Breathe and Enjoy, Villans: That Was One Hell of a Season

Right, here we are, bit of a hangover from a roller coaster of a season that was one for the ages. I’m still sort of dazed. It’s all happening and then, wham, it’s done.

What actually happened? Well, Villa pretty much did the unthinkable. Unai Emery completed the dream run of not only saving us from relegation, but getting us back into Europe, into a semifinal, and then back onto the biggest stage in the world. Sawiris’ and Edens’ stated goal of reaching the Champions League seemed to have gone perhaps irreparably off track. And then Emery.

We know his pre- and post-match comments by heart: Always demanding. Always playing within our structure, our plan. Always improving, working hard. And damned if that wasn’t pretty much what happened. Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that we didn’t lose two Premier League games in a row. However bad one day was, there was a response after.

And I feel more than a little vindicated in pointing out that in previous seasons that Villa didn’t get enough draws. We either won or lost, but never managed to pick up enough of those wobbly or disappointing points that ultimately make a difference.

You look at the table, and it’s all fairly obvious: Goal difference? Yeah. Wins, yeah. But the difference between City and Arsenal? Two draws. Difference between Villa and Spurs? Two draws. As the good book has it, if you aren’t going to win, don’t lose. The draw with Liverpool in the penultimate game? That sure felt like a win.

Not losing back-to-back matches and scraping eight draws equaled consistency and ultimately put Villa in the promised land. Doing that while playing in Europe and suffering an unbelievable rash of big injuries to key players in a thin squad? Absolutely unreal, as we know all too well. Still, there was consistency. Chugging along. Shaking off bad days. Making your own luck. We actually did dust ourselves off and go again.

We saw players improve, yes. But what we really saw was coaching. A system, and better individual decisions as a result. Sometimes it felt a bit slow and creaky. Sometimes it was nerve-wracking, playing out. But the insistence on a certain style—responsibilities, positioning, decision points—was the biggest factor. Players knew when to let loose or pull it back in. (For the most part.) And we saw in many matches, whether due to injury, suspension, or rotation, players playing out of their best positions. But they still knew what to do, even if the moves left them a bit outside their strengths.

And naturally we saw tactical changes. We saw good substitutions. Even when we really didn’t have many options.

So that’s what makes the season special for me. Emery said all along there were seven or so better teams. He wasn’t wrong. But he got the most out of his team. And it was enough. All the other clubs who’ve been in the ‘Big Six’ for years now, look at their team sheets, and appreciate how Villa overcame so much adversity to edge three of them. On paper, any of the other top eight sides are better and deeper. Yet here we are.

Naturally everyone’s looking at transfers right now, who stays, who goes. How do we strengthen within PSR? I’ll get into that in a following post. Just as I will the immense difficulty of simply staying where we are.

In the meantime, I just want to savor the moment a little longer. Villa did a big thing. Villa did what the owners said they wanted. They did what the supporters wanted, and they entertained the hell out of us along the way. I’m exhausted, never mind the players.

Is it a one-off? Dunno, don’t care. All I know is that Villa have finally shown us it’s possible. They delivered. They learned a hell of a lot. What’s next? We stay demanding. We work to play in our structure. We go again.

Over to you.