'He has an amazing football brain' - Chukwueze lavishes praise on Villarreal coach Emery

Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze hailed former Arsenal manager Unai Emery as a 'fantastic coach' with 'an amazing football brain'.

Following his brace against Levante last week, Emery tasked Chukwueze to regularly find the back of the net and add to his tally of three La Liga goals so far.

The Super Eagles forward has in turn lauded the 49-year-old as a coach he enjoys working with ahead of Sunday's La Liga match against Barcelona.

“I think it’s changed so much, coming from Nigeria to come and play in Europe at Villarreal,” Chukwueze was quoted by Football Espana.

“Before I saw football as entitlement just to play how I want, attack, dribble, to entertain the fans. Now I think I understand what it means to be tactically disciplined, knowing when to attack, when to defend. I think my overall understanding of the game has changed a huge amount.

“I enjoy playing under Unai Emery. He’s amazing and so tactical in everything he does.

“He can push you to the limit, but he’s a fantastic coach. He has an amazing football brain. He’s amazed me, how I’ve seen him change things from game to game.

“Sometimes when I watch him from the bench, I’ve looked at him and noticed changes he makes which work for him that are great to see. He’s so good at his job and he’s a fantastic coach.”

Two years ago, the Nigeria international told Goal of his difficulty sleeping after he played against Lionel Messi and scored a goal when both teams settled for a 4-4 draw in a league match.

Barcelona and Villarreal are set to face-off again at the Estadio de la Ceramica and Chukwueze – who ended his 17-game goal drought in the Spanish top-flight last Sunday – is ready to have a different experience after the next match.

“On Sunday I think I’m going to sleep very well,” he said. “For me, if we play our game, I’ll get a good night’s sleep, but anything can happen, this is football.

“We’re going to try our best to win, that’s the most important thing, just to win. This will help us maintain our position in La Liga. I’m confident I’ll sleep well this Sunday!”