Graham Potter’s arrival as West Ham manager has been emphatically praised by his Aston Villa counterpart Unai Emery.
Potter was appointed by the Hammers on a two-and-a-half-year deal this morning with his first game in charge coming tomorrow night when West Ham visit Villa in the FA Cup third round.
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His arrival adds an element of intrigue to an all-Premier League tie that pits eighth-placed Villa against a 14th-placed West Ham side.
Emery expects former Brighton and Chelsea boss Potter to improve the London club’s fortunes.
He said: “West Ham have very good players, they are also a good club. It’s not good news when they change a manager, but of course now there’s an opportunity for him and we’ll respect West Ham and we’ll respect Graham Potter because he was successful when he coached here in England before. I think he will do a good job.”
Alas for the FA Cup for Emery
Villa enjoyed huge success under Emery, but the FA Cup provided few highlights.
In his first season in charge, his side were stunned by bottom-division Stevenage, while last year they lost in a fourth-round replay at home to Chelsea.
Asked if he found that disappointing, the Spaniard added: “It depends, because the conditions were at the time. We didn’t get something in the FA Cup, but it was a process. I don’t really think it was a disappointment. When you lose, it’s disappointing, but of course that’s football.
“We start this year with the conditions we have now, and tomorrow the idea is to try to be competitive and try to start performing better than the last two years, trying to get through this competition, a pick for a trophy and a pick for Europe”.
Villa will be without captain John McGinn tomorrow night as the Scotland international continues to struggle with the hamstring injury he suffered against Leicester at the weekend.
