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Aston Villa fans have rarely had it this good in the Premier League era. Manager Unai Emery takes his team to Old Trafford on Sunday as they continue to fight for UEFA qualification against Manchester United. To say that few expected the Villans to be here even a few weeks ago would be an understatement but that is also a testament to the incredible revival that the Spaniard has overseen since taking over from Steven Gerrard at Villa Park. Unbeaten in 10 games with eight wins in that period and level on 54 points with Tottenham Hotspur in fifth, AVFC are suddenly a team that nobody wants to face in the English topflight.
We break down the Birmingham-based outfit’s impressive entrance into the shakeup for a potential continental soccer berth for next season.
First, have Villa ever been in Europe?
England has 14 UEFA Champions League or European Cup titles to its name and one of those successes came in Rotterdam back in 1982 when the Villa edged Bayern Munich 1-0. Peter Withe’s 67th-minute goal at De Kuip is the stuff of legend at the club’s Villa Park home and the famous Brian Moore commentary line of “It must be! It is! Peter Withe!” remains prominent around the venue. In recent years, especially down in the Championship from 2016 to 2019 after 29 years in England’s topflight, that glorious night in the Netherlands was a source of nothing more than nostalgia. Until now, that is, with AVFC finally on the brink of a return to UEFA competition for the first time since 2010 when Martin O’Neill was overseeing a short-lived push to break into the top four bankrolled by American billionaire and ex-Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner.
So, Villa is actually a big club?
Potentially huge — Emery recognized and respected this from the off. In fact, it arguably makes this challenge that much more attractive. Not only are the Villans one of just five English clubs to win European soccer’s top prize, the pride of the second biggest city boast enormous domestic pedigree with seven topflight, seven FA Cup and five League Cup titles as well as a UEFA Super Cup. Modern Premier League fans might only be familiar with Villa as a largely midtable club which briefly flirted with breaking into the top four thanks to a crop of brilliant young England internationals under O’Neill, but the 149-year-old institution which boasts Hollywood’s Tom Hanks and Prince William as notable fans have been a veritable sleeping giant since the Premier League era began. Now co-owned by American billionaire Wes Edens of Milwaukee Bucks fame, the Villa could be about to complete an impressive five-year turnaround from the second tier to Europe since Edens’ arrival alongside Nassef Sawiris 2018.
Why this hot streak?
These things sometimes happen and AVFC fans will have fond memories of their Jack Grealish-led 2019 tear of 10 consecutive league wins — still a club record — to reach the EFL Championship playoffs which they won against Derby County under Dean Smith’s guidance. However, Villa lost three straight Premier League games as recently as February which appeared to have put paid to any hopes of reaching Europe until this 10-game unbeaten run with eight wins propelling Emery’s side to within reach of the Champions League qualification places. In that time, the Villans have beaten Chelsea away (who hasn’t?) but perhaps most impressively Newcastle United at home. In fact, it was not just a victory over the Magpies — it was the Villa’s most accomplished performance under Emery to date in an insatiable 3-0 triumph.
Is it really all Emery’s doing?
The Spaniard’s role in this cannot be understated. AVFC were a sorry mess when the former Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Villarreal boss arrived to pick up the pieces after a damaging start to the season under woeful Gerrard who has yet to return to the managerial arena. Even before Emery got Villa humming at their current speed, he inspired a seemingly relegation-doomed team to a debut home win over United and then impressive away victories at Brighton and Hove Albion as well as Spurs — they face all three in their final five games plus Liverpool. FIFA 2022 World Cup winner Emi Martinez, 14-goal Ollie Watkins, defender Tyrone Mings and the midfield pair of John McGinn as well as Douglas Luiz are just a few to have been reborn under the 51-year-old Basque tactician. Emery has four Europa League titles and five French domestic titles to his name and his accrued experience has been invaluable in getting the best out of this squad collectively with no preseason and minimal transfer activity with only Alex Moreno added to his group.
What must happen for Villa to get top four?
A lot and probably too much for it to be considered truly realistic given that the gap is already six points with five games left to play. Whichever European berth AVFC might yet be able to secure could still be in play on that final day with Brighton one of the other impressive sides looking to break into at least the top six this season. The Seagulls are another underdog story but from a totally different angle without being steeped in as much domestic or European pedigree as Villa — even if both clubs do benefit from vastly wealthy backers in the richest soccer league around.
Europa League or Europa Conference League, then?
Realistically, this would be about right and there is absolutely no shame in that for Villa nor Emery. Whatever happens next, the turnaround has already been hugely impressive and has earned the Spaniard some shouts for manager of the season while the Villans will be a club many are keeping an eye on this summer as they build their project around Emery to give him the tools he needs for sustained success in Birmingham. AVFC have been aided by this weekend’s opponents United winning the EFL Cup and an all-Manchester FA Cup final with the Red Devils at top six pace. If that happens, seventh place would be enough to reach the Europa Conference League and the Villa are currently in that bracket although Brighton do have games in hand. Three points against Wolves will probably not be enough on their own so Emery needs to engineer as many points as possible against United, Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton — three of which his team have already beaten.
