It’s no secret that Aston Villa’s move to sign Unai Emery was very quick.
Once the Spanish media came up with the first reports saying the 51-year-old was in talks to replace Steven Gerrard at the Villa Park, it didn’t take long until the signing was made official by the Premier League side.
It turns out that Unai Emery’s move to Aston Villa was a surprise for those at Villarreal as well. Because everything was normal at the La Liga side until the boss suddenly decided to go.
This story is told by their winger Alex Baena, who in an interview with Castellon Plaza, detailed how the manager’s farewell go.
“It was a bit strange. Nobody expected it,” said the player.
“It was from one afternoon to the next. Last year I lived it far away and it seemed that the same situation was going to happen, that he was going to leave, but in the end he didn’t. But it was a professional decision. But it was a professional decision, which everyone may not understand, but those of us who are part of this can understand it.”
“It affected us a bit emotionally because we had already done a lot of work, after many years together… it was a bit hard to take it all back with a new coach with a new system and a new mentality for the game. But we are a team that looks like a family and everything is going to be fine. We are together with the coach and we will continue to move forward.”
Since Emery’s arrival at Aston Villa, he had three games in charge of the club so far, and those were pretty positive results.
His side first beat Manchester United 3-1 in his debut, and despite a subsequent EFL Cup 4-2 loss to the Red Devils, they still managed to beat Brighton in the Premier League 2-1 in the following game.
So for a club who wanted a better campaign in the league, they have appointed a manager who currently has a 100% win rate in the competition so far.
