Roy Keane and Gary Neville have disagreed on Unai Emery’s chances of guiding Aston Villa to a second consecutive top four finish in the Premier League this season.
Aston Villa have had a difficult time in pre-season, winning just one of their last five friendlies of the summer.
That included three defeats from three matches in the United States as the club’s efforts to increase their global fanbase were not helped by performances on the pitch.
However, Unai Emery will be keen to focus on the lessons learned from the summer, with the task of integrating a number of signings never an easy one.
Emery has the competing priorities of domestic and Champions League football to contend with after a remarkable campaign last time out and will be looking to continue the club’s meteoric rate of progression since he arrive late in 2022 in the 2024/25 season.
Gary Neville disagrees with Roy Keane thinking Aston Villa will get top four
A lot of work has been done this summer to give Emery the best possible chance of building on last season’s success.
A top four finish alongside a run to the Europa League Conference semi-final gave Villa fans a season to remember and they will relish seeing their team in the Champions League.
However, the task now is finding a way to become regulars in the competition, with the likes of Newcastle United, Everton and Leicester City all failing to back up top four finishes in the last two decades.
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Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Jill Scott were previewing the new season on the latest episode of the Stick To Football podcast, where Villa’s chances of achieving this feat came up.
The five pundits were discussing which teams will finish in the top four, with Neville surprisingly tipping Tottenham to finish in the Champions League positions at the expense of Liverpool.
Keane was also unsure about Liverpool’s top four hopes under new management, but disagreed on Spurs’ chances.
Neville then asked Keane who he thinks would get in the top four instead, to which the former Aston Villa coach responded: “Villa”.
Neville was incredibly dismissive of the Villa Park club’s chances, retorting: “Wow. No, I don’t think so, but anyway…”
Aston Villa won’t mind being written off for Champions League
No one expected Villa to sneak into the top four last season, but they did so by consistency getting results whilst those around them faltered.
The Villans will have no qualms whatsoever about being written off again, with comments such as Neville’s only like to serve as motivation for Emery and his squad.
It will undoubtedly be a challenging season – especially with the revised format of the Champions League meaning even more games – but the arrivals of the likes of Amadou Onana, Ian Maatsen and Ross Barkley should help elevate the squad.
Villa’s ambition shows no signs of slowing down and there is therefore no reason becoming regulars in Europe is beyond the realms of possibility.
