‘Unai Emery questioned for first time at Aston Villa – I’m amazed by this’
Unai Emery has been widely praised for the job he has done since taking over from Steven Gerrard as Aston Villa boss in 2022.
However, after crashing out of the Champions League and FA Cup to PSG and Crystal Palace respectively, the boss has been criticised for the first time at Villa Park.
Fans questioned Emery’s decision-making against PSG and suggested his decision to withdraw Marcus Rashford despite his impressive performance.
Despite those frustrations, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson told Football Insider that any discussion about the manager’s future is extremely premature.
As things stand, Villa are set to qualify for Europe again via the Premier League, as they remain just shy of the Champions League places.
Aston Villa to back Unai Emery in summer transfer spree
Football Insider revealed on 2 May that Aston Villa will back Emery to strengthen his squad by cashing in on some of the club’s big-name players this summer.
This comes as they want to establish themselves as regular contenders for the Champions League – something the boss has enabled them to push for.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Robinson explained that the transformation of this Villa team under Emery’s guidance has earned him credit to avoid questioning after a couple of disappointing results.
“It’s ridiculous,” he told Football Insider.
“The job he’s done in such a short space of time…
“Look at when he took over the team, they were one point away from the relegation zone.
“Any talk or reports about his future is nonsense.
“He’s done an incredible job at Aston Villa, he led them to a Champions League quarter-final where they’ve been beaten by potentially the eventual winners.
“They look like they’re going to qualify for the Champions League again through the league.
“They’ve been able to be competitive in the Premier League while having a good European campaign.
“Emery has got far more credit in the bank than people realise.
“There should be no talk about his future whatsoever.”
Ollie Watkins future undecided after Liverpool latest
Amid plan to back Emery this summer, a number of first-team stars may have to leave Villa to raise funds and make room in the squad – including Ollie Watkins.
Football Insider revealed on 21 April that Villa could be open to selling Watkins and would aim to raise funds and reinvest in a permanent deal for Rashford.
Sources say the Midlands giants see the potential to bank that figure for the forward and activate their buy option for Rashford as “good business”.
This came after Football Insider revealed that Liverpool are closely monitoring Watkins’ situation and view him as an alternative to Newcastle’s Alexander Isak.
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