If you could switch lives with a famous person for a week,
who would it be and why?
If I could switch lives with a famous person for a week, I’d choose Unai Emery, the manager of Aston Villa Football Club in the English Premier League.
I’ve supported Aston Villa since I was a child. There was no particularly good reason for choosing them. The football club I played for as a boy wore Aston Villa colours, and that seemed reason enough. Years later, I’m still supporting them.
Villa have a long and distinguished history, although for much of the time I’ve followed them they’ve been a mid-table team. Unai Emery has done a remarkable job since arriving in 2022, taking Villa back into European football, winning the Europa League, and competing in the Champions League.
I’d love to spend a week in his shoes because I’d like to understand what goes into developing a successful team. A good coach does much more than select players and devise tactics. They help players understand how to move intelligently, read the game, develop technical skills, and cultivate the professional mindset needed to perform consistently at the highest level.
Villa have some exciting young players with enormous potential. I’d love to be part of the process of helping them develop. How do you recognise what a player could become? How do you help them see possibilities they haven’t yet imagined for themselves? How do you develop individuals while building a team?
I’ve spent much of my working life helping people learn and grow. There’s something deeply satisfying about recognising potential in another person and helping them realise it. I imagine football coaching offers that same satisfaction, played out on a rather more public stage.
Of course, every decision would be scrutinised by thousands of supporters who know exactly what the manager should have done. A week would probably be enough. I’d happily hand the job back to Emery and return to watching from the other side of the world.
But I’d love to experience that moment when a young player does something they couldn’t do before, knowing I’d played a small part in helping them get there.
For me, that’s one of life’s great satisfactions: seeing potential realised in someone else.
If you could switch lives with a famous person for a week, who would it be and why?
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