Brendan Rodgers knows exactly what Celtic can expect from 'brave' Unai Emery and Aston Villa
Brendan Rodgers has hailed "top class manager" Unai Emery for the resilience he showed to take on another Premier League challenge following his difficult period at Arsenal.
The pair will meet on Wednesday night for the sixth time as Aston Villa host Celtic in the Champions League, with Rodgers winning his last three matches against Emery. Though, the Villa boss set his PSG side up to win two matches against Celtic in the 2017 Champions League group stage by an aggregate score of 12-1.
"The PSG challenge was difficult, then we faced him when he was at Arsenal and here at Villa," Rodgers said. "His teams are super organised and I can’t praise him enough because he is a top class manager.
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"He has managed over 1,000 games already in his career, he came to England and Arsenal, which was a difficult moment for him. People questioned him. But you only need to look at his body of work to see he is a top class coach.
"He had the bravery and courage to come back to England when people tried to knock him and make fun of him, his record and his work, which I found incredible at the time. It has been brilliant to see him come here and clearly he feels wanted and appreciated. You see the work he has done on the pitch with the players and you sense the club has been built around him. Monchi is one of the top operators in the game.
"The teams are always super organised tactically, with good discipline. They press the games at the right notice, sit off in a block and what they have is really good players on the counter attack. To see him evolve here and what he has given Aston Villa is really impressive.
"I look forward to seeing him. I met him in the PSG days and then with Arsenal and Villa. He is a good guy who has done some great work at every club he has been at."
Rodgers added: "Within football there wasn’t doubt because you only needed to look at his body of work, over such a long period of time. Everything which gets highlighted in our media and press, I am sure that was a challenge for him but there was no doubt he is a top manager.
"To come here and see the work he has done I am just so happy for him because you see how the team has played and how the club has really grown.
"The owners have come in and invested and that has enabled the club to grow. For that you still need a top coach to maximise what you can get and he has certainly done that.
"The journey they have been on to get to the Champions League is really great. When you are having to then mix in European football with domestic, you just keep developing and growing and the work he has done to do that has been first class. Really pleased for him and I can’t speak highly enough of the work he has done here."
