Unai Emery and the Valencia adventure - La Liga Special
Unai Emery took charge of Valencia back in June 2008 after successful spells with Almeria and Lorca Deportiva, his last playing team. His immediate responsibility with Los Che was to ensure European qualification after the Ronald Koeman fiasco. The young
manager has a successful charge list as he continues to grow in reputation at the Mestalla.
The 39-year-old joined Valencia at the same time Pep Guardiola took over at Camp Nou. In tandem with the Catalan favourite, he is one of the longest serving managers, with his respective team, in La Liga. Only Sporting Gijon manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Manuel-c23383 Preciado, can
claim of more hours at one Primera Division club than the aforementioned duo.
While Pep was given the charge of leading La Blaugrana to the heights of domestic football, Preciado had to make sure his team retained their league status. Emery on the other hand was handed a different set of responsibilities all together.
His http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 was to take a group of professionals with Champions League ambition and make sure they are able to realize it. This came on the backdrop of poor financial decisions earlier in the decade and a turbulent season with Dutch legend Ronald Koeman in charge.
Los Che finished in 10th place that year and were able to salvage European qualification due to their success in Copa del Rey.
Emery had a stiff task on his hands. He did not have the backing of millions of Euros by his paymasters and had to ensure league standings at the end of the sporting year offered the riches of UEFA Champions League.
Forging a new squad was a difficult proposition as well. The club had a squad relying on the abilities of David Silva and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629, but the dressing room was bereft of all-round quality to take on the challenge of La Liga competition. He also had to balance
the books to ensure that the club continued in the near future.
In his first year at the helm in Mestalla, he led them to a sixth place finish in La Liga. This came alongside a decent run in the UEFA Cup which ended in the round of 32. Los Che exited the King’s Cup at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sevilla-FC-c40484 in the quarter finals – a
good year on the whole for the upcoming manager.
Emery did his best to retain the services of his star performers until the very end and only allowed them to leave when he had a contingency plan in action. With the two Davids in the roster, Valencia were behind the leading pack in third and had a comfortable
cushion above the fourth place.
Silva and Villa left and Emery forged a new squad. Juan Mata took centre stage and the effective http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roberto-Soldado-c31367 came in the front role. The season was a success as they retained their third place in Primera Division. Champions League exit came at the hands
of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Raul-c30652 led Schalke 04, while Villarreal ousted them in the same stage in the Copa del Rey.
He has added over 100 million Euros to the coffers of the club after high profile sales of his best players. Los Che have started brilliantly in the league this season and have all the reason to look forward to. With http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 and Real Madrid showing signs
of being mortal, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 can have a shout at better things.
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