The question put to Unai Emery last month felt both extraordinary yet fair.
Villa have made rapid progress on the field under the leadership of Unai Emery and now the rest of the club is trying to play catch-up
Extraordinary because 18 months ago it would have felt a laughable concept. Fair because in the intervening period, Emery’s work has made anything seem possible.Emery, as is often his method when receiving a question he doesn’t particularly fancy, didn’t really give a clear answer.
It contrasted rather sharply with some of the bold pronouncements by others at the club that same week, talk of “kicking down doors” and “historic levels of greatness”. It is not that Emery isn’t fiercely ambitious. His targets are far higher than he would ever admit publicly. “We want the giant running and conquering, not only awakening,” he wrote in his programme notes ahead of the Europa Conference League semi-final first leg against Olympiacos. It is not the only time he has been emotive on that particular page.You could see it after the 2-2 draw with Chelsea, when Villa’s head coach largely rejected reflections on his team letting slip a two-goal lead to stress the “fantastic” achievement of securing Europa League qualification.
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