World of Sport
WHEN Aston Villa decided, probably correctly, that Steven Gerrard was out of his depth as a Premier League manager, speculation was rife over who would be his successor.
All the usual unemployed names were bandied about but I guarantee nobody predicted that mere days later Unai Emery would be the anointed one.
Since unfairly getting the chop at Arsenal, Emery had taken little Villarreal to a Europa league win (his fourth in total with three coming with Seville) while keeping them established as a top Spanish La Liga club that had genuine prospects of becoming a Champions League stalwart, as could be seen as he guided his team of ex-Premier League cast-offs to last season’s semi-finals.
So why would a successful and hugely popular manager leave the comfort of an upwardly mobile club in Spain to go to a very sleepy giant in the Midlands?
Money? Possibly, but I tend towards the theory that having been so callously discarded by Arsenal, he sees a way to redeem himself in the one league in which he’s failed to make a real impact.
Is Villa the club for him to do so? Hard to say. On the one hand they are by any measurement a “big” club, but they are also massive underachievers whose first and foremost priority this season has to be to avoid a financially catastrophic relegation; the glittering prizes can come later.
Whatever the eventual outcome, if I was a Villa fan I would be delighted that in just under a week my club has gone from Steven Gerrard to Unai Emery. Christmas in Aston has come already.
IT’S THE JOB DESCRIPTION
Goalkeeper: “A player in soccer or field hockey whose special role is to stop the ball from entering the goal,” so says the Oxford languages dictionary.
Unfortunately most modern managers don’t see their custodians’ role as fitting that description, with notable exceptions being Alisson at Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Ederson at Pep Guardiola’s Citeh, who can play the sweeper-keeper role as well as having the ability to launch attacking moves.
Other keepers aren’t as adaptable, which is why week in week out we are seeing ridiculous goals given away as defences faff around trying to play out rather than giving it the big hoof up the field, case in point being Spurs’ Hugo Loris against Newcastle last weekend.
The first goal conceded came after an otherwise innocuous through ball saw the French national captain charge out and chest the ball into Newcastle’s Callum Wilson, who took the resulting opportunity and the Toon are 1-0 up. If Loris had stayed in his box he would have had an easy pick up.
A few minutes later Loris floats a lazy lobbed pass out to Ryan Sessegnon, the ball is easily intercepted, seconds later Spurs are two down and ultimately the game is lost.