So Villa qualify for CL is not meeting and managing big expectations?
Aston Villa knows where it lies in the food chain. It is a mid-tier club in modern football that lacks the ambition and the resources to compete for the league title.
It also doesn’t put any pressure on its managers to qualify for the UCL. Qualifying for the UCL is seen as an overachievement.
This is why Aston Villa hosted a grand event last night to celebrate finishing fourth. I have seen clubs celebrate winning a treble with less excitement.
Aston Villa and the fans will be happy to finish anywhere between 4th and 8th so it is not really a job with big expectations.
As long as you don’t drag them to the bottom half of the table like Dean Smith and Gerrard did, you are unlikely to get sacked.
This slow reflects poorly on Emery. If he was the top manager that some people are projecting him to be, there is absolutely no way he would be content at a club that is popping champagne bottles at finishing fourth.
The season that Villa has had can lead to a managerial sacking at a big club. Just like no world class player would stick around at Aston Villa, no world class manager will stick around either simply because a world class manager would want to be at a club where he has access to enough funds and pulling power that can enable him to win the league.
Emery extended his contract at Villa at a time where a host of powerful European clubs are looking for new managers.
This tells us that neither the powerful clubs rate Emery as a top manager and neither does Emery rate himself as a top manager.
After the humbling experiences at PSG and Arsenal where Emery got found for being too small for the jobs, it appears that he has made peace with the fact his level is clubs like Aston Villa and Villarreal and not the clubs that will back him in the market to win the league.
Arsenal were desperate for top 4 not so long ago when finishing top 4 was a major achievement for Arsenal.
And this why Arteta deserves so much credit. For years and years, Arsenal let the standards compromise to the point where fighting to win the league was not even a question anymore.
It was all about doing enough to finish top 4. This is why Wenger was driven out of the club because Arsenal needed a fresh, ambitious manager.
Emery was brought in to usher a new era and he showed that the job was too big for him. This is why he was replaced by Arteta and Arteta has done the job that Emery was appointed to do.
Arteta is the reason Arsenal went from a club that was fighting for top 4 to fighting for the league title.
Arteta is the reason why Arsenal fans will be disappointed with missing out on winning the league by a whisker. The same fans who would have been thrilled with a top 3 finish few years back.
Those who think Arteta has not done a marvelous job and he needs to be replaced need to have their sanity checked at this point because someone who can think straight cannot come to that conclusion.
Or are you suggesting Emery has benefited from attrition and other teams regressing too?
What do you mean by “too”?
Arteta has not capitalized on the regression of others because these other clubs (United and Chelsea) have spent more money than Arsenal in the same period.
The only difference between the three clubs is that Arsenal have a top manager and they haven’t had one in this period except Tuchel at Chelsea who shouldn’t have been sacked.
Arteta is a far better manager than Ole, Ten Hag, Lampard, Potter and Pochettino. This is why Arsenal are where they are and they are where they are.
Arteta got.exposed by Emery twice this season. Learn to accept this fact and move on.
Prior to the last game, Pep’s City had never scored a goal in the new Spurs stadium and it opened in April 2019.
Couple of seasons back, Nuno did a double over Pep with his Wolves team.
Clubs and managers have their bogey teams and managers. No doubt Arteta has found it difficult to beat Emery this season, but head 2 head means nothing when you are operating at different levels.
Arteta is managing a club that is fighting to win the league. Emery is managing a club that is popping champagne bottles at finishing fourth, and Arteta is managing the same club that kicked Emery out because he wasn’t good enough for them.
Emery would have been where Arteta is today if he was good enough. Let Emery manage a big club again and then we can compare him to Arteta.
. Son just became a Man City legend without even knowing it!!. The Korean wiped off all the smiles and jokes off Arsenal and their fans faces with one kick!. Well done, Son!
. We have won the English title 19 times compared to your pathetic 13. Even under your so called best era Wenger only won the EPL three times in 22 years, that is hardly brilliant to say the least. We will put you in your place again making you hang our coats as has historically been the case. Just wait and watch.
