Aston Villa’s impressive albeit quiet revolution under Unai Emery was on full glorious display in the club’s comprehensive victory over Bournemouth.
Aston Villa have never had a better reason to pay scant notice to their status on the Premier League table this season as the club have made major progress in creating a chasm of nine points between themselves and the messy relegation battle taking place right below them. Suffice it to say that it is undoubtedly an unburdened, care-free outlook that Villa fans are learning to get accustomed to, as the anxiety of a survival scrap in the relegation zone has been gleefully replaced with the cloak-and-dagger game with Chelsea instead for a coveted top-half spot.
This seemingly blunt assessment is not in any way intended to bypass, nor tak for granted, Unai Emery’s most impressive impact since Nassef Sawiris succeeded in convincing one of the world’s elite coaches to don his gloves and take on a potential relegation battle. Now, 14 games and 26 points later, the Villa hierarchy and fans are beaming with the broadest smiles as the club have wildly exceeded their own expectations.
For those that hadn’t blocked out Villa’s opening day defeat away at Bournemouth is now but a distant, faint memory as Saturday’s convincing rout was so joyously cathartic, symbolic of the amazing progress Villa have made since the opening day loss. Gone is the set piece chaos that allowed the Cherries to score within two minutes back in August.
Instead, the Villa team were in complete control as they turned in a magnificent performance that picked apart Bournemouth at B6 – the type of performance Emery has been demanding from his players to produce in front of their home crowd. Gary O’Neil’s team was put to the sword as wave after wave of the Villan attack surged towards the Bournemouth goal.
One can still recall the time when Villa were pinning their hopes on Douglas Luiz scoring direct from corners as Luiz has seemingly been given the keys to help drive Villa forward and has stepped up to control the team’s tempo in Boubacar Kamara’s absence.
Luiz is but one of numerous players that have emerged with a new lease of life under Emery’s tutelage and supervision. It was sheer joy to witness the build-up play from the back and the team’s new-found ability to control possession against Bournemouth.
Villa’s revival goes largely unnoticed as a blip on the Premier League’s radar due only to the season’s other success stories, despite only being four points off high-flyers Brentford and Brighton.
Not that Villa fans mind this as they are buoyant that there is plenty more to come from Unai Emery’s side and they are already enjoying the ride immensely.