Unai Emery: “When I first met Unai Emery, I’ll admit she wasn’t what I expected. My mind was fully on footy and I wasn’t looking for anything else. But Mary was different. She had this spark about her. She was confident, full of energy, and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. At the time, I wasn’t sure how things would go, but the more I got to know her, the more I realized how special she really………more details

……the more I realized how special she really was. It wasn’t just her confidence or her energy — it was the way she looked at the world with curiosity and courage. Most people you meet in passing are polite, maybe even interesting, but Luisa had this rare combination of warmth and intellect that drew you in without even trying.

I remember one of our first real conversations — we were standing outside the training ground after a long session, and she asked me something simple that stopped me in my tracks: “What do you live for beyond the game?” I’d never been asked that before. I’d always framed my life around tactics, results, and performance. But she didn’t see me as just a coach or a football man — she saw me as a person. That was new.

She challenged me, not with confrontation, but with questions that made me think deeper. She made me laugh on days when I didn’t feel like smiling. And she was honest — sometimes brutally so — but always with kindness. I learned more about myself in the months we spent talking, laughing, even arguing, than I had in years.

What surprised me most wasn’t how different she was from what I expected, but how much she helped me grow. She didn’t pull me away from football — she expanded my world. And that’s when it hit me: some people walk into your life and change your perspective so profoundly, you can’t imagine it without them.