Villa Issue Statement in Liverpool Fight Back

What a game of football. From Emi’s howler, to a missed tap-in, narrow offsides for and against, top-class saves, Salah blanked…, this one had it all. But what we saw tonight was more than great entertainment. It was a statement.

Down 1-3 to Liverpool, it would’ve been all too easy to quit. Disappointment in the Conference League, a dreary loss to Brighton. Everything looked like it was fizzling out. But Villa had still something to say, and what they said is that the culture has changed. They weren’t going quietly into the night. And we know the man responsible. Unai Emery has taken a rag-tag outfit, made some astute additions, and turned a club that was facing relegation into a European semifinalist and one that is now on the cusp of finishing ahead of Spurs, Chelsea and United to claim a Champions League spot for the first time ever.

It’s remarkable. Beating City, doing the double over Arsenal, and then coming back against a Liverpool side playing on song to claim a crucial point. But more than that, they proved that they have the heart and soul to rightly claim a Champions League finish. Toe to toe with royalty and on the ropes, they dug all the way down to the bottom and showed the fight and spirit missing for far too long at Villa Park. And the spirit in the ground. Sounded glorious.

They’ve taken us on one hell of a ride this season. Goals, excitement, drama. Elation, despair. That’s what football should be. And through all the challenges and obstacles, they found a way to say ‘We belong’.

I’ll be honest…in the dreariness of Gerrard’s tenure, I thought long and hard about hanging up my spurs. I thought I couldn’t face the drab tedium of untold years of underachievement and disappointment, an old and tired story for Villa only briefly interrupted by Dean Smith’s hand-of-god intervention getting us back up. But it looked like it had gone, and I thought, “What do I really have to offer, to say anymore? Recriminations, finger pointing, disappointment, excuses, faint glimmers?” I thought, “Just step back and let others do the talking. There’s plenty far younger who want to.”

But Emery changed all that. I think I speak for a lot of supporters in saying that he brought the game back to life, Villa back to life. Brought pride and joyful anticipation. Unbelievable results, fantastic days and nights. He gave us back our pride. He made it fun. He showed that Villa don’t have to be perpetual also-rans. That the promise Sawiris and Edens made to us weren’t just the empty words of far too many new owners. I knew tonight would be hard. But I was excited to watch. I wasn’t dreading it. That’s the difference. I don’t know how long it’s been since a Villa side went two goals down to a Big Side like Liverpool and fought back in the final minutes to shock them and take something. We got knocked down and we get up again.

Sawiris seized the moment, found the man, and may, just may, have ushered in a new era at Aston Villa. If nothing else, he and Emery have given us a season to remember, something we all desperately needed. A season that said through all the ups and downs, we belong because in the end and as much of a cliché it is, the table doesn’t lie. And based on what we’ve all seen, I back Emery to keep us going.

We’re not over the line just yet, of course. We’ll all have our City tops on tomorrow along with Bravearse. But we still control our destiny by fighting back for a solitary point against a far better team on paper when it would’ve been much easier to just give up and say it was one of those games. Villa showed up. Villa overcame adversity. Villa refused to lose. And even if Spurs pull an upset tonight, we still have something to say about it on the final day.

Who’d have thought.

In the meantime, I’m going to bask in the moment. The lads, all of them, showed up and did us proud.

Over to you.