Aston Villa produced a brilliant performance to beat Manchester United on Sunday, with Unai Emery’s somewhat unusual approach to the game already making an impression on his new charges.
Villa picked up a stunning 3-1 win over Erik ten Hag’s side in the Premier League on Emery’s first game in charge of the team. The home side raced into a 2-0 lead after just 11 minutes, thanks to goals from Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne, and then cancelled out Luke Shaw’s deflected effort with Jacob Ramsey’s second-half strike.
The result ended United’s nine-match unbeaten run and saw former Arsenal boss Emery return to the Premier League with a bang. The Spaniard only took his first training session on Wednesday and striker Ollie Watkins said Emery kept his cards close to his chest – almost up until the 2pm kick-off.
"No-one had a clue who was playing,” Watkins said. "It was a guessing game but everyone bought into it and we were all involved. We found out the team in our team meeting, which was at about 11.30.
"Some people leave it late, but normally, previous managers have done it the day before, or let you know in some way. But no matter what team he put out, it was going to be the same result at the end of the day. Everyone worked hard, was willing to work hard and bought into the game plan."
Emery has taken over from Steven Gerrard, who was sacked as Villa manager on October 20 after winning just two of his 10 Premier League matches this season. The former Villarreal manager may have only had a few days with his new squad, but Watkins says he has already changed the tactics completely.
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“Before there were a lot of long balls to me and Danny Ings and we were battling with the defenders,” he said. "We used a lot of energy through battling. Now, when the ball comes into us, because defenders are taking time on the ball and we're making more passes, it's easier for us because we've got more time.
"It was more just to take time on the ball, suck them in, then it gives others time on the ball. It was 4-4-2 and we weren't overloaded with information. Against the big teams, I don’t know why, we seem to put in a good performance. But we need to do that every week.
"We didn't just win on Sunday, we won with style and it wasn't one of those where we ground it out."
Villa are now 13th in the Premier League having taken 15 points from their opening 14 games. Emery will have the opportunity to impose his tactics against the same opposition again on Thursday, when Villa travel to Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup third round. Villa then face Brighton on Sunday in their final match before the World Cup.
