How Unai Emery's tactical masterplan exposed Manchester City

There have been some outstanding performances from Aston Villa against Manchester City during Unai Emery's time at the football club, but Sunday's 2-1 victory was another example of just how good the Spaniard is when it comes to preparing his team for a specific opponent. The quality of the performance was obvious to anybody watching, particularly during the first half, but there were some really interesting tactical elements to what Villa did that made life incredibly difficult for a City side who arrived at Villa Park unbeaten in the Premier League.

What impressed me most was the bravery of Villa's approach, because rather than sitting off Manchester City and allowing them to dictate possession, Emery effectively turned the game into a series of individual battles across the pitch. When Villa had the ball, at times the shape was very much a 4-2-4, with Nicolas Jackson operating towards the left, Alysson providing the width on the opposite side and John McGinn and Johan Manzambi occupying positions between and around City's central defenders.

It was an interesting way of approaching the game because it meant Villa were prepared to leave their attacking players in direct competition with City's back four, rather than sacrificing an attacking option to give themselves additional security in midfield. Jackson's movement was particularly important because he repeatedly found space between Marc Guehi and the right-back, causing problems for a defender who had already endured a difficult previous outing. Guehi was withdrawn at half-time, and I don't think that was entirely coincidental given how uncomfortable Villa had made him.

Jackson will quite rightly receive enormous praise for his two goals, but the way he stretched City's defence and created problems with his movement was just as important to the overall performance. With McGinn and Manzambi floating into dangerous central positions, City's defenders were constantly being asked questions about who they should follow, when they should step forward and how they could deal with a Villa attack that was incredibly fluid.

The other really important part of the tactical plan was what happened behind those four attacking players, where Boubacar Kamara and João Gomes were outstanding in their application against City's midfield. Elliot Anderson is a phenomenal footballer and Enzo Fernandez is an excellent player in his own right, but Villa were aggressive in the way they pressed the pair, preventing them from settling into the game and repeatedly forcing City into situations they clearly weren't comfortable with.

I spoke about the importance of that midfield battle before the game, and what Villa managed to do was take away much of the control that City would ordinarily expect to have in those areas. Gomes and Kamara were prepared to jump onto their opponents, win their individual battles and allow Villa's attacking players to operate much higher up the pitch. There was an enormous amount of work involved in making that system function, but every player appeared to understand exactly what was required of them.

That is probably the greatest compliment I can pay Emery, because the tactical plan was ambitious without being reckless. Villa were aggressive, they played some lovely football when opportunities presented themselves and they were equally prepared to go longer when that was the most effective way of exposing City's defensive structure.

The opening ten minutes set the tone for everything that followed, with Villa immediately establishing themselves as the aggressors rather than waiting to see what Manchester City were going to do. The intensity of the pressing, the willingness to compete physically and the confidence to attack City's defenders were all evident from the outset, and I thought the first 45 minutes were absolutely magnificent.

The second half was different, and Villa didn't create anywhere near the same volume of attacking opportunities, but that shouldn't detract from the quality of the overall tactical performance. Emery's side continued to disrupt City, defended extremely well and maintained their organisation even as substitutions changed the personnel on the pitch.

We've seen Villa beat Manchester City before under Emery, most memorably in that 1-0 victory during his first full season when Leon Bailey scored and Villa dominated from beginning to end. I wouldn't necessarily say Sunday's performance surpassed that one, because City were still able to have periods of control, but what Villa produced was another outstanding example of a manager identifying the weaknesses in an opponent and constructing a plan to exploit them.

There are plenty of managers in the Premier League with enormous resources at their disposal, but I genuinely don't believe there is anybody coaching a team better than Unai Emery at the moment. The level of understanding his players demonstrate, particularly when he asks them to make adjustments for individual opponents, is remarkable, and Manchester City found out once again just how difficult Aston Villa are to play against when everything comes together.