Trevor Steven: Unai Emery has worked wonders at Aston Villa. But title bid? No
No team in the Premier League is in better form than Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, and Sunday’s 4-1 win over West Ham United underlined how far they have come. With nine games played, they are in the top five and just points behind champions Manchester City.
Without question, their turnaround in fortunes has come since Emery returned to England with Villa a year ago this week. The Spaniard had a rough ride at Arsenal, but his results at Sevilla, Paris Saint-Germain and Villarreal showed that he was a quality manager.
Emery seems better equipped for success in his second crack at the Premier League. He has the experience of first spell to draw on but, crucially, his English seems to be much better and so his communication has vastly improved.
At Villa he has got his recruitment right. He knows how he wants to play and in Moussa Diaby, Nicolo Zaniolo and Pau Torres he has brought in players who are suited to his progressive, penetrative style of football.
At the same time he has brought the best out of the players already there – John McGinn, Matty Cash, Emiliano Martinez and, most of all, Ollie Watkins.
Watkins looks a man unleashed and his emphatic finish against West Ham was one of a striker in total control of his game who has been allowed to focus on scoring goals.
Man for man, I’m not sure how many of the Villa XI would get in the teams of the top six, but the manager has got the parts in the right places and it has created something greater than the sum of them.
Emery looks like he wouldn’t stand for anything less than 100 per cent in training and seems to be in a rush to make things happen. It is his drive that is pushing the players on and has quickly gained their respect.
As former European and English champions, the club has great heritage and Villa Park is a wonderful stadium. They are also financially secure, thanks in part to the sale of Jack Grealish. They have plenty going for them.
So should they be in the conversation for the title? I don’t think so, and that is mainly because of the level of depth in the squad. It’s a good group but doesn’t have the quality of the top four, which is needed to go again after Christmas.
While their home record is the best in the league they have lost at Newcastle and Liverpool, but I think that is more a reflection of playing top teams. Villa will accumulate points from everyone below the top six but games with those sides are a free hit for now.
Newcastle made St James’ Park a fortress last year and it got them into the Champions League. Villa are ticking the same boxes results-wise.
Emery may have some tough selection decisions to make if they go far in Europe, which he usually does. With that in mind, good results may make them bolder about bolstering the squad during the January transfer market.
Villa and Emery have a real chance to build on their strong start to the season in their next three Premier League games, which are against Luton, Nottingham Forest and Fulham. For now, though, they couldn’t be much better positioned.
Trevor Steven is a former England footballer who played at two World Cups and two European Championships. @TrevorSteven63.