It’s been a brilliant start to the 2023/24 season for Unai Emery and Aston Villa, and former Villa front man, Stan Collymore, couldn’t be happier.
At the time of writing, the Midlands-based outfit are on the verge of heading into the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League as Group E winners, whilst their 28 points in the Premier League is only bettered by Man City and Arsenal, and Liverpool are only above them on goal difference.
Arguably, the current top three in the English top-flight could’ve been picked by most with a passing interest in the game, with Villa unlikely to have been considered as amongst the early pace setters.
Emery has to take all of the plaudits for that says Collymore.
“If you’re looking at giving a ‘half term scorecard,’ Aston Villa for me would be the highest on nine because there’s one manager above all others that will be happiest with their start to the season and that’s Unai Emery,” he said in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
“I think Villa need a point in their last Europa Conference League game to be guaranteed top spot so that would be amazing, and the turnaround in making average players into good players, good players into very good players and very good players into borderline great has been stunning.
“Ollie Watkins, Douglas Luiz and also John McGinn have been sensational as has Emi Martinez, and all of them received some criticism in the Gerrard era. Emery’s made them all better through great management and great coaching.
“Success has come without significantly adding to the squad and don’t forget that they’ve had injuries, with some players – Alex Moreno and Diego Carlos to name two – only just coming back. Tyrone Mings has been out and a lot of Villa fans thought that would be a problem too. It hasn’t been.”
Right back to his earliest days in management, Emery has been believed to be an incredibly meticulous operator.
Indeed, The Telegraph (subscription required) suggest that he is forensic in his detailing of the opposition, some might say to the point of obsession.
However, Aston Villa are certainly reaping the rewards of that way of working, and his players seem to be responding to it too.
Whilst success isn’t guaranteed, it’s been a long time since Villa have been in this position and if the squad can stay relatively injury free, there’s no ceiling on what they can achieve.