Aston Villa decided to sack Steven Gerrard one week ago after the clubs poor Premier League results and lack of identity on the pitch.
Although they started to be a promising team when the former Liverpool player arrived, they have been playing game by game, forgetting the potential shape and intensity that showed in their first matches under Gerrard tactics.
This was very exciting for many Villa fans who truly believed that with the right transfer window, things were absolutely going to get better.
Bringing six new players and signing Phillipe Coutinho and Robin Olsen on long-term contracts would be big moves. However, when you see the names and the positions they look for, some things have clicked and some havent.
31-year-old Diego Carlos suffered a season-long injury, and Leander Dendoncker, Jan Bednarek, or Ludwig Augustinsson dont look like top signings besides 22-year-old special talent Boubacar Kamara.
Villa lacked squad depth, mostly between all the teams defensive lines.
However, signing Diego Carlos was kind of a coup, but they needed more.
Steven Gerrard didnt get the best form of this team since the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
Currently, they sit in the 15th position of the league table, having lost six matches, including a 3-0 thrashing at Fulham, a 3-1 against Crystal Palace, and a 2-0 loss against Bournemouth on the opening day.
Villa won and drew the other 3. They scored 11 goals, ranking fourth among the fewest goals scored in the season, and conceded 16 goals as well.
Unai Emery first rejected Newcastle back in November when he decided to stick with Villarreal for at least one more year, with clear goals of what they could achieve in the UEFA Champions League.
After one of the biggest fairy tales in the 20/21 Europa League, they invested in their squad, and the majority of the vital players stayed with the club and were ready for the best club competition in the world.
Emery once again showed the kind of European monster he is with his clubs; nevertheless, its no secret that he has an image to clean at the English Premier League.
The Premier League is still a challenge for the former Arsenal coach who didnt tick the right boxes as he did in other teams like Sevilla or his recent Villarreal, which somehow finished 7th in the league under Emery, but lifted the Europa League and were 45 minutes away from a Champions League final, similar to what they lived in 2006 against Arsenal, being defeated in the penalty-shootout after Argentinian legend Riquelme miss the decisive shoot.
This tactical analysis piece will be a short team scout report of Unai Emery and his tactics at Villarreal.
It will also analyse what he can expect inside the Aston Villa squad and which positions he should invest in in the next transfer window.
Unai Emery profile
Emery has been constantly working inside a philosophy of calm and patient possession in the first stages of the build-up, trying to attract the first line of pressure.
He has made several movements from his strikers that normally set up in doubles and aggressive runs to break the lines from one of his central midfielders.
Something to admire about the Spaniard is the change of mentality he has given to his teams, especially the Spanish ones.
His entire squad commits to playing the way he wants, and sometimes have to change to a low block to adapt to high-risk situations, doing it without asking.
However, Emery has also shown inside his game model the importance of ball-playing centre-backs who can play long from the back or connect between the lines with far players.
Wingers and full-backs have also been key in Emerys system.
If we look back at his Villarreal, we would find players like Yeremy Pino or Giovanni Lo Celso with very different profiles but assigned roles that usually take the half-spaces to appear, leaving the outside for explosive full-backs such as Pervis Estupiñán or Alberto Moreno if we go backwards at his Sevilla spell.
The Pizza Chart below shows how Villarreal has been doing at the start of the 2022/23 season.
Although they are sitting 7th in the league table, this viz still shows us a great sign of how Emery likes his teams to play: mid-block, low high-pressing style, low percentage of crosses, looking to create chances from key and through passes, and carrying the ball to the final third.
As a team that sets up in the middle third, looking to close spaces, they have been struggling in defence, registering too many high-goal-scoring chances.
Gerónimo Rulli lately has been the hero with his saves.
As we can see, Villarreal are commonly placed in the final third and even in the oppositions penalty box; however, they havent been turning ball dominance into high-goal-scoring opportunities.
This indicates a lack of ideas in attack to break defensive blocks.
Normally, Emery likes to place his team on the pitch inside a very mobile and role-playing system 4-4-2 that has from a ball-playing centre-back to an explosive centre-forward exploiting the channels.
Breaking it down from the back four, Villarreal showed the different types of players in each position and the roles he assigned for each one.
