Aston Villa opened their Premier League season with a deserved win at West Ham United on Saturday at the London Stadium.
This is a huge season for Unai Emery’s side because of the reward of playing Champions League football.
Gary Neville shared his thoughts on it all and how Aston Villa looked ‘very good’ against the Hammers.
Amadou Onana scored on debut and helped Villa to a win, with the team putting the poor performances in pre-season behind them and delivering three points.
All summer long, Villa have been building for the Champions League, with key players leaving, but several new faces joining the club.
Douglas Luiz waved an emotional goodbye to Villa, with the club bringing in over £100 million in sales, but also spending around the same amount.
That has helped bulk up the squad, with Neville warning about the difficulties of playing in the Champions League in midweek and then early on a Saturday.
The Manchester United legend, who won two European Cups during his playing days at Old Trafford, shared that playing in Europe’s elite competition feels like an ‘event’.
But one of the difficult things to do is playing away from home on a Wednesday, then preparing for an ‘Ipswich away’, as he told Sky Sports.
Aston Villa and Unai Emery in the Champions League
“I think for Villa, they look very good,” said Neville about the win at West Ham. “You are right, there is no point in judging Villa, at this moment in time. They have got a very experienced manager who has been around the block and he knows this game about playing in Europe and playing at the weekend as well. It’s not new for Villa at all or for Unai Emery.
“But the Champions League brings such a sense of occasion. It’s like an event. Even for teams who have played in it quite a few times when that music comes on. For Villa, and their fans, it will feel like a massive event, but then you have got to go to Ipswich away on a Saturday at 12:30 pm after it. That’s where you have to (adjust). You have played away somewhere, come back at three in the morning on a Thursday, and you feel like you are hungover even though you haven’t had a drink. That’s how you do feel in Europe sometimes.
“Players are the same. You get up on a Friday morning, you feel well behind it and then you have to go and play again. That’s why the top clubs, the top players and the top teams, do it year in and year out. They just repeat that and are very good at it. It’s new for Villa, so it comes with that height, anxiety, expectation and the electricity it will bring. But it will sap them a little bit of energy and they have to deal with that. They have a very good manager to be able to do so.”
Aston Villa’s squad
It’s fairly bulked up, but you feel a lot more changes could be made before the summer transfer window slams shut at the end of the month.
Diego Carlos’ future at Villa hangs in the balance, with Emery probably needing to add more freshness to the centre-back spots.
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Jhon Duran scored the winner against West Ham amid transfer speculation and Villa need to keep him on board to cover Ollie Watkins.
Joao Felix is set to join Chelsea, so Villa can forget about that saga and turn their attention to buying more defensive players.
