Aston Villa’s Europa Conference League campaign came to an end this week, but Unai Emery and the players can be proud of their efforts.
Naturally, there is an overwhelming sense of disappointment and frustration that we fell short in our objective of reaching the final and winning silverware, and it does feel like a missed opportunity to end our wait for a major trophy.
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That said, with time to reflect and appreciate the run we’ve been on this year, it will hopefully prove to be a fundamental experience that helps us in the bigger picture, and ultimately, Olympiacos deservedly advanced having been the better, more clinical side, over the two legs.
After seeing off Hibernian in the playoff qualifiers, our European journey took us to Legia Warsawa, Zrinjski, AZ Alkmaar, Ajax, Lille and Olympiacos, as we faced sides with more recent experience in Europe and proved to be difficult tests for a group still adapting to the demands of football on the continent.
There were memorable moments and lessons to be learned along the way, and as we prepare for another campaign in Europe next season – hopefully at the top table in the Champions League – we have acquired vital experiences this year as we look to compete at the top level both domestically and in Europe.
Particularly with context given our injuries this season and the fatigue that is evidently setting in for those who have had to take on a significantly bigger workload as a result, this year has been a huge test for us and we’ve done brilliantly to get ourselves into this position.
With better injury luck next year coupled with further reinforcements to strengthen Emery’s squad that will allow him to continue to mould it into his own, it’s part of the process and development of the squad and the club to acquire these experiences as we look to sustain our success rather than enjoy a year here or there competing for honours.
“Proud of the players and the fans,” Emery wrote on Instagram. “Congratulations to Olympiakos. We left our effort together at Villa Park, Edinburgh, Warsawa, Alkmaar, Mostar, Amsterdam, Lille and Athens. This journey showed us how demanding is Europe and we must be better prepared for the last step. No doubt that we will do it. Don’t stop believing. No time to waste. See you on Monday! We need all your energy! UTV.”
Villa of course know that a win on Monday night against Liverpool will secure Champions League football next year, and although we’re likely to go into that game with a depleted squad once again with key absentees remaining sidelined, it would be some way to sign off on the campaign to seal fourth place in front of a sold-out home crowd.
“We went into this competition as favourites and we handled that throughout,” Villa skipper John McGinn told TNT Sports, as per BBC Sport. “I think it has been a big learning curve for us. It’s not been a smooth journey, we got to the semi-final and were down to the bare bones a wee bit.
“For us going into more European competition next season we need to learn how to manage moments a lot better. Of course we wanted to do better this year and get to a European final but we will do everything we can to get ourselves back into this position and get to a final.”
“We’ll reflect, there’s a lot of things we could have done better, but over the course of the season there’s a lot of things to be proud of. We need to apologise to the supporters who travelled. We so badly wanted to win a trophy for them, we all wanted it so badly. We need a big push in the final two games to get us over the line for the Champions League which would be an astronomical achievement.”
Emery knows what it takes to achieve success in Europe, and he’ll undoubtedly analyse and assess in meticulous detail where we went right and wrong on this run to ensure the players understand what is needed moving forward to be successful.
However, it’s imperative that they go through these experiences and atmospheres themselves to acclimatise to it, and while the standard will go up whether it’s the Europa League or Champions League next season, we’ve got the perfect coach, a solid squad and areas where we’ll improve to ensure we’re able to use this year as a foundation to become a consistent presence and threat in Europe in the coming years.
It is of course disappointing that we’ve lost momentum and form at a crunch point in our season, but there are bound to be bumps in the road, and it’s about how we learn from them and prevent them from happening again in the future that will say a lot about this group’s mentality and desire to be successful.
