Unai Emery accused of being ’emotional’ after heated exchange with Aston Villa star Emi Buendia
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton has noticed how emotional Unai Emery gets on the sidelines after the Aston Villa manager was spotted in a heated exchange with Emi Buendia at Manchester United on Sunday.
Buendia, 26, arguably struggle at Old Trafford as Villa lost 1-0 to Erik ten Hag’s side but the Argentine also seemed to rub Emery up the wrong way by not following his instructions closely enough.
Speaking after the game on 30 April, as quoted by BirminghamLive, Emery did suggest that Buendia was struggling to follow his game plan and that he had to remind him of his duties.
The former Norwich playmaker was eventually substituted off in the 76th minute and while Hutton doesn’t see there being any issues between him and Emery, he does feel as though the Aston Villa manager may have grown a bit frustrated.
“Something wasn’t working,” Hutton told Villa News.
“Emery’s very meticulous and he does have to speak to some of the boys.
“He wants you to do what he’s saying to the letter.
“He obviously felt that Buendia wasn’t doing that at that moment in time.
“You have off days as well, and not just in football, and sometimes you need to change it, make a substitution or tweak it a little bit.
“That’s what Emery felt needed to happen.
“He’s very emotional on the side of the pitch if you watch him. He just demands the best, he wants everybody to play at the highest possible level.
“I don’t see it being a bad thing.”
Buendia has played in all 34 of Aston Villa’s Premier League matches this season, scoring five goals and supplying two assists in those games.
He’s become way more influential since Steven Gerrard was replaced by Emery, starting a higher percentage of matches.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans have been backed to complete one major deal in the summer after an update from Fabrizio Romano.