It is usually when the passports get rolled out where Unai Emery excels, and the emerging force of Aston Villa are finally ready to make their mark on the European stage.
Villa are upwardly mobile under their meticulous and brilliant Basque coach, and optimism is building that they could be a genuine threat to the Premier League’s private members’ party.
We have obviously been here before, and Emery’s predecessor Steven Gerrard was speaking openly of European ambitions before his unhappy tenure was ruthlessly brought to an end last October.
Yet these last 10 months under Emery have taught Villa fans to dream. When he insists the target is to win a trophy this season, those supporters now believe it is far more than just hyperbole.
Emery the European specialist
Emery’s impact since his appointment last year cannot be overestimated: with 49 points from 25 matches, the one regret from Villa’s hierarchy is that he did not arrive earlier.
Owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens have never concealed their desire to return Villa to European football, and they have one of the undisputed masters in continental competitions.
Edens’ vision of sport is understood to be driven by data, analytics and statistics, and Emery has emphatically delivered in all those departments.
Indeed, this will be the 16th successive season that Emery is operating in a European tournament. He has lifted four Europa Leagues in that time and juggling the demands of a congested fixture list has never been an issue.
It may only be the Europa Conference League, but try telling that to Villa and their fans. They have not played in Europe since 2010, when Rapid Vienna knocked out a Villa team including the likes of Stiliyan Petrov and Emile Heskey at the play-off round stage. Hopes will be high that the serial trophy winner can prove the difference.
Emery’s methods are already the stuff of legend. He loves a long meeting, where he drills his philosophy into the players in exquisite detail. He is extremely punctilious, and on the team bus back from away games is often seen scouring his iPad in preparation for the next opponent.
He works long hours, and is understood to even be something of a joker on the training pitches at Bodymoor. While he has never really opened up on his experiences at Arsenal, there is no question that his messy departure in November 2019 has fired him up to prove people wrong.
Smart recruitment on and off the pitch
Villa’s transfer business has also delivered a statement of intent. The capture of Youri Tielemans on a free transfer was solid enough, but the arrivals of Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby have turned heads.
Torres, a left-sided centre-back, has been on the radar of many European heavyweights before Villa agreed a cut-price £31.5 million deal with Villarreal. Diaby, the record £43 million buy, was on Villa’s radar for years and sources in Germany initially expressed doubts over whether the French attacker would be interested in moving from Bayer Leverkusen.
With claims that Diaby favoured a ‘big-six’ club and Champions League football, it is testament to Emery’s powers of persuasion that the deal was completed. Emery already had the nucleus of a decent squad, and the improvement of Tyrone Mings and Ollie Watkins as individuals has been tangible.
John McGinn, the Scotland midfielder, has proved outstanding after returning to his preferred position and Emery made it clear that he should be offered a new contract. McGinn signed the deal last month, and the hope is that Watkins will soon follow. If they can add another proven striker to their squad, it could prove significant.
Another eye-catching arrival has been made at senior board level: Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, known as Monchi, has rejoined Emery as the club’s president of football operations. His reputation across Europe is excellent, despite a scratchy period in Serie A with Roma, and the expectation is that he can elevate Villa to another level.
Monchi is also renowned for backing homegrown talent, which aligns with Villa’s belief in their academy. Talented homegrown youngsters including Cameron Archer and Jaden Philogene have been offered a chance to stake a claim in pre-season.
It all means that expectations are incredibly high ahead of the new season, which kicks off at Newcastle on August 12.
This will be a test for Villa’s players and the challenge is to build on last season’s momentum. The draw for their European return will be made on Monday and the hope is that city squares will be swamped by claret and blue flags over the coming months.
With ‘Super’ Unai Emery in charge, there should be no limit to what Villa can achieve.
