Unai Emery has finally been granted his visa after a brief delay, and has been able to get stuck into Aston Villa training alongside John McGinn and others.
The Spaniard appears to be a very engaged coach on the training field, with Aston Villa releasing footage of his first session at Bodymoor Heath after replacing Steven Gerrard.
Emery could be seen getting involved in a pressing drill with Ollie Watkins, while also partaking in a jog with the players, but before the session even began, he could be heard issuing a rallying cry.
Unai Emery begins life at Aston Villa
Well, the 51-year-old left McGinn and Jacob Ramsey grinning from ear to ear with the end to his pre-session talk.
In footage posted by Aston Villa, Emery could be heard saying from 24 seconds onwards: “Who is ready for a good morning? We are!”
The Spaniard’s attempt to motivate his new squad left a smile on some of their faces, and the brief snippet from the footage portrays Emery in a warm, positive light.
On the contrary, Steven Gerrard often came across as cold during his time at Villa Park.
You could see that the Villans simply weren’t playing for Gerrard towards the end of his reign in the Midlands, and that may have partly been down to a weak relationship with his players.
On the basis of Emery’s first session at Bodymoor heath, in which the players appear engaged, happy and energised, things could be about to get better for Aston Villa.
Who could thrive under Unai Emery at Aston Villa
Interestingly, the Spaniard tends to use a 4-4-2 formation, which we think will benefit Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings.
The duo seemingly have everything they need to strike up an effective partnership, with Watkins possessing the pace to drag defenders around, while Ings has the positioning and finishing skills to take advantage of the space.
A more rigid, structured midfield bank of four should also help Tyrone Mings, who struggled under Gerrard as he was often left exposed.
Hopefully, Emery can turn things around at Villa Park – on the evidence of his first training session, there is certainly plenty to be positive about.
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