Unai Emery’s Aston Villa decision causes crisis meeting at Villarreal amid tailspin

Unai Emery’s now former club Villarreal are already in a tailspin following the development of the last two weeks.

Emery decided to leave Villarreal after more than two years in charge, leaving for Aston Villa after a successful spell on the Spanish east coast. The Basque coach may have struggled in La Liga, but he guided the Yellow Submarine to their first ever major trophy, winning the Europa League, and he guided them to the Champions League semi-finals last season.

Emery turned down the chance to take over Newcastle this time last year, remaining at Villarreal, but when Villa came knocking following the sacking of Steven Gerrard around a fortnight ago, he decided to return to the Premier League. Villa paid more than £5million in compsensation to seal the appointment, while Emery’s wages almost trebled.

The Spaniard already has his first win, too, guiding Villa to a win over Manchester United over the weekend, but things aren’t going so well for his old club. Villarreal appointed former Real Betis and Barcelona boss Quique Setién to take over from Emery, and their new boss is winless.

The Yellows have lost three and drawn one of their first four games after Emery, and there are already claims of fallout between Setién and his new players. It has been claimed that the Villarreal players are unhappy with their new boss’s approach, and fans are equally unhappy. Fans chanted for Setién to be sacked during the weekend’s defeat to Mallorca.

There has been another development since. Villarreal were supposed to be training on Tuesday morning, but they did not emerge from the training facility building for hours. That’s because Setién held a two hour and 20 minute meeting with his players in a bid to clear the air before eventually leading them out on to the training pitch.

Setién later claimed there was no meeting but rather an extended ‘video session’, but sceptacism remains around those covering the Yellow Submarine.

Villarreal face Espanyol on Wednesday night, and Setién might just need to secure a win to avoid catastrophy ahead of the World Cup break, which commences after this weekend.