In Focus: How Emery has transformed Villa into European contenders

Unai Emery's sensational transformation of Aston Villa reached new heights with their 3-0 dismantling of Newcastle on Saturday.

The two sides came into the clash in superb form but it was the home crowd who were celebrating at full-time after a dominant display at Villa Park.

With that statement win their fifth straight victory and seventh in eight games, European football next season is increasingly looking like a distinct possibility.

We take a closer look at Villa's remarkable resurgence under the former Arsenal and Villarreal coach.

Terrific turnaround

When Steven Gerrard was sacked in October following a disastrous 3-0 defeat at Fulham, Villa were languishing in 17th with two victories in 11 games and just nine points.

Fast forward less than six months and Villa now have 50 points and 15 wins — a simply extraordinary turnaround in fortunes.

Goals were in short supply at the start of the season, scoring only seven times under the ex-Liverpool midfielder. Villa's talented squad have since scored in all 18 of their league games under Emery, a rise from 0.64 to 1.83 strikes per 90 minutes.

And with Villa having won five straight Premier League games for the first time since 1998, the sixth-placed side are now just six points off a Champions League place.

Raising the standards

The rise under Emery is made all the more impressive by the fact that he has done it with mostly the same players he inherited.

Recognising that Villa's expensively-assembled squad had not been reaching their potential, left-back Alex Moreno and future prospect Jhon Duran were the 51-year-old's only January arrivals.

It is easy to lose count of all the success stories of players whose levels have dramatically risen under the Basque tactician.

Ollie Watkins is the obvious one. His two goals in the masterclass against Eddie Howe's Tynesiders took him to 12 Premier League goals since the World Cup — only Erling Haaland has scored more.

Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings are similarly knocking on Gareth Southgate's door after rediscovering their rock-solid defensive partnership, while classy operator Douglas Luiz is showing why Pep Guardiola once signed him. 

Further forward, John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey have thrived, developing an exciting partnership with Emiliano Buendia behind Watkins in attack.

Fluid system

So much of what has been good about Villa is a result of the system Emery has deployed, as was shown on Saturday.

The fluid 4-2-2-2 system allows his side to have plenty of options in attack but contain the opposition when out of possession.

The midfield double pivot, which was made up of Luiz and Leander Dendoncker versus the Toon, stay deep and dictate possession, with slow build-up drawing the opposition out of position.

That creates space for the likes of McGinn, Ramsey and Buendia to overload the attacking areas and Watkins to stretch the defence with his runs in between opposition centre-backs.

A difficult run-in

Talk has now turned to whether Villa could even gatecrash the Champions League places, let alone the Europa League and Europa Conference League spots.

It would surely take a large drop off to leapfrog Manchester United on 59 points or Newcastle on 56 but that it is even being spoken about is an achievement in itself.

Emery's charges still have away trips to Brentford, United, Wolves and Liverpool as well as hosting Fulham, Tottenham and Brighton during a difficult run-in.

But facing teams around them allows them to strengthen their chances, while weakening others' in the process.

Having done that so emphatically against Newcastle, they will fear no one in their quest to bring European nights back to Villa Park.