Unai Emery’s backing of Nicolo Zaniolo paid off – the Italian can take Villa to the next level

Unai Emery is not bothered by outside noise, largely because he rarely hears it.

He confessed to not knowing much about Aston Villa’s Castore ‘wet-look shirts’, which weighed heavy on his players and for a week, anyway, became a flashpoint.

Anything outside of Emery’s immediate bubble, focused solely on improving on-pitch performances and developing his tactical structure, transfers to white noise. He has his close confidantes, such as director of football and personal assistant Damian Vidagany, to take care of off-the-field matters.

Such an insular mindset means Emery is not perturbed by external factors, epitomised by the decision to include Nicolo Zaniolo for the visit of West Ham, even against the backdrop of a tumultuous fortnight.

Emery often talks about those in his squad needing a “strong mentality” to survive in the team he wants to build and the places he wants to go. It underpins selection and, similarly, recruitment, where players with pedigree in performing at the top level are favoured. Zaniolo was known to Emery and president of football operations Monchi, who worked with him at Roma, and knows he carries an on-pitch arrogance, even when circumstances are difficult.

And the international break was unequivocally just that. Allegations of illegal betting have been fraught and unsettling. It was only 10 days ago that Zaniolo, with the national team and post-training, was questioned by police, who turned up at Italy’s training base in Florence. They wanted to speak to Zaniolo and team-mate Sandro Tonali in connection with a probe into illegal online betting platforms.

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Potential ramifications fluctuate and can be severe and Zaniolo, understandably, was initially distressed. He immediately claimed his innocence, given betting is not criminalised in Italy provided they use bookmakers licensed by the country’s customs and monopolies agency.

Zaniolo contests he did not bet on sport — what Tonali is accused of. Still, it remains a fast-moving investigation and if found guilty, placing a bet with an unlicensed bookmaker is a criminal offence punishable by a three-month sentence or a fine on a sliding scale from €51,000 to €516,000 (£44,100 to £447,000).

Zaniolo left Italy’s training base the following morning and later on, returned to Villa’s training ground, Bodymoor Heath. He held conversations with officials and grew relaxed, confident about his situation and willing to corroborate with authorities. This is likely to involve going back to Italy to talk to prosecutors.

If the cogs were whirring in Zaniolo’s mind, Emery’s cognitive processes work differently. He was focused on one aspect of Zaniolo — how well he trained in the week.

The 24-year-old convinced Emery. He was Villa’s only change from the draw at Molineux. Zaniolo’s inclusion rewired the side’s build-up structure, playing as the left No 10 in a fluid and rotational front four. For Emery, heavy tactical responsibility outweighed any thought of the entanglement of betting allegations.

Villa’s head coach views Zaniolo as the best alternative in the position until Jacob Ramsey is fit again and when he is, the Italian will likely move into one of the forward roles. The psychology of playing well, let alone featuring at all, when accusations of that proportion hang over a player is interesting. West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta, who started opposite Zaniolo, could closely attest, having been implicated in his own betting allegations.

Emery’s coldness in decision-making is reflected by his team’s clinical efficiency, especially illustrated at Villa Park. The latest demonstration — Sunday’s 4-1 victory over West Ham — came from an expected goals rate (xG) of two. If building a robust mentality is a crucial element to his coaching of a player, then Villa’s form at home provides overwhelming psychological dominance.

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A buzzword phrase of Emery’s is “building a connection with our supporters” and after 11 straight home wins, the bond is as tight as it ever has been. Before this run, for stark context, Villa had won 10 of their previous 30 home matches. Perhaps playing at home is the one time Emery is prepared to listen to the noise and allow it to fuel performance.

But nothing will take precedence over the pursuit of control. Emery regularly stands on the touchline with his palms facing outwards, gesturing for calm. The thinking behind Zaniolo’s selection was to bring fire and ice to Villa, knowing when to play in the left half-pocket and drive forward, but also when to put his studs on the ball, take an extra touch and curb Villa’s fire and brimstone intensity.

Those natural elements burned West Ham on the half-hour mark and characterised the afternoon. Quick vertical passing found Zaniolo on the edge of the box, who took a touch and stood still for a brief second, allowing the picture ahead to develop. It was only a fleeting moment, but in the attacking third, when time is so finite, the pause felt striking.

Quickly, he drove off again, pushing the ball towards the byline and producing a trademark Emery cutback pass inside the box for Ollie Watkins to tee up Douglas Luiz’s opening goal. Zaniolo is still acclimatising to the Premier League and while his overall display was mixed, it was that one distinct passage Emery envisaged when deliberating if he should play — not the external din from the previous two weeks.

“Zaniolo played very well today,” said Emery. “His adaptation is going well. It’s not easy to introduce him in this starting XI and on this level. I am practising every day on the training ground to get (him) to the same level.”

Presently, Villa’s ‘level’ is threatening to break the ceiling of the top six. Nineteen points is their best tally from their opening nine matches since the 1998-1999 campaign, with Emery now one of 10 Premier League managers to average at least two points per game in a single spell after a minimum of 20 fixtures.

Full time was met with backslaps, smiles and players marching towards the Holte End, fists raised. Cameras had followed a stony-faced Zaniolo at half time, but he was now far more relaxed. The outside noise is there, but inside Villa’s dressing room, only one man’s sound reverberates — Emery’s.

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(Top photo: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)