'Taste of Champions League will surely be as addictive for players as Emery'
"The last minute in Paris..." said Unai Emery wistfully. "And as well today, at 3-2, the last 20 minutes maybe I was missing a little bit..."Emery was still assembling his thoughts when he reached the press room after a night of wild emotions, but this was a trademark Emery response. He would go on to explain how proud he was of his team, but his first thought was to start thinking how to reach even higher.This attitude is the guiding principle Emery has expressed since the day he arrived. Whenever Villa appear to have taken a step forward - from their first move away from the fringe of the relegation battle into mid-table - he has immediately talked of pushing for the next one.Why stop there? A leader like that was never going to be satisfied with entering the Champions League just to enjoy the music and a bit of duty-free shopping.On a night when so many players performed with distinction, it was appropriate that John McGinn should play such a prominent role.As an ever-more illustrious squad has assembled around him, he has sometimes spoken modestly about his own ability. But he should rest assured that there are thousands who will speak for him, and it was noticeable that even Paris St-German coach Luis Enrique seemed to single him out for particular congratulations amid the handshakes at the end of the game."It's himself," said Emery, when asked how he has coached McGinn to this standard. "He's doing every step forward we are trying to set... he is really a very important player as captain."Emery and McGinn: two characters from entirely different football backgrounds, unified by the same explorer's spirit, to see where they can go next.Depending on what happens in the next few weeks, there may be a moment when we say that in a way, this outcome was the most optimal in the long run. Leaving the competition at this point eases some of the workload pressure for a month that could be hugely consequential.Today may not be the day to make that argument to Emery and his players – they will be feeling sore after coming so close, and no doubt mentally and physically tired.But the taste of the biggest European competition will surely be as addictive for the players as it clearly is for their coach, and the strongest possible motivation. Perhaps they proved something to themselves, as well as everyone else: that they are good enough not just to reach the Champions League, but to flourish in it.Listen to full commentary of Aston Villa v Newcastle at 17:30 BST on Saturday on BBC Radio WM (95.6 FM/DAB/Freeview)Tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
13 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘We took a big leap of faith': how a community project built Arsenal Women
It is 40 years since the establishment of Arsenal in the Community, the wing of the club responsible for founding the women's team, and the announcement that all the side's Women's Super League games will be played at the Emirates Stadium next season returns the team to the N5 community that birthed it. With the players ending an 18-year wait for a second European title by beating Barcelona in the Champions League final in May, it has been a year of full-circle moments for Arsenal. Bringing all league games to the Emirates Stadium 'is another step in driving towards the best conditions for our players to be able to perform at their best and towards one of our main objectives, which is to win trophies', says Arsenal's director of women's football, Clare Wheatley. 'We also just felt that a connection back to where we began, back to our roots, was warranted.' Sitting in the sun in the playground of Haverstock School, with an Arsenal in the Community girls' football session taking place in the background, Arsenal's head of community, Freddie Hudson, tells the story of the birth of the women's team. 'The roots of Arsenal women are firmly connected to a community programme back in the late 1980s, when there was just no access or structured opportunity for girls and women to play football,' says Hudson, part of the community scheme for 37 years. 'You couldn't go to a local provision as a young girl and take part in any football activities. We recognised that and we thought that was wrong, so we began to run girls' football programmes in schools, after the school day and during holidays, and what we found was that those girls were as talented as the boys, and that was with huge barriers and challenges around them and without any football role models they could look up to.' The decision to engage further with those girls grew from this. 'If they wanted to model a football technique or a skill, they'd have to look to professional men players and that just didn't sit right with the football club,' Hudson says. 'So we took those girls' football programmes and the passion, commitment, togetherness, belonging and loyalty that those girls were showing, which was just so powerful, and took a big leap of faith. We developed a youth training scheme for 16- to-18-year-olds with the aim of mirroring what the boys had in terms of a pathway. 'There was no route into professional football for women but at least we could get to the point where they had a YTS scheme as an option. So they were full-time with us from 16 to 18 and were paid for by a government training scheme. The bulk of their time they were being coached as players, but then they gained lots of sports qualifications and gained experience in the JVC Centre at Arsenal in a sort of leisure centre environment. So we were equipping them with work skills and more. That was just such a powerful programme and all of a sudden that attracted players like Rachel Yankey.' The club would help senior players find jobs in the club too, Alex Scott famously washing the men's team kits in her early days there. The landscape is very different today but Arsenal are still doing that base-level community work. One of the coaches working with the girls at Haverstock School, Abby Webster, is a former pupil. 'As soon as I hit 18 I was able to get a job in the community,' she says. 'I've been out to other places to get some more experience but then I've always come back here; this has always been where my heart stays.' Bella, Myah, Kayla and Stevie step away from the session, faces red, to talk about its impact. 'We're closer now,' says Bella. Abby, says Stevie, is 'less like a coach and more like a person that you can go and talk to. She's more like a cool, younger person, like a cousin or something.' All four have been taking part since the sessions began, having previously had only the inter-form cup available for matches. They love the sessions and have loved being taken on trips too, including to the Arsenal Hub, the centre of Arsenal in the Community. 'We've met Declan [Rice],' says Myah. 'We got signed shirts, the new shirts,' Kayla says. Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion When Arsenal in the Community was launched in 1985, it was a way to give back to locals facing disruption on match days and engage with a generation of young people 'that we felt they weren't being listened to', says Hudson, who was awarded an MBE last Friday for services to Arsenal's community. 'Unemployment was high, there was some racial tension in the city and we wanted to engage those young people.' Many of those challenges exist today. 'The riots in the 80s and 90s were kind of replicated in 2011,' Hudson says. 'Society was in a pretty bad place back then and the challenges nowadays are similar, though there are some differences and different nuances. Unemployment is still a real challenge for certain young people that haven't had any decent role modelling around education and work pathways.' The community programme has also enabled Arsenal to assist local authorities with issues such as teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, school attendance and punctuality, Hudson says. 'The beauty of the football club, though, is it's nimble,' he says. 'It's not a local authority, it's not an NHS, where there's levels of signoff you have to go through. We can be really responsive and with a bit of creativity and nimbleness and passion and commitment, all of a sudden you could be facing a challenge one day and the workforce could be out there with partners delivering on those challenges within a couple of weeks.' Arsenal want to ensure a route remains from their community work into the women's and girls' teams, alongside their talent ID programme and academy. 'We are also aware of barriers that are there for local girls to come through and have plans to reduce those,' Wheatley says. Those plans include moving some training to London and helping with the financial burdens that come with being a part of a team. Improving the diversity of the senior side is also an important driver behind the work done further down the chain. Wheatley is proud of Arsenal's diversity in the academy and says: 'We have strengthened the pathway between the academy and first team just to ensure that there is that progress.' The success of the first team and of individual players provides what Hudson describes as 'a golden opportunity that we can't let pass' at community level. 'All the success we've had in the 2022 Euros, with all the success that Arsenal women have had with 62 trophies, it's phenomenal,' he says. 'And we've got a great window to drive some female-focused messages, supporting those young girls through pinch points of anxiety in their lives, but not just with women and girls. We've got a great opportunity to take some of those conversations, some of that education, some of that awareness, to a male audience, and that's what we're doing too.'
The Sun
19 minutes ago
- The Sun
Chelsea vs LAFC – Club World Cup LIVE SCORE: Blues look to stop their ex-striker Olivier Giroud in huge opener
CHELSEA'S Club World Cup campaign gets underway TONIGHT against MLS heavyweights LAFC - and they'll be facing some familiar faces. Former Blue Olivier Giroud will be part of the LAFC squad - a player who was pivotal to Chelsea's 2021 Champions League triumph after scoring six goals in the campaign. And ex-Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris will be in between the sticks for the American stars and he'll be hoping to keep out Chelsea's summer signing Liam Delap on his debut. Follow ALL the action from Chelsea's Club World Cup opener with our live blog below... 7 minutes ago By Nyle Smith Club World Cup groups Group A: Palmeiras (Brz), Porto (Por), Al Ahly (Egy), Inter Miami (USA) Group B: Paris Saint-Germain (Fra), Atlético Madrid (Esp), Botafogo (Brz), Seattle Sounders (USA) Group C: Bayern Munich (Ger), Benfica (Por), Boca Juniors (Arg), Auckland City (Nzl) Group D: Flamengo (Brz), Chelsea (Eng), Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tun), Los Angeles FC (USA) Group E: River Plate (Arg), Inter Milan (Ita), CF Monterrey (Mex), Urawa Red Diamonds (Jpn) Group F: Fluminense (Brz), Borussia Dortmund (Ger), Ulsan HD (Kor), Mamelodi Sundowns (Rsa) Group G: Manchester City (Eng), Juventus (Ita), Wydad AC (Mor), Al Ain (UAE) 7 minutes ago By Nyle Smith Delap of honour Chelsea's new shiny toy Liam Delap is expected to make his debut tonight - and Blues fans are buzzing. Delap, 22, has joined the Blues on a six-year contract after his release clause was met following Ipswich's relegation to the Championship. The centre-forward emerged as Enzo Maresca's preferred attacking target after netting 12 Premier League goals for the Tractor Boys. Their time together at Manchester City also played a pivotal role in Delap's decision to snub fellow suitors United. By Nyle Smith Welcome to Chelsea's Club World Cup opener Chelsea kickstart their Club World Cup campaign against MLS heavyweights LA FC tonight - and SunSport will be all over it! Enzo Maresca's men face a tricky test against former Chelsea hero Olivier Giroud in Atlanta, Georgia — where temperatures could hit a sticky 30 degrees celsius. But with an even tougher fixture on the horizon against Brazilian giants Flamengo, today's match could provide opportunities for some new faces. Chelsea have taken no less than 28 players to the States, with Conference League winners like Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Reece James included. Promising youngsters such as Tyrique George, Marc Guiu and Josh Acheampong have also travelled. However, there could be as many as six debutants tonight in scenes bound to excite Blues fans. And should they all feature on the pitch at the same time, they would create a new spine to mark the latest point of Chelsea's fast-paced revolution. Stay tuned for all the build-up, team news and starting line-ups ahead of the huge kick off at 8pm BST.
The Guardian
20 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The trial that has gripped Norway like a soap opera has ripped apart track and field's most famous family
The moment that ripped apart track and field's most successful and eccentric family came in January 2022, after the 15-year-old sister of the Tokyo Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen was grounded by her father after school. At that point, Jakob and his brothers Filip and Henrik, were all European, world or Olympic champions, having trained like professionals since before they were teenagers. They were also major TV stars in Norway thanks to the docu-series Team Ingebrigtsen, where they appeared alongside their coach and father Gjert. Gjert, whose manner could make an army drill sergeant sound touchy-feely, outlined his philosophy early in series one. 'I don't want to be an angry man, I want to be a father,' he said. 'But if being an angry man brings them their dreams I will tolerate what I am missing.' But on that day in 2022, Gjert's anger went too far. It led to him striking his daughter with a wet towel, his sons to ditch and denounce him, and to a courthouse in Sagnes, Norway where he stood trial for physically and mentally abusing Jakob and Ingrid. Amid tense scenes in court in March this year, Gjert explained what he felt had happened. 'She's really angry and says: 'I fucking don't want to be in this prison of yours any more,' while holding her index finger at me. 'I pull the towel against her finger twice in quick succession. She then says: 'What the hell are you doing, are you hitting me?' To which I reply: 'I didn't hit you.' Ingrid's testimony, though, told a different story. 'I had been so depressed and ignored for several months, I simply felt bullied,' she said. 'I pushed his finger away. He had a small towel that he had been sweating in, so it was wet. He whipped it at my face. First once without hitting. Then he did it once more, and then he hit me on the cheek.' After a month of deliberations, the court issued its 31-page verdict on Monday. And when it came to the wet-towel incident it was unequivocal. 'There is no doubt that the defendant acted intentionally.' The court noted that Ingrid had fled to her brother Henrik's home. And that Henrik's wife, Livia, had taken a photograph of a red mark across Ingrid's face. 'Ingrid's explanation is significantly strengthened by other evidence,' the court said. 'She left the house and moved out. The defendant, in turn, sent her a message the next day in which he strongly regretted the incident, emphasising that he needed help and that he wanted to see a doctor and psychologist. 'The court therefore assumes as proven beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant hit Ingrid in the face with a blow with a small and damp towel.' As a result of his actions, Gjert received a 15-day suspended sentence and was ordered to pay his daughter £744. Yet when the verdict was announced on Monday his reaction was one of 'relief', according to his attorney, Heidi Reisvang. Why? Because when it came to every other allegation against him, the prosecution was unable to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The court accepted that Jakob and Ingrid's evidence had often been 'credible'. However it said that in many instances it was impossible to know the truth when Gjert, his wife Tone, or one brother, Martin, had one view of an incident – while Jakob, Ingrid and the other siblings had another. Jakob, for instance, had told the court that he had been punched 'many times' by his father when he was eight, after receiving a negative report about his behaviour from school. The incident was confirmed by Filip, who was said to have observed it from an adjacent room. However Martin said that his father had only grabbed Jakob and held him against the wall while he yelled. According to the ruling, memories could have been distorted by time – and antipathy. Some of the allegations, though, were dismissed by the court. It ruled that Jakob's claims to have been knocked off his scooter and kicked in the stomach by his father in front of witnesses were 'incomprehensible', suggesting that someone would have surely reacted to a little boy being attacked. It also dismissed prosecutors' claims that the Ingebrigtsen household had been 'characterised by continuous insecurity and fear of violence' between 2008 and 2018. While it acknowledged Gjert was sometimes angry, it said it was 'difficult to reconcile' the allegation with testimony from family friends, athletes and TV crews. The court also pointed to a heated 30-minute argument between Gjert and Jakob at a training camp in St Moritz in 2019, which was recorded by Henrik without his father's consent and later played in court, as evidence that Jakob was no shrinking violet. The judges described it as 'loud and rather pointless', but added: 'It must be emphasised that Jakob shows no sign of fear or submission towards the defendant. He stands his ground and retaliates against the defendant's verbal abuse.' So what might happen now? Speaking after the verdict, Reisvang held out hope that this great schism could be mended. 'As Gjert said during the trial, he wants to reconcile with his family, and he hopes that he will have a relationship with them at some point,' she said. 'That hasn't changed.' Jakob's reaction to the ruling came only via an Instagram post of a picture of his daughter, Filippa, which appeared to suggest hell might freeze over first. 'I will always be there for her if she needs a hug,' he wrote. 'I will cheer for her, whatever choice she makes (except if she steals my 911 GT3 RS). I will give her space if space is what she asks for. And I will love and respect her unconditionally (even if she steals my 911 GT3 RS)!' It was a promise that was touching and pointed. But while it spoke of looking to the future, you suspect there are scars here that will never disappear.
