Carbon Kloppy
McGINN LOVING LIFE UNDER UNAI
JOHN McGINN fully believes Unai Emery can build a Jurgen Klopplike dynasty at Aston Villa.
As the dust settled on Villa’s exit in the semifinal of the Europa Conference League, the club’s skipper was looking forward to what he believes could be a golden future under the Spaniard, who has transformed the fortunes of the Birmingham club.
Klopp departs Merseyside later this month after nine seasons in which Liverpool have claimed the Premier League and Champions League crowns.
Villa have taken huge strides forward and the Scotland international says that good times are coming. He said: “Everyone knows what we think of the manager. “We are very lucky to have him and his staff. They all work endlessly to make improvements that make us better. “Even on the morning of the
Olympiakos game, he was treating this game the same way he did the first preseason one. It is just the way he is.
“He is a workaholic who is desperate for success. We would love him to be here for many years. I have three years left here, at the moment. He has three years left himself so hopefully he can be here for many years to come.
“But he wants success and does not want to stop short at semi-finals or fourth place. He wants more than that. That is the sort of manager you want to play under.
“In that respect, there are similarities with Liverpool’s boss. They are certainly slightly different – but both of them are up there with the best managers in the world.
“The league has been very lucky to have had Klopp. He has obviously got an identity and a really strong team. He will be missed in the league.”
Villa returned from Greece on Friday morning licking their wounds after their exit from Europe.
Emery faces an anxious 48 hours before deciding upon the team to face the Reds at Villa Park tomorrow night.
He is sweating on a number of players who he hopes may be able to return from injury with Youri Tielemans one of them. Another is Leon Bailey who hobbled away from the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on Thursday night with his left knee heavily strapped up.
McGinn added that the semi-final was lost in the first leg but the better side went through. He added: “You can’t argue over the two legs the better team went through. You cannot make excuses about
X, Y or Z being injured.”