England icon Wayne Rooney has now singled out Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery after making an important comparison with one former Manchester United manager.
Unai Emery, who has been linked with Manchester United in the past, has been with Premier League side Aston Villa since 2022 after his exit from Spanish side Villarreal.
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The 54-year-old Spaniard has been widely hailed for his impact at Villa Park, with the Premier League club flying high under Emery in the 2025-26 campaign.
Villa notched up three important Premier League points on Sunday after Emery’s men completed a stunning 3-2 comeback win against West Ham away from home.
Emery’s side are now three points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal – the Villa manager’s former club – after the scoreline at the London Stadium at the weekend.
Wayne Rooney’s verdict on Aston Villa manager Unai Emery after his comparison with former Man Utd boss David Moyes
Speaking on his podcast, Wayne Rooney was asked if Arsenal could have won the Premier League by now if they had stuck with Unai Emery instead of sacking him.
Emery left Paris Saint-Germain in 2018 and took charge at the Gunners after legendary former manager Arsene Wenger called it time on his managerial career.
However, the Aston Villa manager’s spell at the Emirates ended in 2019 after 18 months in charge, with Rooney now comparing Emery to David Moyes.
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“No, I think there’s different factors as well because he was the first one after Wenger to go in and [the] same with David Moyes going in after Alex Ferguson,” Rooney said on BBC Sport’s The Wayne Rooney Show.
“So, that’s a huge pressure in itself and so, yeah, I think that was a difficult one but I don’t think that Arsenal job is a true reflection on him as a manager and what we’ve seen and, in my opinion, he’s probably the second best manager after [Pep] Guardiola in what he’s doing in the Premier League.
“[Mikel] Arteta is doing fantastic as well. So yeah, but yeah, I don’t think you can judge him on that on that Arsenal one.”
David Moyes’ ill-fated Man Utd run is comparable with what Unai Emery experienced at Arsenal
Both David Moyes and Emery faced huge challenges following in the footsteps of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger at Manchester United and Arsenal respectively.
Moyes, much like Emery, fell short of stepping up to a major managerial task and the Everton boss endured an ill-fated spell at Old Trafford as United manager.
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Sir Alex Ferguson bowed out of the Premier League club back in 2013 and Moyes was installed as United’s permanent successor to their iconic former manager.
However, Moyes endured a disastrous run at the Red Devils and the 62-year-old Scotsman was sacked after only 10 months in charge at the Premier League club.
United legend Rooney was still at the Red Devils during the 2013-14 campaign when Moyes was axed from Old Trafford and later succeeded by Louis van Gaal.
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