Unai Emery is doing exactly what a modern manager is NOT meant to do. TOM COLLOMOSSE on how a plan most top clubs would reject took Aston Villa to victory over Bayern Munich - and Man United are up next

It was a small aft 10pm connected one of nan top nights Villa Park has witnessed and Unai Emery was reasoning astir beating nan erstwhile European champions.

Not Bayern Munich. Villa’s 1-0 triumph complete nan German giants will unrecorded agelong successful nan representation but a matter of minutes aft nan last whistle, Emery’s thoughts had already moved to taking down different immense sanction of nan world crippled – Manchester United.

As Villa players celebrated wildly successful nan dressing room, Emery was already talking astir facing Erik 10 Hag’s beleaguered broadside astatine Villa Park connected Sunday. The Basque’s reign began pinch a 3-1 location triumph complete United and astir 2 years later, a repetition could extremity nan Dutchman’s tenure astatine Old Trafford.

The opposition betwixt nan 2 clubs could not beryllium sharper. In galore areas of modern football, nan manager’s little is narrowing by nan year. Sporting board thrust recruitment, analysts find strategies and master coaches activity individually pinch players, pinch nan full cognition driven by armies of information experts crunching dizzying quantities of numbers. Yet they person a different attack astatine Villa, and they are making it activity by pursuing a scheme that accepted contented says clubs should avoid.

Villa person an analyst, each right. His sanction is Unai Emery. The aforesaid bloke who spends hours fine-tuning nan tactical attack for each match, starring each training session, moving pinch individual players and driving transportation policy. Though he has trusted unit to support him successful each these areas, Emery – hunched complete his laptop – is crossed nan lot. ‘Workaholic’ does not moreover statesman to screen it.

Against Bayern, Emery recognised nan threat from nan flanks and picked youngster Jaden Philogene complete Leon Bailey owed to his greater protect prowess and amended tactical discipline.

Via individual and corporate video briefings successful nan hours earlier kick-off, Emery demonstrated really Philogene and Jacob Ramsey would driblet successful alongside full-backs Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne.

Time aft time, Kingsley Coman and Alphonso Davies struggled to make headway connected nan left, and Konrad Laimer and Serge Gnabry recovered it scarcely easier connected nan right.

Bayern’s young midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic has made much meticulous passes into nan last 3rd than astir each different akin subordinate successful Europe this season. On Wednesday, Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers ensured he seldom had nan clip aliases abstraction to do so. Pavlovic attempted only 66 passes, compared pinch 104 successful nan Champions League hammering of Dinamo Zagreb and 92 successful nan 1-1 tie pinch Bayer Leverkusen past weekend.

Emery besides leads each training session, sometimes stopping proceedings truthful he tin physically move a subordinate to nan precise spot he has envisaged for defending a group piece. ‘Not here! Here!’ he was erstwhile heard barking astatine Ezri Konsa during 1 greeting astatine Bodymoor Heath.

Recruitment is nary different. Prior to Emery, sporting head Johan Lange – who is now astatine Tottenham – led a section that focused heavy connected information study to place targets. Monchi, Emery’s aged state from his Sevilla days, is now successful a akin domiciled but he interprets it very differently.

Though Villa still usage data, nan process is now driven by Emery’s oculus for talent and Monchi’s experience, contacts and deal-making skills.

‘He is simply a natural,’ says Kenneth Asquez, a highly knowledgeable intermediary who has known Monchi since 2003. ‘It’s nary coincidence that he was besides a player.

‘You person to person been a ft solider, to person been successful nan mud, to person smelled nan grass. That gives you nan knowing of really a dressing room useful and what it needs. His intuition is first class.

‘We person seen data-driven recruitment emergence complete nan past 5 years because location are much group successful those roles who person ne'er played master football, truthful they usage information to capable nan vacuum.’

Yet location has been a subtle alteration successful nan move betwixt Emery and Monchi. At Sevilla, Emery mightiness opportunity to Monchi ‘I request a strong, diversion cardinal midfielder’. Monchi would coming 3 aliases 4 options and Emery would database them successful bid of preference.

At Villa, Mail Sport understands nan shape is often much straightforward. Emery identifies a subordinate he likes and Monchi, on pinch head of shot Damian Vidagany, effort to do nan rest. The classical illustration was Morgan Rogers.

Rogers impressed Emery successful Villa’s 1-0 triumph astatine Middlesbrough successful nan FA Cup connected January 7 and was signed for £8.5million 25 days later.

Villa insisted Rogers had been firmly connected their radar for immoderate clip but if he had been a apical priority, why not impact him successful nan woody that took youngster Finn Azaz to Middlesbrough 2 days earlier nan FA Cup tie? Similarly, Onana and Ross Barkley had won Emery’s admiration past play for their displays astatine Everton and Luton respectively.

This scheme would not activity pinch galore managers. It would not activity astatine galore clubs. At United, for example, Ten Hag has recommended respective players pinch a inheritance successful Dutch shot and look really that has turned out.

In nan Premier League, possibly only Pep Guardiola has Emery’s level of control. As nan Bayern crippled showed, for now Villa person deed nan saccharine spot – arsenic United whitethorn beryllium astir to find retired to their cost.