as Emery, has a great relationship with his fellow countryman. Iraola, despite overseeing a brilliant Bournemouth performance that was worthy of more than the 1-1 draw they earned against Villa on Saturday, has yet to ever beat Emery since the pair became managers.
Iraola has gained a great reputation at the Vitality Stadium and Bournemouth have often been giant beaters in recent seasons, especially under the Basque manager’s reign. But Iraola still hasn’t been able to get the better of Emery once, even during the pair’s time together in the Spanish top flight.
Bournemouth boss responds to Emery comment
Emery, when told about his unbeaten record against Iraola, rather amusingly said during his post-match press conference that the Bournemouth boss was the better footballer. Iraola was then told about Emery’s comments, and the Cherries boss’ response was superb.
“I will give you the other one. He is a much better manager,” Iraola said with a smile. “He has achieved a lot of very good things as a manager. I always say, Unai is one of the best managers. Not just in the Premier League, he is one of the best managers overall.”
In many ways, Iraola is doing a comparable job to Emery in the sense that he’s outperforming the expectations and restraints before him. But Iraola, albeit one of the Premier League’s best up-and-coming coaches, respects that there are levels to his game and Emery is among the elite.
Iraola compares Emery to Guardiola
There’s plenty to learn from Emery, Iraola believes, with the Villa boss right up there with Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola. Yes, there’s an acceptance that Guardiola has won all there is to win, but Iraola thinks Emery’s achievements are comparable, considering the tools he has had to work with.
“He is a good example for me,” Iraola added of Emery. “We know about Pep Guardiola, but Guardiola has always been in top teams. He has been winning all the time.
“I value him a lot, Unai, because he started in the third division. In the second division, he improved a little bit. He went up to the first division. He has tried different things in different countries. He has arrived in top clubs. He has won titles. There is a process there.
“We can learn a lot from his experience. I have seen Unai coaching Almeria. I have seen Unai coaching Sevilla. I have seen him coaching Villarreal. A lot of different-level teams. He has always done well. He has adapted. In that sense, he is a reference for a lot of coaches.”
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