00:00Charlie, on to Aston Villa now. Looking across their season as a whole, it's been their best
00:05top-flight season in a number of years. They've reached some fantastic heights under Unai
00:10Emery and also getting him to sign that contract as well. Looking back over this magnificent
00:17season, this magnificent run they've had, what are the standout moments for you covering
00:23Aston Villa and being involved at the club?
00:26It's been so many. It's hard to pinpoint just one really. You can talk about Europe and
00:31how it started away at Hibernian, a thrashing 5-0 win over it in Edinburgh to start that
00:37campaign and then all the group matches, the trips across the continent. League Year Warsaw
00:42was a fun one. AZ Alkmaar, you had Ajax as well. Obviously, that was a 0-0 draw away
00:47from home but then winning comfortably at Villapark against the European giants of Ajax.
00:52What an impressive performance that was. What a night that was under the lights. Just
00:56seeing all the fireworks, the European nights back at Villapark, I think were so impressive.
01:01Back in the Premier League, beating Brighton Over Albion 6-1 at the start of the season
01:04kind of set the tone for what should be an impressive year. I'm a Brighton fan myself
01:09so that wasn't a very fun one in the press box. For Villa, just a hat-trick for Oli Watkins.
01:15Going forward, the likes of Moussa Diaby, Leon Bailey, so, so impressive and they've
01:19carried that on throughout the season. But the two 1-0 wins over Arsenal and Manchester
01:25City in the same week in December, I think that's when people started to really take
01:29the club seriously. At that point, there was actually a chance to go top at Christmas.
01:33They failed to do that and then, of course, they lost the lead away at Manchester United
01:37on Boxing Day. That could have got them to the top of the Premier League. They failed
01:41to do that but I don't think they were ever real title contenders because they just didn't
01:45have the longevity and the injuries, of course, didn't help. But that's when people started
01:49to properly think, OK, Villa could get in the Champions League here and now, with one
01:53game to go, they could genuinely do it.
01:56Multiple other players have played into that fantastic attack and have been really solid
02:00at the back as well, all round. What do you think the key to that has been? Is it just
02:05the Unai Emery way of making sure that everywhere is so good and so consistent throughout the
02:11entire season?
02:12I think you hit the nail on the head, really. It's Emery's consistency and his structure
02:17and it's tempting sometimes to be a bit versatile with your tactics and changing formations,
02:21etc. But it's rare that Emery does that. He only does it if he's forced to with injuries
02:26and he's had quite a few, to say the least. I think a lot of talk has been about the likes
02:30of Man Utd and Newcastle and Chelsea with their injuries but Villa have been really
02:35hurt by it as well.
02:37Losing Tyrow Mings and Emi Buendia at the start of the season, two key players, was
02:41not ideal. Jacob Ramsey as well. Bupakar Kamara out for the rest of the season. These are
02:47very important players, starting players. So to lose them and still be in a top four
02:52battle, let alone finishing in it, is so, so impressive. That's down to Emery, his tactics,
02:56his consistency and his belief in his players and his squad.
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