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Reason why Emery won't be in Aston Villa dugout until November 1 revealed

talksport.com, 25 October 2022, 10:53
Unai Emery is back in the Premier League after he agreed a deal to replace Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.

The Spaniard has been Villarreal's boss since July 2020 after being sacked by Arsenal.

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He guided the La Liga side to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals last season after beating the likes of Juventus and Bayern Munich with a rather unfancied squad.

But why is that? talkSPORT.com has all the details you need…

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Why won't Emery take charge of Villa until November 1?

Emery has been officially appointed as Gerrard's successor after Villa moved quickly to appoint him after getting rid of the former Rangers boss after a tough start to the year.

But his first game in charge will be at Villa Park against Manchester United on November 6 and not this Saturday against Newcastle at St James'.

He'll miss the trip to Tyneside because his work permit to manage in the UK won't be approved and finalised until November 1.

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This means Aaron Danks will be in charge for one more game after sealing a brilliant 4-0 win over Brentford at the weekend.

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Unai Emery's time at Arsenal

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Emery has developed a reputation as a Europa League specialist and has lifted that trophy four times in his career.

He arrived at Arsenal as Arsene Wenger's successor after time with PSG and a very successful spell as Sevilla boss.

He lost his first two games against Manchester City and Chelsea before taking the Gunners on a 22-match unbeaten run that included 11 wins in a row.

Emery also managed to beat Tottenham at the Emirates in the Premier League but lost to Spurs in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

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The Gunners looked like they were going to finish fourth in the 2018/19 season, but three consecutive defeats against Wolves, Crystal Palace and Leicester saw Tottenham finish above them.

But in Europe, Emery guided the Gunners to the Europa League final, where they were blown away by Chelsea.

Arsenal then invested heavily in the summer and signed the likes of David Luiz, Kieran Tierney and club-record signing Nicolas Pepe.

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They started the 2019/20 campaign relatively well but defeats to Liverpool and newly promoted Sheffield United saw pressure increase on Emery.

And after a 1-0 win over Bournemouth at home in October, the Gunners didn't win another league game under the Spaniard's guidance.

And a 2-1 defeat in the Europa League at home by Eintracht Frankfurt in November was his last match in charge.

But talkSPORT's Laura Woods believes Emery just wasn't the right fit for Arsenal and could do well with Villa, saying: "I think when he went to Arsenal, the odds were very stacked against him.

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"Was it very exciting for Arsenal fans? Probably not. Was it inspiring? No, but I remember his communication skills with the team were knocked a little bit.

"He got them to a final, so you can judge him on that, and yes, they got absolutely battered, but the fact that he got them there shows that he's very good in cup competitions.

"You only have to judge him on what he's done after that with Villarreal with four Europa League titles with Sevilla as well and making Valencia into a Champions League team and what he did with PSG.

"He's obviously an excellent coach, it just has to be the right fit."

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