Aston Villa will prepare for a return to Europe next season after a remarkable turnaround under the stewardship of Unai Emery.
The Spanish tactician took charge of his first game in early November, with Villa sitting just above the relegation zone after a bitterly disappointing start to the campaign under former boss Steven Gerrard.
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However, after 15 wins, four draws and six defeats in his 25 Premier League games in charge, he turned our campaign around, developed and improved the players at his disposal and re-established the connection between the team and fans to transform the atmosphere around the club.
It has been an incredible start to this journey, and it’s hoped that it is simply just the beginning of what will hopefully prove to be a very successful tenure at Villa for Emery.
Emery, his staff have done a tremendous job
After a crushing 3-0 defeat at Fulham in late October left us in real trouble as we hovered above the relegation zone, the Villa hierarchy acted swiftly in sacking Gerrard and went big with the appointment of Emery.
His impact and influence was immediate with a 3-1 win at home against Man Utd, and while there were setbacks along the way, the run we’ve been on in the league since then has been remarkable.
Given we only added Alex Moreno and Jhon Duran in January, with the latter playing a very limited role, Emery and his staff have shown their coaching ability and class to improve and develop the current group to get much, much more out of them. It has been an unbelievable effort from the coaching team to not only get the results we’ve obtained, but quickly implement a style of play and identity.
Players have bought in, delivered
The coaching staff communicating and demanding improvement and understanding of the tactical nuances of what Emery wants is just one half of the job.
Players also have to buy into that and produce on the pitch, and they deserve so much praise for the way they’ve adapted and delivered week in and week out, while continuing to show progression in the way in which Emery wants us to play.
Whether it was building out from the back or the discipline off the ball to become increasingly hard to beat, or the consistent attacking threat that saw us score in all-but two league games under Emery. This group stepped up levels and unlocked their potential, from Tyrone Mings leading at the back to Douglas Luiz running the show in midfield and Ollie Watkins bagging a personal-best tally of 15 goals.
Club-fans connection re-established
One key aspect that went largely missing under Gerrard, was the connection between the team and the fans. Whether it was due to the performances, his remarks around games or otherwise, the atmosphere around the club was a negative one particularly in the latter stages of his tenure.
It almost felt that all the positive work done under Dean Smith to bring that feeling back had been eroded, and so it was important that Villa appointed a coach who would rebuild that relationship and put a team and brand of football out on the pitch that we could get behind.
Emery not only did that with his work with the players, but he has consistently made a point of praising supporters for their backing home and away at the start of most post-match interviews, and has continuously emphasised the importance of their support throughout the campaign.
As seen with the reception he got after the Brighton game when delivering his speech on the pitch, he has made an incredible mark on the club already.
Big summer transfer window ahead
While it has perhaps come sooner than anticipated for Emery and the club, qualifying for Europe was just the first step of their plan and it arguably now speeds things up in terms of the strategy off the pitch.
Not only do we need a squad with enough quality depth to simply be competitive across multiple fronts, but we need the necessary pieces that allow Emery to raise the level again and significantly improve us.
The summer window will be the Spaniard’s first real opportunity to mould this squad into his own, and while he will likely now feel he has the pillars of the side in place given how well key individuals have played this season under him, it’s about adding quality over quantity in crucial positions to keep our progress going.
Europe a real chance of winning silverware
Villa have a qualifying playoff round to navigate first to reach the group stage of the Europa Conference League, but provided we make it through, the competition represents a big opportunity to win a trophy.
There will be stern opposition and it certainly won’t be a straight-forward run, but given Emery’s pedigree and experience in Europe, he’ll relish the chance to win this competition and add another trophy to his collection.
As he conceded himself on Sunday, the level of competition to win domestic honours is so high now, and so while we’ll of course target further progress in the league and try to be competitive in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, there is no doubt we’ll take our European run very seriously too and it will hopefully prove to be a thrilling journey in itself.
