Aston Villa are having themselves Emery old time on their goal-laden way to the Champions League
As the Premier League reaches the double-digit game mark, outside of Tottenham, no-one has had a better relative season to date than Unai Emery’s high-flying Aston Villa, who find themselves in fifth place and just four points off the top of the table.
The question now is how much higher can they go, and can they qualify for the Champions League?
The Villans have collected 22 points from their opening 10 games, which is their best start in well over a decade going back to the Martin O’Neill days, which was the last time the club threatened to break into Europe’s top competition.
This tally is made more impressive considering they lost two of their opening four games in devastating fashion: 5-1 on the first day to Newcastle and then 3-0 to Liverpool. Both of those came away from Villa Park, where the last 12 games have resulted in wins for Emery’s men.
In another sign that he is arguably the greatest manager and managerial mind of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson said he was impressed with Villa despite that hammering at St. James’ Park and predicted a strong season for them. He has been proved right in stunning style.
Sir Alex Ferguson:
🗣️‘I watch the Aston Villa Newcastle game’
🗣️‘Aston Villa played fantastic football’Come again??!🙃 #NUFC
— ToonTalk (@Toon_TaIk) August 15, 2023
Villa’s season had already got off to a sticky start with campaign-ending ACL injuries to Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia, and a Europa Conference League loss away to Legia Warsaw.
How they have bounced back, though, and it is a testament to the incredible job Emery has done since succeeding Steven Gerrard in the hotseat.
Gerrard, in truth, was never cut out for the job, with his obvious aim being to use the club as a stepping stone to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
At least he is now working with Jordan Henderson as they sell their souls to the sound of fewer than 700 fans at some games in Saudi Arabia. From Villa Park to a villa in Al-Ettifaq.
Anyway, back to Emery and his stunning work in the second city. Since the date of his first game, when Villa were in 17th, only Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool have collected more points, and when it comes to 2023, only the champions sit above them.
He already boasts the highest win percentage in club history (of course, a smaller sample size than others) and it doesn’t look like slowing down.
Building off the work initially done by Dean Smith following promotion in 2019, along with serious investment and smart signings by Christian Purslow and co. (some with the Jack Grealish windfall of course), Emery has created a side and squad bursting with talent and in top form; how many players are playing their best career football right now?
Ollie Watkins can’t stop scoring and his all-round game has improved exponentially. John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara and Douglas Luiz have been one of the midfield trios of the season, with the latter breaking the Premier League era club record for most consecutive home games scored in (six).
Moussa Diaby has hit the ground running while Nicolo Zaniolo and Youri Tielemans are proof of that clever recruitment, the first coming on loan and second on a free transfer. They have added depth and options that the club has probably never had in recent history.
Villa can claim to boast the ‘official’ best keeper in the world in Emi Martinez after his Ballon d’Or award, and Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos and Pau Torres provide good defensive options even after the loss of Mings.
READ MORE: The Ballon d’Or completes its descent into meaningless, offensive football ‘content’
What has made it even more impressive from the Spaniard is the style of football he has employed, which is a world away from the dreary dross seen at the Emirates in his sorry stint in charge of Arsenal and the successful but defensive-minded play at Sevilla and Villarreal.
Villa are an exciting and exhilarating watch, exemplified by the forward play of Watkins. They have scored 26 goals in their opening 10 games, which has them tied with Newcastle as the league’s top scorers to date. Four were also hit in an away win at AZ Alkmaar, as they rebounded nicely from that early Conference League loss.
They have conceded the most goals of any side in the Premier League’s top six, though eight of the 14 against did come in those heavy away defeats. It does add to the must-watch buzz around them this season.
So can they make the Champions League and return to a competition they have not been in since defending their 1981/82 European Cup the following season? The answer is most definitely yes, as things stand.
Firstly, the Premier League is likely to have five slots when the Swiss Model comes into play next season (oh joy), which will give the likes of Villa and Spurs even more optimism about their chances. The fortresses both clubs have created this season so far is another reason to be hopeful.
It is already one of the most competitive top-half seasons in recent memory (in truth, the bottom half is very poor, and the league is top heavy), but other supposed bigger clubs are faltering, most notably Manchester United and Chelsea.
Brighton have not won any of their last five domestic games, which suggests the added workload of European football is catching up, and maybe the same could be said for Newcastle on their own return to Europe’s top table.
Might Villa face the same issue in the Conference League? There is little doubt Emery will be looking to continue his stunning record in Europe, but could it tire them out? Their bigger squad and the obvious lower quality in the continent’s tertiary competition could be mitigating factors. They should qualify within the next game or two and will not fear any side they come across.
It is also still too soon to know how good Spurs are truthfully, with Ange Postecoglou’s admittedly amazing start still being a much smaller set to judge off than Emery’s 35 league games so far.
Villa travel to north London to face the current ‘title challengers’ in just under four weeks, before which they face Nottingham Forest away and Fulham at home.
Fans will only remember too well how O’Neill, and before him John Gregory, had similar excellent starts before fading away in crunch time and missing out on a crack at Europe’s best. Can Emery be the third man lucky and complete one of the more remarkable upswings in a club’s fortunes in recent years?
