Thierry Henry raises Arsenal regret as Unai Emery admission made after Aston Villa win

Arsenal icon Thierry Henry has heaped praise on Unai Emery, claiming that the Spaniard would have become a hit at the Gunners had he been given more time.

After succeeding Arsene Wenger, who held the reins for 22 years, Emery’s tenure at Arsenal was cut short after just 18 months, making way for ex-Gunners captain Mikel Arteta.

However, despite Arteta turning Arsenal into formidable contenders for the Premier League crown, Henry believes that Emery would have achieved similar success if the club had been more patient with him.

Since his Arsenal departure, Emery triumphed in the Europa League once again with Villarreal and steered Aston Villa to the Champions League.

Before Villa’s brilliant 1-0 triumph against Bayern Munich, Henry lauded Emery on CBS Sports: “He’s a tactical genius. He always goes out there and makes sure that his team has an advantage tactically because that’s how he operates.”

“We all know what he did in Spain [winning the Europa League four times with Sevilla and Villarreal]. It’s no disrespect to what Mikel Arteta is doing and he’s doing extremely well for Arsenal, but I just thought that if we kept him a bit longer he would have been a success at Arsenal.”

“He did show it straight after when he left the club. I have massive respect for him.”

Adding to the praise, Jamie Carragher said: “I think he’s fantastic. I think he’s one of the best coaches in European football.

“He’s had great success in Europe, not in this particular competition but in the Europa League specifically with Sevilla and Villarreal. I would say in the English Premier League we have Pep Guardiola above everybody else and he comes second.

“He’s not at one of the biggest clubs and when you think of the effect a manager can have on a football club… I always believe the manager is the most important person at a club and he is testament to that.

That was a team who were flirting with relegation [when he joined] and within a couple of years they’re in the Champions League. It’s phenomenal what he’s done.”

Emery’s reputation will only continue to rise after he orchestrated one of the greatest nights in Villa’s recent history. After triumphing in their Champions League return against Young Boys, the clash with Bayern was their first opportunity to compete directly with one of Europe’s heavyweights.

And following a closely fought match at Villa Park, Jhon Duran landed the decisive blow to secure a memorable victory and send a powerful message to their Champions League rivals.