Unai Emery was with Javi Gracia when he was sacked…now Arsenal boss is preparing to face his pal’s Watford replacement
UNAI EMERY was talking face-to-face with Javi Gracia when Watford told his old pal he was sacked.
In a remarkable turn of events, Emery ran into his former team-mate when they were back in Spain during the international break and the pair were chatting about the prospect of their teams clashing today.
The Arsenal boss said: “It’s amazing. I met him, we found each other last week in my town, in Hondarribia, when I was there with my family.
“I was walking and in front us was Javi Gracia.
“And in the moment we started speaking about our match, and we finished it knowing he was sacked. It’s a good story, yes?”
Well, not if you are Gracia. Emery is sure his friend will not be out of work for long after guiding Watford to only the second FA Cup Final in their history last season.
He said: “He is a very good coach, as he showed last year in Watford. The club decided, and I have to respect that.”
Both Emery and Gracia were born in the Basque country.
They were team-mates for a season at Real Sociedad in 1995/6. Gracia (below) was a regular in the first team, but Emery struggled for game time.
When shown the Sociedad squad photo of 24 years ago, Emery said: “He was a much better player than me!”
Emery has enjoyed a much more successful managerial career but turned to Gracia for advice when Arsenal approached him about replacing Arsene Wenger.
But at Vicarage Road today, it will be Quique Sanchez Flores in the home dugout, taking charge of his first game in a second spell as Watford boss, with the Hornets bottom of the table.
Emery and Sanchez Flores came up against each other a few times while managing in Spain.
Their biggest clash was in the quarter-finals of the 2009/10 Europa League, when Emery was in charge of Valencia and his rival was with Atletico Madrid.
Emery said: “I remember it. Every coach, every player, every person in football remembers some things.
“I remember we drew 2-2 at home and we drew 0-0 away.
“In the last minute the referee did not give us an amazing penalty for the opportunity to win. In my way, everything that happened to me is something to learn from, for experience. Sometimes it’s positive, but also negative. I learned from it all.”
Atletico went on to win the Europa League that year, beating Fulham in the final.
The last time Emery and Sanchez Flores clashed, the Watford boss also came out on top, steering Getafe to a 2-1 win over Valencia in February 2015.
His return to Watford, after he fell out with the club’s board in 2016, is a gamble.
MOST READ IN ARSENAL
Emery is more focused on harnessing the spirit that enabled Arsenal to fight back from 2-0 down against Spurs before the international break.
He said: “I am now very, very happy and I am waiting for the best from us because I watched them training every day and it was a big spirit.”
And if he can also gain some revenge for his mate Gracia, so much the better.