There isn’t a more popular man at Aston Villa than Unai Emery.
It has been two years to the day (October 24) since Emery entered the Villa building and started a journey that is blossoming into an incredible story.
On Tuesday evening, Aston Villa beat Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League to make it three wins from three without conceding a goal.
It means that Aston Villa are sitting top of the Champions League table and proving to doubters that they perhaps aren’t going to wobble as many are predicting.
There are many reasons behind the team being able to continue in such a vain, Emery’s tactical genius, the depth in quality and Villa’s goalscoring prowess through Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran.
But Gary Neville and Ian Wright were in agreement that another area of the pitch deserves a mention.
Aston Villa’s midfield is ‘very well coached’
You could argue that the biggest depth in quality is in the middle of the park because Emery has a crazy amount of players to pick from and some can’t even earn the minutes.
Emi Buendia is yet to start a game for Villa in the Premier League or the Champions League, whilst captain John McGinn was on the bench against Fulham over the weekend and Boubacar Kamara has just returned from injury.
Ian Wright wanted to give Villa’s midfield their flowers when discussing the best midfields in the country, with Gary Neville agreeing that it is ‘very well coached’, as they told Stick to Football.
“I think we should mention Villa’s midfield,” said Wright to which Neville added: “It functions well. It plays well. Well coached. Very well coached.”
Wright added: “I am telling you, man. Villa.”
Youri Tielemans Villa’s best midfielder this season
On paper, there are probably other midfielders who are regarded as more important than Youri Tielemans.
But not many are going to argue that the Belgium international has been Villa’s best midfielder during these opening few months of the season.
Tielemans is running the show and proving that Villa are coping without Douglas Luiz.
A rating of 7.10 by WhoScored is very much deserved and proof of how consistent he has been for club and country.
| Tournament | Apps | Mins | Goals | Assists | SpG | PS% | AerialsWon | MotM | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions League | 3 | 255 | 1 | 1 | 1.3 | 84.3 | 0.7 | 1 | 7.53 |
| Premier League | 8 | 714 | – | 3 | 0.6 | 87.5 | 0.6 | 2 | 7.32 |
| UEFA Nations League A Belgium | 4 | 306 | 1 | – | 1.8 | 80.4 | 0.8 | – | 6.68 |
| European Championship Belgium | 2(1) | 150 | 1 | – | 1.3 | 88 | – | – | 6.66 |
| Int. Friendly Belgium | 2 | N/A | 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | – |
| Total / Average | 20 | 1425 | 5 | 4 | 1.1 | 85.5 | 0.6 | 3 | 7.10 |
