Aston Villa manager Unai Emery outperforms Man United boss Erik ten Hag, Premier League official stat shows
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is outperforming Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag when it comes to average points per match, with only two managers boasting a better record than the Villa man since his arrival in Birmingham.
Only Manchester City and Arsenal, led by Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta respectively, have won more points than Emery at Villa.
The Spaniard was appointed as Steven Gerrard’s replacement in October, with his feats in the dugout helping Aston Villa climb to 11th place in the Premier League table.
“Today is maybe the best 90 minutes we played here since I arrived,” Emery said after the victory against Bournemouth on Saturday (18 March), as quoted by the official Premier League website. “We controlled the game with the ball.”
And discussing Emery’s approach which has involved a combination of controlled possession and counter-attacks, the official Premier League website wrote (20 March): “The payoff is huge, with Villa averaging 1.87 points per match under Emery.
“Since his arrival in late October, only Manchester City and Arsenal have won more points than Villa’s 26 from 14 matches.”
It is certainly no mean feat for Emery to be outperforming Ten Hag, given just how successful the latter has been during his time with the Red Devils.
But the statistic shows just how well they have been playing for their manager, having seemingly given up under former boss Gerrard.
It perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise to Aston Villa supporters, with Emery previously leading Sevilla to three successive Europa League titles from 2013-2016, before lifting the trophy once more with Villarreal in 2021.
At his current club, the manager is now going strong on a four-match unbeaten run, winning and keeping a clean sheet in three of those matches against Everton, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, drawing 1-1 at West Ham in the other.
The shutouts at the back have helped the club climb into the top 10 list for Premier League clean sheets this season, with Aston Villa also making the top 10 for passes with 11,656.
Moreover, the man in the dugout is also getting the best out of several players, with midfielder Douglas Luiz scoring two goals and registering four assists in 14 Premier League matches under Emery, compared to tallies of just one and one respectively in his 12 previous appearances.
In other Aston Villa news, one £20m+ player at the club has a fight on his hands to impress Emery ahead of his return from a lengthy injury.