Andy Townsend is confident that the meticulous Unai Emery is on course to win his fifth Europa League title, which would hand Aston Villa their first major trophy in 29 years. The last time Villa claimed silverware was when Townsend himself lifted the League Cup at Wembley in 1996. Since then, the club has lost four finals and countless semi-finals.
Emery's European Pedigree
Townsend believes that will change on Wednesday night when Emery leads Villa against German side SC Freiburg at Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul. The Spaniard is just 90 minutes away from winning a competition he has dominated, lifting the trophy three times with Sevilla from 2014 to 2016 and once with Villarreal in 2021. Townsend views Emery as Villa's not-so-secret weapon.
“Villa have shown over the last couple of years, in the biggest and best company, the PSGs, the Bayern Munichs, that they can not only compete with those teams, they can beat those teams,” Townsend told BirminghamLive. “I felt all season when I've seen the other teams involved in the Europa League, I didn't see anything in there that I thought Villa couldn't cope with or couldn't beat.”
Villa's European Form
Townsend highlighted Villa's strength over two legs, referencing their performance against Nottingham Forest. “Over two legs, Villa are particularly good. We saw that in the Forest game. I thought Villa were too conservative in that first game. In the second leg once the first one went in I never thought for a second that Forest would be able to recover. I thought the Villa boys were always in total control and at the end of the night, 4-0 didn't flatter Villa. It was very typical of the way the Villa boys have gone about their work in Europe. It was thorough, it was clean, it was professional, and it was absolutely what was required.”
Emery's Tactical Mastery
Emery pulled a masterstroke in that match, deploying Victor Lindelof in midfield out of possession and reverting to a back three when his side had the ball. Townsend believes that like Pep Guardiola, Emery's success as a manager instills belief in his tactics among players.
“A lot of that stems from the confidence they get from Unai being so prolific in the tournament because he's meticulous about what he does. He has the trust of the players, they listen. Many teams in the Premier League this season, you can see when managers are struggling, it's reflected in the nature of the team's performances when there's uncertainty. Villa have always been very sure. I think the players have always been totally convinced that the way that Unai wants to go about it is the correct way that suits the players, suits the team and is a formula for winning.”
Player Versatility
Townsend praised Emery's ability to convince players to adapt to different roles. “There are people like Lindelof who can come in and he likes that versatility, most of the Villa boys are pretty versatile in the sense they can adapt and can go and play in other positions. John [McGinn] has played everywhere across the middle of the park, Morgan [Rogers] is playing as more of a ten lately than off one side. Emi Buendia is another player that can play ten or he can play wider. It's not always easy to convince players to play out of position or outside of what they want to play. Guardiola can do that at City and I think the managers with the biggest and strongest CVs, they convince players that not only they can play in those positions, but they have to do it.”
Confidence in Victory
For that reason, the former Villa captain is confident his former club are on the brink of glory. “I'm convinced that if Villa perform anything like they can, they'll get it done by hook or by crook on the night. They'll win this game.”
