Aston Villa: ‘Unthinkable’ Unai Emery claim made after Tottenham loss in Premier League
Don Goodman fully expects Unai Emery to be in the running for the Premier League’s Manager of the Season award for his work at Aston Villa.
Fourth-place Villa were hammered 4-0 at home to Tottenham on Sunday (10 March) to see their margin on the chasing pack close drastically.
Spurs are now within two points of the Villans with a game in hand – it would have been eight had they lost – while Manchester United are back to within eight points of fourth place.
Despite that crushing loss, Goodman insists there is no risk of the work Emery has done at Villa Park being underappreciated.
“Within football circles, he is 100 per cent not underappreciated,” Goodman told Villa News. “In fact, he’d be on the majority of lists for Manager of the Season – and there are some good candidates out there for that.
“He has a strong chance of winning that. What he’s done with Aston Villa is quite miraculous really. Cast your mind back to where they were when he came through the door, wanting to avoid a relegation fight.
“He put that to bed quickly and got them into Europe, which was unthinkable really. But he had a belief, which I remember him talking about at a press conference when he said he wants to take Aston Villa into Europe.
“I didn’t particularly think he meant last season, but he managed to do that. Most people will look at what he’s done and say ‘wow, didn’t see that coming’, but I do think what he’s doing is being appreciated.”
Tottenham’s Champions League qualifying hopes in own hands
The loss to Spurs was hugely disappointing as Villa missed out on the chance to open up an eight-point margin on their closest rivals for fourth place.
Instead, Emery’s men are now relying on Spurs to slip up in that game in hand. Still, what has been achieved up to this point cannot be downplayed.
Nobody gave the Villans a chance of qualifying for the Champions League when competing against the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham for one of the four spots.
There is still a possibility that fifth place will be enough to make it into UEFA’s flagship competition next season, but Emery will not want to be relying on events elsewhere.
The Spaniard has shown during his relatively short time at Villa Park just why he is one of the most revered coaches anywhere in Europe. Even if Villa were to fall short of finishing fourth, the future is very bright while Emery is still at the helm.
In other Aston Villa news, a Villans regular was slammed for what he did in the loss to Spurs.
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