As Aston Villa try to create a memorable season from the unlikeliest beginnings, their greatest challenges are as likely to happen off the pitch as on it.
Few who watched Villa in the first six weeks of the season would have believed their current situation possible.
After failing to record a league win until September 28 and not even scoring until five weeks into the Premier League campaign, Unai Emery’s men are three points off the top after beating league leaders Arsenal last weekend – one of the most rousing displays of Emery’s three years in charge.
With Arsenal at home to woeful Wolves, Villa are unlikely to close the gap even if they win at West Ham on Sunday. Yet having won nine of their last 10 games, Villa’s men are worrying wealthier rivals for the third season in a row.
Fixtures against Chelsea and Arsenal follow the meeting with Manchester United on December 21 and after Villa’s trip to Emirates Stadium nine days later, we will see what changes – if any – Emery can make to his squad. More importantly, we will see whether Emery can ensure his focus is not swayed by the uncertainty of the winter market.
Emery is at his best when he can devote himself entirely to football – training, tactics, analysis. If he is distracted by other matters, perhaps Emery is not the same force. Small wonder, then, that the Villa boss did not seem himself during August, when the transfer window remained open.
During that time, Emery was hugely frustrated, both at the financial restrictions that curtailed Villa’s spending, and the failure to deliver the signings he wanted. Emery would never cut corners in the day job but the external noise surely affected him, even if he did not realise it himself.
Despite the amicable statements on all sides, the departure of Monchi as ‘president of football operations’ 23 days after the window shut can be interpreted in this context.
Financial restrictions mean Villa have little room for manoeuvre in January yet Emery demands a great deal from everyone who works with him.
Throughout next month the Villa boss will be regularly asking Roberto Olabe, who replaced Monchi last autumn, whether he can bring him any new players.
Still Emery would like an attacker who is capable of playing on either flank, given the slow start Evann Guessand and Jadon Sancho have made to their Villa careers.
But that will not be easy, given Villa’s constant reckoning with Premier League and UEFA spending rules.
If the unwanted Harvey Elliott returns to Liverpool midway through his loan spell, that would create space in the wage bill but is unlikely to move the dial too much. Last winter, Villa signed Donyell Malen and added Marcus Rashford, Axel Disasi and Marco Asensio on loan.
Rashford and Asensio helped take them within a whisker of Champions League football but because they missed out on that extra revenue, a similar spree is improbable this time.
The key for Emery is surely not to be distracted by the inevitable frustration that January brings and continue with his latest masterpiece. Because a masterpiece is what this has revival has been.
During the summer, players were disgruntled at the lack of transfer activity and slow progress on new contracts. Many disliked the handling of homegrown midfielder Jacob Ramsey’s £40million sale to Newcastle – even though the deal was necessary to stay within the rules. It was also a good price for a player who had struggled with injuries and was not an automatic pick.
Performances during the early part of the season reflected this unrest and even Emery’s colleagues could not see how Villa might drag themselves out of their funk. It is no exaggeration to say that, at times, Villa looked close to a rabble.
Yet through his dedication, ferocious attention to detail and force of will (without forgetting a few hefty pay rises for key players), Emery has not only stopped the slide but reversed it. The return to fitness of Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara has been vital, while Morgan Rogers once more looks the player who was one of Europe’s breakout stars last season.
Even Emi Martinez, who spent much of the summer hoping to move to Manchester United or Atletico Madrid, looks engaged again. Some of Martinez’s antics can feel performative yet when his fellow Argentine Emi Buendia scored the last-gasp winner against Arsenal, the Villa goalkeeper looked genuinely ecstatic.
Martinez’s personality is so forceful that others can feel intimidated by him. The flip side is that if he is fully on board, the 33-year-old is a formidable leader for this team – even if he does appear to have lost the vice-captaincy to Ezri Konsa.
‘Of course I was worried and I was responsible,’ said Emery recently, when asked about Villa’s poor start. ‘I tried to share my worries with the players two months ago and we are remembering it every day. The most important thing is how the players responded, because if they were not responding in the way I wanted it would be impossible.’
While winning the league is virtually impossible for Villa given the wealth gap to the England’s richest, they now have two routes to the Champions League, through the Premier League and the Europa League. Simply keeping Villa on the straight and narrow now looks an easier task than it was to turn them around three months ago. You would not bet against Emery – as long as he can keep his eye on the ball during January.
