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BBC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Your Aston Villa player of the season
We asked you to select your Aston Villa player of the season from the four candidates chosen by our fan with the poll now closed, we can reveal the winner is... Youri Tielemans!Here's what David Michael from My Old Man Said, external said about him: After taking almost half a season to start a league game last season, the Belgium midfielder has been Villa's only ever-present starter this time around.A revelation under Unai Emery, he is now very much the heartbeat of the team. His deeper role limits headline stats, but his influence has been essential for the final poll breakdown
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Most Villa fans would pick any other ground - but Emery breaks hoodoos'
Back-to-back Champions League qualifications would be pivotal in maintaining the momentum of the Unai Emery revolution at Aston Villa. It would not only further cement the club's footballing status at the top table but also provide a vital financial boost - especially amid ongoing wage pressures and broader fiscal challenges. In the bigger picture, Villa simply cannot afford to fall short. Already Tottenham, one of the two clubs they are aiming to displace in the so-called 'Big Six' has sneaked into the Champions League via the Europa League final. Falling behind them now risks more than lost prestige - it could mean losing key players and missing out on top transfer targets needed to strengthen this summer. And for a final-day decider? Most Villa supporters would pick any ground but Old Trafford, which has been the 'Theatre of Nightmares' over the past seven decades. Since 1955, Villa have won just three times - in 1983, 2009 and 2021. Still, Unai Emery is no stranger to breaking hoodoos. He delivered Villa's only home win over Manchester United this century - and now has the chance to complete a rare managerial double. To do that, the players need to summon the mindset and composure that deserted them in recent semi-finals - games where they were favourites, but faltered. If they can rise to the occasion and finish on 69 points - one more than their fourth-placed finish last season - even if other results do not fall their way, it still marks tangible progress. To the players and the manager: one last push. On the club's 150th anniversary, securing consecutive Champion League qualifications would provide a great foundation for a potential new legacy period in the club's history. Find more from David Michael at My Old Man Said
BBC News
29-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Emery's persistent defensive tinkering has increasingly become a liability'
For the second consecutive season, Aston Villa have found themselves in a semi-final they were favourites to win - only to limp out in embarrassing year it was the Europa Conference League, where Villa were humbled 6-2 on aggregate by Olympiakos in a defensively shambolic two-legged the heart of the first-leg 4-2 collapse at Villa Park was the surprise inclusion of Clément Lenglet, recalled from the fringes instead of Pau Torres, and central to much of what went wrong on the forward to the weekend's 3-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat against Crystal Palace at Wembley. Despite seemingly having found a defensive formula that helped dismantle Newcastle United 4-1 only days earlier, Unai Emery opted to leave out both Tyrone Mings and Ian Maatsen. This time, it was Pau Torres' turn to be the fall guy at the questions have lingered over the mentality of some Villa players in high-pressure games - with performances often shrinking under the spotlight - Emery's persistent defensive tinkering has increasingly become a it is addressed, it's hard to see this Villa team reaching the heights their attacking potential numbers back it up: Villa have made more than twice as many defensive errors leading to opponent shots compared to last season. It has compromised their goal difference - leaving them effectively an extra point adrift in the race for a top-five finish and Champions League Sir Alex Ferguson famously said, "Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles." It's a truth that spans across all team sports - and one that Emery must urgently evolution under Emery has been transformative. But to truly fulfil their ambitions, they must find defensive consistency. Otherwise, as the latest semi-final heartbreak proved once again, this exciting team will remain fatally vulnerable at the moments when it matters more from David Michael at My Old Man Said, external
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
European exit 'might shape Villa's trajectory for seasons to come'
Against Newcastle United, Aston Villa finally produced a Premier League performance worthy of their potential - the kind their squad, at least on paper, has hinted at all back to full strength and apparently reset after the March international break, Villa seem to have developed a new edge and it may be the Champions League defeat by Paris St-Germain that has truly ignited two legs, the talented champions of France exposed Villa to a new level of intensity - the pace, precision, and positional discipline that define the elite. In trying to live with that, Villa were forced to raise their own result may have been an eventual exit over two legs, but the experience has invigorated the first leg in Paris, Villa have scored 10 goals in three matches. From the second leg at Villa Park, if there is one thing the players will have taken away, it is the belief - and the hunger - that they belong at that level. That they could compete without an apparent ceiling of ambition. Suddenly, securing Champions League football next season is not just a target - it feels like a is no time now for regret over dropped points earlier in the campaign - just a relentless determination to finish the trip to Etihad Stadium presents the first truly 50-50 league clash there, arguably since Sheikh Mansour took ownership of Manchester City in Villa can secure a first league win at City since then, it would not only put them in pole position for a Champions League spot but underline their growing status as a legitimate force in English began as a painful European exit might just become the vital spark that fuels Villa's final push - and shapes the club's trajectory for seasons to more from David Michael at My Old Man Said, external
BBC News
01-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'A season teetering between defining glory and missed opportunity'
Aston Villa's FA Cup semi-final place at Wembley brings a sheen of success to a season that is fascinatingly teetering between defining glory and missed also drops yet another fixture into a jam-packed April that already includes a two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Paris St-Germain and pivotal Premier League games. It is the kind of congested calendar that can either forge heroes or drain Villa, the first of hopefully two trips to Wembley offers a vital safety net. Even if their Champions League push falters in the league and they come unstuck against PSG, the FA Cup provides a tangible shot at silverware and, crucially, a route to European football next Unai Emery having coached in European competition for 16 consecutive seasons, you sense it is almost non-negotiable - for him, for the club's upward trajectory and for a fan base now used to midweek continental the stakes remain cruelly high. This team could end up in two finals and still walk away with nothing - no trophy, no Europe. That uncertainty might explain why Villa have not released their ticket prices for next season yet; the persona of next season could be entirely different depending on how this one you are Emery looking at the run-in, the first priority now is restoring clarity and calm. Strip back the noise. Nail down the strongest XI. Introduce rotation only where necessary, not for the sake of most importantly, get the players believing again that this is not a campaign to survive - it is one they can define. Because the moment the fear of failure overtakes the opportunity of glory, it has already more from David Michael at My Old Man Said, external
