Unai Emery isn’t a vindictive man but he will surely have allowed himself a smile on Friday morning.
Greeted with chants of “Unai, you bastard, get away from the Mestalla” as he arrived at his former home on Thursday, perhaps Valencia fans will regret giving their old coach more motivation.
4
Arsenal’s Spanish head coach Unai Emery celebrates during their UEFA Europa League semi-final win over Valencia
With three successive top three finishes, Emery remains Valencia’s best performing boss since Rafael Benítez. Yet he still irks a large section of a fanbase with a disproportionate sense of entitlement for a club that hasn’t won a trophy in over a decade. One that has since seen its status as Spain’s third power seized and bettered upon by Atlético Madrid.
Now that Emery has denied Los Che a European final place at the Mestalla for the second time since he left (his Sevilla dramatically eliminated Valencia there in the last second of a Europa League semifinal in 2014), he will no doubt irk his critics even more.
Yet while Valencia fans sulk, the Basque is being hailed as “Mister Europe League”, as El Mundo aptly put it. “Destiny decided that he would once more play at Mestalla for the chance to fight for a trophy. And he won again. Once again the Basque silenced a stadium that he never had an understanding with, who greeted him with boos last night,” the Spanish paper wrote.
LATEST FOOTBALL STORIES
paper talk
Sarri to join Juventus next week, Madrid keen to swap Bale for Pogba, plus more
PHIL THE POWER
How £80m Man United target could help Liverpool finally overtake Man City
new dawn
How Inter could look with Conte's targets, including Man United and Chelsea stars
all the best
Hazard writes open letter to Chelsea fans after sealing 'dream' move to Madrid
Beauts
Greatest ever Premier League kits include Man United grey and Chelsea orange shirts
gossip
Arsenal transfer news live: Gunners close to landing Sampdoria duo, Meunier linked
gossip
Tottenham transfer news live: Battle for Sessegnon, Madrid prioritise Eriksen
pay rise
Daniel James 'to earn 16 times more' at Manchester United
gossip
Liverpool transfer news live: Lille winger to snub Reds, Depay latest, Mane update
gossip
Man United transfer news live: James set for bumper pay rise, Icardi bid rejected
gossip
Chelsea transfer news live: Hazard's open letter, Blues appeal transfer ban to CAS
gossip
Transfer news LIVE: Madrid prioritise Eriksen over Pogba, Sarri set for Juventus
The boos have long been there, but they were no doubt strengthened by that still painful memory of Europa League elimination at the hands of Emery’s Sevilla five years ago. Some in Valencia feel the coach should not have celebrated that night, that he should somehow have not enjoyed what at the time was the confirmation of his first ever place in a European final.
Asked this week by Valencian media if he regretted his celebration, the Arsenal boss was unrepentant.
“Football has meant strong emotions to me my entire life. I was practically born with a football, and my emotional connection to it remains intact. I’ve gone through that process at every team I’ve been at. I want to go through it at Arsenal too, said Emery.
4
Arsenal will face Chelsea in the UEFA Europa League final in Baku, Azerbaijan
Thanks to the 4-2 demolition job on Thursday, Emery is now well on course to going through that same emotional winning process with The Gunners. “An executioner named Unai,” was how Valencian newspaper Levante-EMV described the triumphant manager on Friday morning, pointing out that he has seized from Valencia the same kind of spirit of effectiveness in European semifinals that they were once known for.
Prior to 2012, Valencia had progressed from all four of the European semifinals they had reached across the UEFA Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and Champions League. In 2012, in his final season at the Mestalla, Emery’s became the first Valencia team to fall at that stage of a European competition in the club’s history
4
Valencia players look dejected after Unai Emery led Arsenal to victory in their UEFA Europa League semi-final
The trend has continued since, but much to the dismay of Valencia’s support, it hasn’t stuck for their former manager. That defeat to Atlético Madrid remains the only European semifinal the Basque coach has failed to progress from. And who would bet against him making it four trophy wins in four Europa League final attempts since?
One person who has no doubt over the Arsenal manager’s quality was the person attempting to stop him this week. “You have to admit that the opponent was superior, congratulate them, and wish them the best,” Marcelino admitted.
4
Emery celebrates during Arsenal’s win over his old team.
“Emery is a great coach, I have a lot of personal and professional admiration for him. His teams have a clear idea, a philosophy, and as such he’s a coach who plans matches really well,” the Valencia coach concluded. On Thursday Emery planned a European match to perfection once more. Even Valencia fans would have to concede that.
It seemed from the get go that Henderson has had a point to prove during his time at Anfield, and was quickly branded a flop. knew who Jordan Henderson and all the Liverpool players were, but
Jordan Brian Henderson (born 17 June 1990) is an English
Arsenal v Valencia: Watch without paying extra, TV channel, kick-off time, line-ups Tune in Eintracht Frankfurt vs Chelsea live on talkSPORT 2: Commentary, stream and line-ups
Arsenal - Valencia (2019) | LIVE STREAMING - YouTube
Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho could mark his return to management with Bayern Munich, according to reports. The Bundesliga side have had a season to forget under Niko Kovac
Jose Mourinho Bayern Munich and PSG hint
Arsenal reached a second successive Europa League semi-final as they deservedly beat Napoli at the San Paolo Stadium to ease into the final four. Having secured a 2-0 victory in the first leg, the Gunners travelled to Naples knowing their fate was in their own hands. Alexandre Lacazette's free
Arsenal win in Napoli to reach Europa League semi-finals
Manchester United FC news and transfers LIVE - Reaction to Barcelona defeat as Solskjaer eyes summer rebuild. All the latest news, views and opinion from Old Trafford
Why Manchester United's loss to Barcelona could be a blessing
The Premier League season is done and dusted and in the record books. Manchester City are worthy champions, pipping Liverpool to the post thanks to a 4-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on the
European Cup and UEFA Champions League records and statistics
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal confirmed team news: Ramsey benched, Leno over Cech, Zaha in PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG returns to the Arsenal starting line-up against Crystal Palace.
May 16, 2019 · E ngland defender Danny Rose has told BBC One documentary A Royal Team Talk: Tackling Mental Health how a club trying to buy him last summer wanted to make sure he was not "crazy". The Tottenham left-back opened up about his struggles with depression in the build-up to the 2018 World Cup, an illness which was triggered by a significant knee
Danny Rose reveals a club feared he was crazy after
Arsenal 1-1 Brighton: Hosts' top-four hopes all but over after lacklustre draw were effectively ended by a draw with Brighton. The Gunners are three points behind Tottenham in fourth with one
Arsenal 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion: Gunners' top four hopes
/ Manchester City will demand an apology from Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness over his remarks about their transfer dealings. Hoeness recently made extraordinary claims that owner Sheikh Mansour pays for transfers by ramping up the price of oil. That has incensed club officials at City, who consider the comment to be a slur on the […]
Leroy Sane transfer news: Bayern Munich doubt deal due to
Ole Gunnar Solskaer has a 73.7% win rate in all competitions as United manager The Solskjaer effect. Solskjaer is United's fourth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
Manchester United set to appoint Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as
Brendan Rodgers believes Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola thrives off the pressure of the Premier League title race. Liverpool's dramatic 3-2 win over Newcastle on Saturday means City need to beat Leicester to return to the top-flight summit on Monday, with commentary live on talkSPORT.
Man City: Brendan Rodgers explains why Pep Guardiola will
English Premier League club Arsenal has seen a bid for Ivan Perisic rejected by Inter Milan. Unai Emery's side is reportedly keen on bringing the Croatian winger to the Emirates Stadium before the end of the winter transfer window.
Arsenal transfer blow as Ivan Perisic prefers Tottenham move
No comments:
Post a Comment