The former Spanish centre-back played under Emery at Almería, where the coach's attention to detail and relentless standards left a lasting impression. García has since moved into coaching himself and was appointed Jong Ajax head coach this summer.
He still sees the same Emery.
“He was a coach who paid attention to the small details, so he demanded a lot from the players,” García told Football Presse. “He was never happy. He wanted more every day.
“But the way he communicated was always positive. If he wanted more from you, he would say, ‘OK, what you did was good, but if you do this, that is amazing, that is perfect.’ His communication was always positive, but he was always demanding.”
For García, that combination was central to Emery's approach.
The demand never disappeared, but neither did the encouragement.
That made it possible for players to understand that criticism was not necessarily a judgement on what they had just done. It was an invitation to do it better.
Years later, García remains struck by the intensity Emery brings to his work now with Aston Villa.
“A few months ago I went to Birmingham to see him,” he said. “He has the same passion. He continues to demand things from the players and from the training sessions.
“He still has that hunger to make the difference.”
It is the kind of quality García has carried with him into his own coaching career.
Having experienced Emery from inside the dressing room, he learned that demanding more from players does not have to mean creating a negative environment.
The message can remain positive while the standards continue to rise.
García's own path has since taken him into coaching, eventually bringing him to Ajax. He joined the club earlier this year as part of Oscar García's coaching staff before being appointed head coach of Jong Ajax in the summer.
Now he is the one standing on the training ground asking young players for more.
The influence is not necessarily about copying Emery's methods.
It is about understanding why they worked.
García remembers a coach who never regarded a good performance as the finished product.
“He was never happy,” he said. “He wanted every day more and more.
“And when he wanted something more from you, he didn't communicate it in a negative way. He always tried to show you how you could improve and what you could do to reach another level.”
That lesson has followed García from player to coach.
And when he went back to Birmingham to see Emery, he found that the same intensity was still there.
“He has the same passion,” García said. “He continues asking from the training sessions to the players. He has this hunger to make the difference.”
For a former player now beginning his own journey as a head coach, that may be the most lasting lesson of all.
The standards do not change simply because you have achieved something.
You keep asking for more.