We’ve Kopped our Klopp at Villa
JOHN MCGINN believes Unai Emery can build a Jurgen Klopp-like dynasty at Aston Villa. As the dust settled onvilla’s Europa Conference League semi-final exit at the hands of Olympiakos, the club’s skipper looked forward to what he believes could be a golden future under the Spaniard.
Klopp (lower right) 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 under
Emery (above right) and the Scotland international says good times lie ahead.
Mcginn said:
“Everyone knows what we think of the manager.we are very lucky to have him and his staff.
“He is a workaholic, who is desperate for success. He wants success and does not want to stop short at semi-finals or fourth place.
“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 Klopp.”
After their 6-2 aggregate defeat,villa returned from Greece on Friday morning licking their wounds.
Emery faces an anxious 48 hours before deciding upon the team to face the Reds at Villa Park tomorrow night.
He is sweating on several players he hopes can return from injury, including Youri Tielemans.
Another is Leon Bailey, who hobbled away from the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on Thursday night with his left knee heavily strapped.
Mcginn added that the semi-final was lost in the first leg, when Villa suffered a 4-2 home defeat.
They looked capable going forward but an early lapse cost them dear and they were always chasing the tie from then on.
Villa’s skipper said: “Looking back, it was not the performance we wanted.
“Out of control at home, there was probably a bit of inexperience.we had enough out there to turn the tie around and we fully believed it.
“It just wasn’t our night. There are obviously massive improvements needed moving forward to try and compete and succeed at this level.
“There was no one more desperate to get to the final than the boys.”