Aston Villa Academy: Unai Emery faith in academy will reverberate all the way down the club
For many of the brightest prospects in the Aston Villa academy, the World Cup break was a coming-of-age moment after Unai Emery displayed his faith in the club’s next generation of players.
As the Spaniard got to grips with life in the west midlands, he looked at several academy prospects, including Kadan Young, Lamare Bogarde, Arjan Raikhy and Josh Feeney, who all got a taste of first-team football under the new regime.
Friendlies against Cardiff, Brighton, Chelsea and Villarreal were by no means a walk in the park, with both Young and Raikhy impressing the four-time Europa League winner so much that they were awarded 45-minute cameos in consecutive games.
The talent that 16-year-old Young possesses really is extraordinary. At an age where most teenagers are sat at home playing Fifa with the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Young was out there mixing it with the Gabonese forward – who is some 17 years his senior.
If this isn’t Emery placing his faith in the academy, I don’t know what is.
Now, obviously, there is a significant gap to bridge between the Under-21s and the first team, and this shouldn’t be taken lightly just because of Young and Raikhy’s success, but the arrival of Emery has had a profound knock-on effect further down the club.
In a recent interview with Villa TV, development coach Tony Carss outlined how the junior sides would alter their training styles and playing patterns to match those of Emery.
Carss said the Under-21s would “look closely at the philosophy of the new coach and his playing style” and “tweak our to align with that,” as academy staff try to make climbing the ranks at Bodymoor Heath that bit easier.
Emery has only been in the building for two months, and the trickle-down effect is there for all to see.
This managerial appointment does feel different to those that preceded it. It looks like Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris have a long-term vision for the academy and have hired a manager who aligns with their philosophy.
A long-term goal of having their academy on a par with Chelsea’s renowned Cobham training facility is by no means out of the question, and following Emery’s faith in it during the World Cup break, it seems they’re on the right track.
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