Analysis sessions to Unai Emery are what hairdryers were to Sir Alex Ferguson.
Or what electricity was to Benjamin Franklin, gravity to Isaac Newton.
You get the idea. In short, Emery, 53, is renowned for his meticulous analysis. Every player talks about it and every person who has witnessed the very many meetings describes their distinctiveness.
On Tuesday night, Villa return to the scene of the crime against Club Brugge, having been to Belgium once this season, delivering one of their worst performances under Emery. Analysing what went wrong will be a key part of the preparations for the Champions League last-16 tie.
“Emery’s attention to detail is the best I’ve ever seen”, says one highly experienced member of staff who has worked across several clubs and, like every other person quoted in this piece, has spoken to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships.
The Spaniard is known to hold team meetings for up to 90 minutes and even have two to three on the day of the game to drill the players’ responsibilities into them. As well as individual unit meetings, one session specifically focuses on set plays. Players stay in a hotel the night before home and away games, regardless of when kick-off is. They have a set schedule for when they are expected to arrive if they are travelling there themselves, enabling Emery time for each meeting to take place.
He leans on analysis sessions for a multitude of reasons, not just to prepare for opponents or intricately explain the nuances of his system. One player has said Emery’s intense attitude towards preparation came as a shock and had to adjust.
“There were two meetings today,” Morgan Rogers said after Aston Villa’s victory against Bayern Munich. “We are used to it. That’s why we win games — we go through everything. We know what every player’s traits are.”
Emery, with clipboard in hand, in conversation with assistant managers Pako Ayestaran, in the hat, and Pablo Villanueva (Cameron Smith/Getty Images)
Emery’s lengthy presentations are partly designed to test players’ concentration but there remains total buy-in. Since Emery’s arrival, recruits must be viewed as psychologically robust in order to cope with Emery’s intensity.
“We don’t have to do meetings because we are together all day,” Monchi, president of football operations, told Movistar in November. “We meet for breakfast, for lunch, we live here, we are here all day, we spend 12 or 13 hours practically together.”
Typically, Emery holds three pre-match meetings in the lead-up to a matchday. The first is to reflect on a previous fixture, showing players where they did well and areas of improvement. The next meeting then drills into the opponent’s tendencies and traits, instilling what solutions can be sought to combat their strengths. During this, Emery explains each player’s responsibility and key functions.
Finally, the last meeting is used as a motivational tool, designed to spark his squad for the match. It will be the closing message and tap into a personal side, wanting to inspire players and remind them of how good they are and can be.
Emery’s exhaustive methodology meant early results were integral in getting senior players onside after his appointment in October 2022. The difference in preparation between him and his predecessor Steven Gerrard was vast, with players and staff now being asked to sit through long meetings before games.
Regardless, towards the end of 2024, Emery recognised the importance of lessening his intense approach, helping to offset player burnout. Emery has made efforts to ease the pressures on players, giving extra days off in the week leading into games and citing the importance of rest. He has held individual talks to gauge players’ mood.
On matchdays, Emery brings his own whiteboard which he lays out in the changing room. Before presentations, he will invariably write out ‘REST’ in capital letters on the whiteboard.
The reliance on analysis has swelled this season. Less time to train has meant more days spent indoors recovering, with analysis forming an increasing part of the schedule. Work on the pitch has often been reduced to walkthroughs, where players are stationed in the shape Villa will deploy in the next match. Emery has held meetings in the gymnasium, with players sitting on mats and gym boxes.
The Villa manager does his analysis on top of what his six analysts do in preparation for games, before then comparing notes. Often, he will watch footage of upcoming opposition on the treadmill or a static bike, more preferably.
Last season, one source joked how Emery would work past 8pm on Fridays, which would eat into his staff’s weekend plans. On another occasion, one signing arrived late into the night at Bodymoor Heath to finalise paperwork and could see Emery upstairs, in his office, looking at his tactics board.
“He is just so driven,” said midfielder John McGinn after Villa’s 2-0 Champions League win against Bologna in October. “I have never met anyone like him. He has said a few times he was an OK footballer but he wishes he had the determination and work rate he has as a manager. No one can question what he puts in, the effort — everything that comes his way and our way is on the back of hard work. You feed off your leader. He is our leader and we feed off that.”
McGinn, the Villa captain, says Emery inspires his squad (Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
Emery has altered the way Villa analysts work this season. Instead of half of the analysis team working on the game ahead — three staff members focusing on the next game, with the other three preparing the one after — this term, they all gravitate towards the next game, but divide duties.
Some of the analysts, for example, concentrate on goalkeeper analysis, others then drill dead-ball situations, who then, in turn, feed into set-piece coach Austin MacPhee’s own analyst, Jose Rodriguez Calvo. The rest concentrate on the opposition, identifying how they press, team shape and detectable build-up patterns.
There have been instances throughout the season where each analyst has been at Bodymoor Heath on a Sunday, the day after a match. This time is spent preparing the relevant video clips for Emery to study the next day, in time for an upcoming Champions League fixture, such as the one against Club Brugge.
The overall process tends to work in a chain-like manner, with the footage compiled being sent to Victor Manas, Emery’s long-serving analyst. Manas will then refine the analysis, adding his observations and creating an opposition report for the next 90-minute meeting. Together, he and Emery watch each opponent at least five times before imparting information to players.
Emery will study footage wherever he is inside Bodymoor, sometimes watching opponents while cycling or running. He uses his own software, which can be quite limited compared to more modern analytical programming others use, though it works for him.
The exacting Emery instructs his team during a training session (David Rogers/Getty Images)
On that software, Emery annotates Manas’ clips, putting notes over the top of his analysis on how Villa can combat an opponent’s system. To the untrained eye, the presentation can look messy, yet players understand what he wants. There are no other words on the presentations, just annotations overlapping.
The fact he does his own analysis, on top of his six staff, is an extra workload, but Emery is always diligent in comparing notes.
When he arrived, some sources felt Emery was potentially humouring them and their efforts, given he does a lot of their work himself. However, they swiftly realised that Emery prefers a second opinion on what he sees and often tests their observations. This includes who they predict will be in the opposition’s XI. He tends to go into their room a couple of days before matches and initiate discussions.
Emery doubles down on his principles and work ethic when on a bad run of form, such as the present downward trajectory away from home, with eight defeats in 10 matches. He will be more studious than ever, watch more clips and be more introspective in finding solutions.
A prominent part of his managerial success is how he can transfer his messages onto players. It is a formula built up through decades of coaching and will have to be leaned on before Villa’s rematch in Bruges.
(Top photo: Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
