Unai Emery underlines his excitement at joining the Submarine, and takes up the challenge of honouring the club
He is now a Groguet. Villarreal CF, led by president Fernando Roig, presented the new Yellows head coach Unai Emery, who has signed a three-season contract with the club. In a presentation at the Estadio de la Cerámica, in front of the media, the Basque coach explained that he is excited by arriving at the club and the challenge ahead: “Coming to Villarreal is something that really satisfies me. It’s an admirable and stable project and for me I’m looking forward to the challenge to continue honouring this club. I hope to he able to help and have a good time a long the way. I’ve achieved a number of things, and I want to continue to do so, but the most important thing is enjoying the journey. I feel part of the furniture already, I’ve always been treated well here and I’m excited to take on this challenge.”
President Roig was the man who kicked off the presentation, and he admitted he is hopeful for Emery’s time in charge of the Submarine: “Unai is a young head coach, while being a veteran at the same time, and he comes to continue growing with the Villarreal project. We now have 20 LaLiga seasons behind us in total and we’ve achieved a number of things, but it’s always getting more demanding. Our first aim is to stay up, and from there, there’s no limit, it’s down to hard and constant work. We’re very excited and we have high hopes for the next year.”
Emery also spoke about the possibility of one day lifting a title with the Submarine: “I don’t think about the end game, but I do dream. Dreaming is free and I dream of a title with Villarreal. The journey is great, being able to enjoy it. The process is great, the process makes people feel proud of being able to live it. I identify with the club’s philosophy, the culture of effort and sacrifice, that’s something that attracts me. I feel like I’m somewhere where hard work is rewarded.”
For the new Yellows manager, Villarreal have known how to overcome many obstacles to continue growing and become an extremely stable project, which gives the club added value. “My first time here was 20 years ago with Toledo as a player, and I came away with a good impression of the club. We speak about a line of work with accidents and with a relegation, but it’s a team that is capable of overcoming all of us this and now find itself where it is, and that’s what speaks for itself about this club. I want to bring my experiences, my knowledge, I’m somewhere where I feel comfortable. I will need to be demanding. I understand caution, but we also have to dream of taking a step further.”
With respect to possible changes, Emery underlined that he is trying to continue the current project. “I’m talking about continuity because it’s been a great job so far. Some players are leaving and others will arrive. First of all, I need to adapt to the club and then we will see. There will be a lot of continuity, as they are players who have shown their level. From there, four or five signings could arrive. We need to cover the exits of Bruno and Cazorla. But Villarreal have been solving things like this successfully for years and I’m on board. We have a good block and we need to work hard to improve.”
