Unai Emery wary of Aston Villa ‘danger’ after what’s already happened at Villa Park
Ian Darke believes Aston Villa are facing the danger of a comedown from their Champions League nights into important Premier League fixtures.
Villa put in a flat display against a meagre Manchester United side on Sunday [6 October] to play out a goalless stalemate at Villa Park, four days after the club’s emotionally charged night in which they overcame Bayern Munich.
Former Villan Steve Sidwell described the performance as a “hangover”, and Darke says it is something they must, and will, learn to acclimatise to.
“I’d agree there was a hangover from the Bayern game, no doubt about it,” the TNT Sports commentator exclusively told Villa News.
“Villa looked flat by comparison to what they can usually produce at home. It will be a problem for them going forward as there are eight games in the [Champions League] group. They beat Wolves after the Young Boys game, but they were flat after such a massive emotional high last time out.
“Maybe on other occasions, it will be better for them to cope with. I think Bologna is their next game in Europe, then they’ve got Bournemouth and you’d think they might revert to their normal form as it won’t be so hard to get down from the emotional high and lift themselves back up again. It’s a danger, but one Unai Emery will be aware of.”
Aston Villa navigating several competitions
Aston Villa are, for the first time, experiencing life as a Champions League club and fighting on all four fronts.
The club remain in the Carabao Cup and host struggling Crystal Palace for a place in the last eight; the Champions League opening phase overruns into FA Cup territory for the first time this season come January, and there is an expectant pressure to deliver again in the Premier League.
Luckily, the man at the helm at Villa Park is an individual hardened to veering deep into European competition, possibly the most hardened of all the head coaches out there – Emery has reached five Europa League finals during his managerial career, with both English and Spanish clubs.
No home fixture this season will be as emotionally driven as the Bayern game, purely down to the historical aspect of the tie which incorporated 1982 and the recently departed Gary Shaw.
However, further tests will come in this sense – Villa head to Chelsea the weekend after hosting Juventus and a returning Douglas Luiz – and the contest with Celtic to end the league phase campaign could be tasty.
It remains a matter of intrigue as to how the squad and Emery can navigate their way through, the way the elite clubs do.
In other Aston Villa news, Bryan King discusses the possibility of a release clause in Jhon Duran’s new contract.
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