Unai Emery has carried his vow to win trophies from his Aston Villa unveiling to a current reality where the task looks tougher than ever, yet the Villa boss remains undeterred.
Three years into his reign, Emery still speaks with the same impatience for silverware that greeted fans when he arrived in October 2022, just as the club was fighting its way out of the relegation zone. “If we are complaining about working hard, we are not in the right way,” he told BBC Sport, underscoring a philosophy built on discipline and effort.
Under Emery, Villa have grown adept at outthinking opponents and punching above their weight, even as they acknowledge a financial gap that keeps them from rivaling the Premier League’s richest clubs. He has repeatedly framed Villa’s progress within the reality of a sport where money matters, insisting the focus must stay on what they can control.
Villa broke through in 2023-24 to qualify for the Champions League, a milestone that underscored their rise. Yet on the final day of last season they were still in the top-five chase until a controversial defeat at Manchester United pushed them into Europa League contention. The swings of fortune reflect a club that has learned to compete with the best while navigating a comparatively tighter purse.
Emery’s impact is visible in Villa’s steady improvement: seventh, fourth and then sixth in the last three campaigns, with the sense that the club is consistently flirting with, and sometimes threatening, the top five. He is quick to credit the players’ belief and the work ethic that has become a hallmark of his tenure at Villa Park.
The opening fixture of the new campaign pits Villa against Newcastle, the team that denied them a place in the final Champions League spot last May. It’s a reminder of how far they’ve come and how much further they hope to go; the match sets the tone for a season in which Emery is determined to translate late-season form into sustained performance.
The journey has not been without painful chapters. Last season’s FA Cup semi-final collapse to Crystal Palace and a Europa Conference League semi-final exit to Olympiakos in 2024 stung, even as the club’s long-range trajectory remained upward. A standout Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain also demonstrated that Villa can compete with Europe’s elite, even if they fell short of the last four.
The disparity with the so-called big six remains a talking point. Captain John McGinn has spoken of the gulf between Villa and the clubs with greater spending power, and Emery concedes the reality that “we do not have the same capacity” as the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham or Newcastle. Yet he insists the focus must be inward: “We are going to focus on ourselves. We are getting the belief, of course; we have to believe in our sporting objective through our capacity.”
Emery, a four-time Europa League winner, remains Villa’s most potent weapon in this ongoing project. His leadership has helped the club finish inside the top ten and push toward Europe’s upper echelons, while emphasizing smart, efficient competition over fireworks or shortcuts. “To be in the Premier League in the position we are finishing in the last three years is fantastic,” he says. The task now is to learn from the past, tighten consistency, and avoid the early-season dips that can derail a campaign. He notes that last season’s second-half surge—often described as finishing the last 20 games among the league’s best—must be the model for the entire season.
In summary, Emery’s Villa are a club redefining what success looks like within financial limits: competitive, relentless, and increasingly capable of taking on Europe’s elite. The upcoming fixtures, starting with a challenging opener against Newcastle, will be a test of both continuity and ambition. If the squad can sustain the improvement and continue to build belief, Villa’s progress could translate into long-term, tangible gains and a hopeful path toward genuine league contention. Commentary and analysis aside, the message is clear: the work ethic is in place, the direction is positive, and the pursuit of trophies remains the guiding objective.