In the pyramid of managers, quite where Unai Emery sits is a question Manchester United could be asking themselves.
Somehow both coveted and underrated, the Spaniard is difficult to categorise. He is a four-time Europa League winner who has helped Villarreal and now Aston Villa punch above their weight, and yet the doubts from spells at Paris-Saint Germain and Arsenal prevail.
Moreso given recent links to both United and Real Madrid, two clubs in limbo after sacking two of Europe’s brightest thinkers – at the time of hiring – in Ruben Amorim and Xabi Alonso.
If the answer is not Michael Carrick or Alvaro Arbeloa, brought in mid-season at United and Real respectively, then is the answer Emery instead? That is looking increasingly unlikely given Villa’s recent dip.
Michael Carrick got the better of Unai Emery on Sunday (Photo: PA)Villa are still in the Champions League places but boast relegation form, sitting 18th for the last 10 games, and while they may yet limp over the line given Chelsea and Liverpool’s own struggles, Sunday’s lacklustre defeat to United made it three straight defeats in the league for the first time since February 2023.
This run has slowly extinguished belief at Villa Park, where fans had been dreaming of an unlikely title push in December but are now left hoping there is enough in the tank to keep progressing in the Emery’s favourite tournament: the Europa League.
A victorious night in Istanbul come May is what Villa supporters crave – it would be a first major trophy since 1996 – but their frustration is simmering to the point of boiling over with Emery’s team selections.
This unrelenting stubbornness has won Emery plaudits in the past but is proving a double-edged sword, as when he sticks with out-of-form players – currently Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia, among others – but it doesn’t pay off, this persistence only reads as a weakness.
United were even the latest benefactors. Watkins toiled up front when already starved of time on the ball, which pinged off him like Flubber, and Villa only briefly sputtered into gear after going a goal down – equalising before conceding twice.
The 3-1 defeat came after Emery was tipped for the permanent United role by Jamie Carragher, whose Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville ranked the Villa boss second among Premier League coaches behind Pep Guardiola.
Neville added though that he did not believe the “exceptional” Emery would take the reins at Old Trafford if United qualify for the Champions League.
Match that with United leapfrogging Villa into third and Emery’s older reputation is coming back to haunt him.
His team’s tail off, is one point made. The numbers suggest that is not always the case, as Villa ended last season with eight wins from their last 10, but more often than not Emery sides do end campaigns poorly.
Injuries make it more complicated than a mere “bottle” for Emery at Villa this season, but whether he has the mettle for the United role is another question.
At PSG, he may have won the league but he is remembered there for relinquishing a 4-0 first-leg lead against Barcelona in the Champions League, losing the second leg 6-1.
Meanwhile his only full Arsenal season showed glimpses of promise – including a 14-game unbeaten run in the league – before ending with four defeats in the last seven league games and 4-1 loss to Chelsea in the Europa League final. They also lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup that season.
It therefore feels for every Europa League trophy in his cabinet there is a reason to put off United, who have rarely succumbed to his charms.
Emery has faced the Red Devils more than any other English club but has won just four of those 14 meetings, drawing four and losing 10.
The most recent of those defeats was a ninth futile stab at trying to win at Old Trafford, meaning if he has ever truly auditioned for this role than he has failed every time.
He is an elite coach and brilliant tactician, of that there is no doubt, but is he the world-class, pyramid-topping manager United would love to appoint if they don’t turn to Carrick? Not quite.
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