Ex-Barcelona star congratulates Aston Villa and predicts a ‘fantastic’ Unai Emery performance.
The midfielder has hailed Emery one of the best managers in the world ahead of Villa’s return to Europe this week, according to the latest Aston Villa news.
Ivan Rakitic of Sevilla has referred to Aston Villa manager Unai Emery as ‘one of the top managers in the world’ while discussing his experience working under the Spaniard.
During their time together at Sevilla, Emery handled the Croatian international. He appeared 75 times in all competitions for the boss before joining Barcelona in the summer of 2014, after winning the Europa League with the club.
Rakitic, who has returned to Sevilla following a six-year stint at Camp Nou, has heaped admiration on the Villa manager. He has also made a ‘fantastic’ forecast for the team under Emery’s leadership.
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He said, “I just have to congratulate the people at Villa on having maybe one of the best coaches in the world,” to FourFourTwo. “Because he did it again at Aston Villa last season, and so many times – I just have to say that.”
“Unai is a man who lives his life… I don’t want to say ‘job,’ because I don’t think he sees it that way. This is his universe. He lives football 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. He is able to communicate a great deal to his teammates. He’s been one of the most influential coaches I’ve ever had.
“It was a shame I only had one and a half years with him because he is a coach to enjoy every moment, every training session.” I was honored to work with him on such monumental projects, and best wishes to Villa for the future.”
Emery and Villa return to European action this week, when they face Legia Warsaw in Poland in the first round of the Europa Conference League. Following West Ham’s victory last season, Villa are the bookmakers’ favourites to win the entire championship.
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