Graham Potter’s arrival as head coach at West Ham has received an emphatic thumbs-up from Aston Villa counterpart Unai Emery.
Potter was appointed by the Hammers on a two-and-a-half-year contract this morning with his first game in charge coming tomorrow night when West Ham visit Villa in the third round of the FA Cup.
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His arrival adds an element of intrigue to an all-Premier League tie that pits eighth-placed Villa against a West Ham side sitting in 14th.
Emery expects former Brighton and Chelsea boss Potter to improve the London club’s fortunes.
He said: “West Ham have very good players, it is a good club as well. It is not good news when they are changing one coach but of course now there is the opportunity for him and we are going to respect West Ham and we are going to respect Graham Potter because he was successful when he was coaching before here in England. I think he is going to do good work.”
FA Cup woe for Emery
Villa have enjoyed huge success under Emery but the FA Cup has provided few highlights.
In his first season in charge, his team were stunned by lower-league Stevenage while, last year, they lost in a fourth-round replay at home to Chelsea.
Asked if he found that frustrating, the Spaniard added: “It depends, because the circumstances were in that moment. We didn’t get something in the FA Cup, but it was a process. Not really thinking it was a frustration. When you are losing, it is a frustration, but of course, it is football.
“We are starting this year with the circumstances 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, one option for a trophy and one 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.
