Villa's remarkable rise under Unai Emery

Aston Villa sat 16^th in the Premier League when Unai Emery was installed as the club’s new head coach in October.

The first 13 matches of the campaign had yielded 12 points, leaving the new man with a big challenge upon his return to English football.

Emery acknowledged as much at his official unveiling at Villa Park, giving the watching world an insight into his short and long-term ambitions for the club.

“My dream is to win a trophy with Aston Villa, it’s my personal challenge at the beginning. And my second dream, my objective could be to play with Aston Villa in Europe,” he said.

“But now we have to start thinking only about the next match because we are not in a good position in the table now, and each match is going to give us a lot of information from the players and I want to test, I want to check individually and collectively, the players and next match is my only focus now, Sunday against Manchester United, and, of course, playing here at home.”

Having walked out to a raucous reception from the B6 faithful, Emery’s era got off to the perfect start against the Red Devils.

Goals from Leon Bailey, Lucas Digne and Jacob Ramsey secured a 3-1 win and added to the optimism pulsing through the Villa fanbase.

After the game, he reflected: “I am a privileged man to be here and to win against them. I enjoyed it a lot today. We were so focussed on our game plan. We were so strong with their (the fans) support.

“It’s only one step and we have to achieve regularity and we have to achieve being consistent in the next matches – at home and away. We have a lot of work to do.”

United took revenge with a Carabao Cup win four days later, but Villa were in the win column once again when Emery masterminded a first away win of the season on the south coast.

Danny Ings bagged a brace to beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 as Villa headed into the World Cup break on a high.

A trip to Dubai offered Emery and his coaching team valuable time on the training pitch to implement his ideas, while friendlies against Chelsea and Brighton in the Middle East helped build a picture of the squad at his disposal.

Liverpool proved too strong when the top flight returned on Boxing Day, but the improvement in Villa’s style was plain to see when they travelled to the capital to kick off 2023 against Tottenham Hotspur.

The boys in claret and blue were disciplined, organised and clinical as they controlled every stage of the game in a 2-0 win. Patience and control would become hallmarks of Villa under Emery, but January and February presented challenges to their new philosophy.

League Two Stevenage’s late fightback saw the club make a swift exit from the FA Cup before February began with consecutive defeats against Leicester City, Manchester City and Arsenal.

The significance of an away game against Everton at the end of the month was clear for all to see, with the prospect of being dragged back down the table lingering.

Ahead of the game, Emery said: “They are behind us in the table, but there is not a lot of difference between both. We have to continue trying to escape from the bottom. It’s a very, very important match on Saturday.”

A nervy 90 minutes on Merseyside ensued, but second-half goals from Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendia kickstarted what would prove to be a season-defining run of results.

Villa put together a ten-game unbeaten run, winning eight and keeping seven clean sheets to catapult themselves into contention for a top-seven finish. Statement wins away at Chelsea and at home to Newcastle United highlighted the progress made under Emery’s guidance.

Positive results bring plaudits and acclaim for head coaches, but the Spaniard’s popularity among the club’s fans ran deeper than that. At the beginning of every post-match interview with VillaTV, there was praise for the supporters and a recognition of the connection that he wants to exist between fans and players.

And there was no better example of the growing synergy between team and fans than the 3-0 success against Newcastle at Villa Park. Raucous support from the stands translated into an all-action performance that blew away a top-four contender.

“I’m very proud of our supporters here in Villa Park,” Emery said afterwards.

“In the last four matches here we’ve won, keeping clean sheets and scoring goals, and today was the best match of those four matches. Our progress is clear, trying to be comfortable here, trying to be consistent here. We did our game plan: 90 minutes focusing and keeping our good individual performances like we need. It was a really, really fantastic day.”

Successive defeats against Manchester United and Wolves failed to dampen the mood at Bodymoor Heath, with the squad now relishing their new objective of claiming a European spot heading into the final three matches.

Records had been tumbling during the ten-game unbeaten run and history continued to be made when Villa saw off Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 to record a sixth successive home win in the Premier League for the first time since 1993.

Victory moved Emery’s team level on points with Spurs ahead of a dramatic trip to Anfield on the penultimate weekend of the season.

An assured display against Liverpool kept the league’s in-form team at bay for the majority of the game before Jacob Ramsey’s goal was cancelled out by Roberto Firmino.

Following Tottenham’s loss earlier in the day, a point on Merseyside put Villa in pole position to finish seventh.

Emery said: “Two months ago we were speaking about if we could get to the last match against Brighton at home playing for something important. Now it’s in our hands.”

An achievement that had seemed impossible when Emery walked into the club was now close to becoming a reality. Brighton & Hove Albion stood in the way of a first appearance in European competition since 2010.

“We have to be very ambitious, and I am. I’m here trying to push everybody, to demand from everybody to get better playing and to take European places,” Emery said pre-match.

“If we achieve our objective on Sunday we will be very, very happy. It’s the next step because we started by escaping from the bottom [of the table], we got into the top ten and then we have the objective to be in the European places.”

With four Europa League trophies on his CV, Emery’s desire to be competing in Europe was well documented. And his appetite for a Europa Conference League spot was matched by fans and players on the final day.

Waves of claret and blue greeted the team bus as it rolled into Villa Park, and the euphoric atmosphere continued inside the ground. Fuelled by the support, Villa thrived and built up a two-goal lead.

Brighton pulled one back but the home side would not be denied, the full-time whistle greeted by jubilant scenes as everyone of a Villa persuasion celebrated a remarkable feat.

“I’m very proud of our work, our supporters, the club, everybody that works here,” Emery said post-match.

“It’s important because we’re going to be one step ahead in our objective to be in Europe. To play in the Conference League is very important.

“We’re adding the possibility of another trophy because it’s very difficult in the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Our objective and ambitions will be to try and always be a candidate to get a trophy."