Emery Backs Ten Hag

Aston Villa’s Spanish coach Unai Emery expressed his support for Dutchman Erik ten Hag, Manchester United’s current coach, on Friday, ahead of their clash in the seventh round of the Premier League.

Emery spoke about Ten Hag, who has been under heavy pressure since last season, which has intensified due to recent results, even to the point of possible dismissal: “I have a lot of respect for him. We lost the last four matches, home and away, against them (United), and they are a championship-winning team. They beat Manchester City in the cup.”

He added: “The club is usually a title-winning team. They aren’t performing well in the league, but I had to think more about preparing for this match than our match against Bayern Munich (Germany).”

Aston Villa recently achieved a significant 1-0 win over Bayern in the Champions League, while substitute defender Harry Maguire saved United from a loss against Porto in the Europa League, securing a late 3-3 draw after being 2-0 ahead.

Despite this, Emery believes that United still poses a threat to his team: “Sunday’s match will be huge for us after the Bayern match because we’re playing against one of the best teams in the world.”

He continued: “United doesn’t play in the Champions League, but in the Europa League, yet their team has high-level players and a top coach.”

The Spaniard, who led Villa to the Champions League for the first time in 41 years, mentioned that his team is “not a contender to be in the top seven in the league,” in response to a question about Villa’s ambitions this season. He added: “We want to be competitive, and we are currently in the points-gathering phase. We’ll have to see where we are in February.”