Great news for Aston Villa fans today the club have signed Unai Emery to a 5 year contract
https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2024/may/27/unai-emery-agrees-new-five-year-contract/Although the previous agreement was until 2027, but apparently after Aston Villa's historic first Champions League appearance and 4th place in the EPL the management decided to renew and extend the agreement with Unai Emery.
Great decision for both sides, because Emery is just great at coaching average teams and making them successful, as he did before with Sevilla and Villereal, and now with Aston Villa and the club management now has a reliable head coach with whom they can build a strategy for years to come.
It is true that Aston villa has achieved a great feat with unai emery by getting champions league football, but for me this is not enough reason to grant him a 5 year contract. Not to disregard the coach technical prowess, just what I do feel. The contract seem like a rush
Two years ago, when Aston Villa was coached by Gerrard the team finished 17th and struggled to stay out of the EPL.
In two years, Emery has turned an EPL outsider into one of the strongest teams not only in the English league, but also in Europe.
Aston Villa took 4th place behind only the strongest teams in the world Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool and this despite the fact that the transfer costs of Aston Villa were much less. In addition, Emery led Aston Villa to the Champions League after 42 years! The last time Aston Villa played in the Champions League was 1982.
I think that's more than enough for the Aston Villa management to give Emery that kind of credit and maybe he can build a team that can compete with Manchester City and Arsenal on equal terms.
Of course, if they show a similar performance to Leverkusen, they can be in the Premier league race next year. I know this is very unlikely, but it's still a possibility. If you ask whether the chances will increase, frankly I don't think so. Emery may be a good coach, but Aston Villa cannot compete with Manchester City. City has one of the best squads in the world.
I don't dispute and agree that without massive transfers on players in this transfer window, Aston Villa will find it hard to compete with Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool and also if Manchester United will dismiss Ten Hag, they will also be a threat to Aston Villa.
Unai Emery is currently Aston Villa's best acquisition in 10-15 years, but even the most talented coach without good players cannot succeed. This year Emery has been able to make his players play at 100% and we can see how much Wally Watkins is scoring, how other players are progressing with Emery's help, but still Aston Villa need 1-2 world class players like Bellingham, Vinicius, Bruno Fernandez or Cole Palmer to strengthen the team's play.
Otherwise, even 4th place for next season may become out of reach.