Unai Emery was born on 3 November 1971, in the small town of Hondarribia in the Basque
Country of northern Spain. You could say that football was in Emery’s blood; both his
father Juan and grandfather Antonio were professional players. They both played for the historic
club Real Union, his great-grandfather was a member of Recreativo de Huelva, the oldest
club in Spain.
As a player, he was a talented but anxious left-sided midfielder, and at 15, he join
the Real Sociedad academy. When he graduated, he made his professional debut for the U-19
in the Segunda Division B, the third tier of Spanish football, in 1990. For the next
four seasons, he played for the Real Sociedad B team in the same league before making it
to the first team in the 1995-96 season. He made his La Liga debut against Merida and
went on to play four more matches, but this would be the only time he played in the top
tier in Spain.
He then moved to Segunda Division with Toledo, Racing de Ferrol and Leganes respectively.
It was in Leganes, he formed a deep friendship with Juan Carlos Carcedo, a like minded teammate,
who would later become the right hand man in Emery’s coaching staff. The duo would
talk for hours discussing the game and tactics. They would also travel for hours after their
own game to watch any match available. It was around that time that Emery started to
read books on sports psychology, self-confidence and business management which would eventually
shape his managerial style.
In the 2003-04 season, Emery signed for Lorca Deportiva, a recently formed club in the third
division (Segunda Division B).
But the following year, a serious knee injury ended his playing career. Soon the club’s
form dipped and in December the club's president offered him the vacant head coach's position
at the age of 32.
Emery guided Lorca to second division during his first season in charge while also beating
top level side Malaga in the Copa del Rey, which was virtually unthinkable when he took
on the job. Through his meticulousness on the training ground, he was able to positively
change the mindset of the squad. There were 11-a-side training sessions without a ball
to ensure the perfect execution of his tactics.
The next season, Lorca finished fifth in the league table and only five points off to the
promotion to the top flight. He didn't have a budget to buy new players; he’d simply
coached the same group he already had to achieve this feat.
In 2006, Emery left Lorca to replace sacked Paco Flores at Almeria in Segunda League.
He again helped his squad to overachieve. In his first season, he guided them to their
first ever promotion to La Liga.
On the eve of Almeria’s first ever top-flight match, Emery took some dice from his pocket
during the team meeting. He selected the entire playing XI through the luck of the roll, to
show his faith in his players. It worked. Almeria registered an emphatic 3-0 victory
over Deportivo La Coruna.
Emery set his team out to play attacking football, pressing high against similarly matched sides
but playing on the counter against the divisions big teams. They hammered Sevilla 4-1, held
Barcelona to a 2-2 draw and defeated Real Madrid 2-0. The Andalusian side finished eighth
in the La Liga table.
It was also at Almeria where Emery earned his reputation for an obsession with details,
especially video analysis. He made his whole squad watch hours of video footage of theirs
and the opponent’s matches. “Emery made us watch videos of even every goal-kick and
throw for hours.” said one player.
His stock continued to rise and Valencia came knocking where he would replace Ronald Koeman
in the 2008-09 season. Emery led los Che to third place in 2009/10, securing Champions
League football, and followed it up with two further third place finishes.
During his time at Valencia, Emery encouraged his players to read and carefully handpicked
books for every individual. He also co-published a book on sports psychology called, Mentalidad
Ganadora (Winning Mentality).
After four seasons, Emery left Valencia and Spain altogether, but not before making Valencia
a formidable force in Europe. During his spell, he helped in the development of players like
David Villa, David Silva, Juan Mata, Ever Banega, amongst others.
He went on to have a short spell in Russia with Spartak Moscow, but soon returned to
Spanish football, joining Sevilla in January, 2013. Sevilla would go on to qualify for the
Europa League that season, repeating that feat in the following three seasons, despite
large-scale player losses. In 2016, he joined Paris Saint-Germain where
he won five trophies in two years.