Emery is backing Potter to turn the Hammers’ season around
Graham Potter’s arrival as head coach at West Ham has been greeted with emphatic praise from Aston Villa colleague Unai Emery.
Potter was appointed by the Hammers this morning on a two-and-a-half year contract. His first game as manager comes tomorrow evening when West Ham visit Villa in the third round of the FA Cup.
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His arrival adds an exciting element to an all-Premier League clash that pits eighth-placed Villa against a 14th-placed West Ham side.
Emery expects former Brighton and Chelsea manager Potter to improve the London club’s fortunes.
He said: “West Ham have very good players, it’s a good club too. It’s not good news when they change a manager, but of course there’s a chance for him now and we will respect West Ham and we will respect Graham Potter because he was successful as a manager here in England. I think he’ll do a good job.”
FA Cup woes for Emery
Villa enjoyed great success under Emery, but the FA Cup brought few highlights.
In his first season as manager his team lost to lower league side Stevenage, while last year they lost at home to Chelsea in a fourth round replay.
Asked if he found that frustrating, the Spaniard added: “It depends because the circumstances were at that moment. “We didn’t achieve anything in the FA Cup but it was a process. I don’t really think it was a frustration. When you lose it’s frustrating, but of course it’s football.
“We start this year with the circumstances we have now and tomorrow the idea is to try to be competitive and perform better than the last two years and try to get through this competition is an option for a trophy and an option for Europe.”
Villa will be without captain John McGinn tomorrow night as the Scotland international is still struggling with the hamstring injury he sustained against Leicester at the weekend.
