'Different circumstances' - Unai Emery rationalises Aston Villa's dramatic Premier League form swing
Aston Villa will be third in the Premier League on Christmas Day following Sunday’s 2-1 win over Manchester United.
Aston Villa are absolutely flying. Winners of 11 of their last 12 Premier League matches and currently third with a seven-point gap to the fourth-placed Chelsea, the Villans are one of the most in-form teams in the world, let alone just in England. But it was completely different at the start of the season.
After five Premier League games, Villa had just three points and had scored merely one goal. It was grim. Chance creation was limited, nobody was clinical enough to take the few that were crafted, and the overall feeling at the football club was low.
But since then, Unai Emery’s side have claimed 33 points out of a possible 36. Even pace-setters Arsenal cannot come close to that, with 29 points earned by the Gunners in the same period. The contrast to the beginning of 2025/26 has been nothing short of astonishing
Emery reasons Villa’s remarkable rise
So what has happened to cause such a stark upturn in form? Is it Morgan Rogers soaring? Emiliano Martinez reentering the fray? Or even a complete fluke? Well, Emery thinks it’s a combination of a change in ‘circumstances’ and a general improvement in following his tactics.
“Yes, but we had different circumstances,” Emery replied when asked if it’s difficult to believe this is the same season Villa were struggling in the bottom three. “We weren't focusing the league 100 per cent for different circumstances at the beginning of the season. And we lost some matches because the team was not in the same way we are now.
“We were progressively building the team, getting better, understanding tactically and individual tasks, getting the mentality we are showing now. But of course, there's still work to do. We are now in good form, but we are competing fantastic and we are winning one match like today.”
Man Utd ‘fantastic’ - but Villa competitive enough to win
Emery was sure to praise Man Utd post-match, not ignoring the fact that the Red Devils were probably the better team for large chunks of the game – particularly in the first half.
“We were tight in 90 minutes to get the advantage and they had a good chance to score,” Emery added. “Of course, they did fantastic work today and a fantastic game they played, but we competed and we won because we are feeling strong here in Villa Park.
“But if we are relaxing, if we are thinking it's going to be easy the next challenges we will face, of course, we are close to losing. This is the mentality we need: very, very resilient when the opponent are dominating, like today sometimes.
“When we need the defensive structure to get super strong, to be in this way, in the commitment we need. And then we can show our capacity to dominate, our capacity to get in the box, to get set pieces, try to be clinical and use our qualities like today through Morgan Rogers.”