How did Unai Emery tame the dark horse of the Premier League?

Aston Villa - Newcastle United Analysis

On 23 April 2023, Newcastle United put on an impressive display against Tottenham Hotspur at St. James' Park. winning the match 6-1. Prior to the game, many fans and pundits expected a tight game, with either side winning by a one or two goal difference. But winning 6-1 was truly unexpected.

One week earlier, Newcastle lost 3-0 against Aston Villa; In that match, Aston Villa proved to be a formidable opponent, demonstrating their ability to maintain consistency throughout the entire 90 minutes.

Coach Eddie Howe urged Newcastle United to quickly move on from their loss to Aston Villa and analyze their performance to maintain focus for the next game. This mindset helped the team to bounce back and perform better in their next game, demonstrating their high standards and ability to overcome adversity.

In a similar vein, we can examine the tactics and mindset of Unai Emery, who recently led his team to an impressive victory over a top team in the Premier League, securing third place in the standings. By analyzing Emery's approach, we can gain insights into the strategies that top managers use, and what did Unai Emery do to tame the dark horse of the Premier League?

Newcastle trap.

To understand Unai Emery's tactics in taming Aston Villa, we first need to examine Newcastle United's defensive approach under Eddie Howe. This approach, helped Newcastle compete for a Champions League spot.

• Two wingers are responsible for the Villa’s fullbacks.

• Striker (Isak) presses the CBs on a curved body shape.

• Both 8s (Willock, Joelinton) mark Villa’s 6s.

• The 6 (Bruno Guimarães) is free at the midfield.

• 4 Defenders against Villa’s front 3 and their number 10.

If Villa circulated the play through the GK and the other CB, the near-side winger would jump up to press that CB, leaving the FB in his back.

and that’s where Aston Villa started their plan.

Pull them the wrong way

With a good GK with the ball, it was easy to attract one of the wingers and find the fullback behind him.

Below you can see that once Murphy has taken a few steps forward, they found Moreno(LB) behind him.

Moreno then found his narrow winger Ramsey, dragging Trippier (RB) with him.

With a combination play between the winger and the FB ended up with a cross from Moreno. This was the first threat against Newcastle's goal, but without a real danger so far.

4 minutes later, with a much lower defensive line, Villa’s CBs tried to provoke the pressure. In this situation, it was Willock (CM) who jumped up to press the CBs, leaving his man Douglas Luiz.

This forced Bruno Guimarães(the 6) to take a few steps forward to Douglas Luiz leaving Buendia behind him.

After Buendia laid off the ball to Dendoncker who passed the ball to McGinn on the wing, the ball was crossed to Watkins(ST).

Resulting in the first goal from Ramsey after he found the ball that Watkins set up in the box.

Later on, when Aston Villa's defenders tried to attract pressure again. Gordon (LW) jumped up to press the CB.

Here the FBs of Newcastle are ready to jump to the Villa’s FB.

At this point, the FBs of Newcastle United were ready to jump up and press Villa's FBs, effectively locking down the flanks.

Feel Safe at the side.

Remember the defensive scheme of Newcastle? It relied heavily on their free 6 at the midfield, who was able to support either side or mark the dropping player in front of the defensive line.

However, Aston Villa was able to disrupt this scheme using their winger Ramsey.

Below we can see how Ramsey drop back and attracted Joelinton(CM) to him, forcing Bruno Guimarães to jump up and press Douglas Luiz.

And they found Ashley Young on the other side easily after they took away the advantage of the extra player in front of the defense.

Now they can attack the back line with the winger and the 10 easier than before.

Newcastle defenders recovered the ball, however, the Villans quickly regained it and shifted it right away to the other side to (Moreno) who managed to put a couple of crosses into the box.

In the second half, we saw no less good ideas; Newcastle tried to press Villa's CB using Murphy (RW) to jump up leaving the FB behind him to be pressed by Trippier.

Bunedia attracted Bruno Guimarães to him at the other side of the pitch, allowing Ramsey to receive the ball without pressure.

After receiving the ball, Ramsey passed it to the LB (Moreno), who found (Watkins) as a runner behind Newcastle's defensive line leading to a serious attack.

By the time Howe decided to bring Wilson and Almiron in, they turned into a 4-4-2 with two strikers (Isak and Wilson), which left them 'a little bit open' Eddie Howe said.

And after the 6 (Dendoncker) received behind the strikers, he found the 10 (Buendia) free.

Remember when we saw that before?? Yes, it’s exactly the first goal.

After Buendia received it, McGinn(RW) started to run diagonally with Moreno and Watkins running forward. Buendia passed it to McGin who dribbled then passed the ball to Moreno, who crossed it to Watkins scoring the second goal.

Then Moreno received and crossed the ball to (Watkins) who scored the second goal.

In conclusion, Unai Emery has demonstrated his mastery of tactical patterns and strategies in his recent matches against top Premier League teams like Newcastle United. By analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents, and implementing well-coached patterns and game plans, Emery was able to bypass the formidable defense of Newcastle and secure a crucial victory for his team.