Ashley Young insists Aston Villa are capable of beating any Premier League team in their current vein of form, which has seen the club land in the European positions after winning five of their last six games. Since Emery’s first game in November, only Arsenal (2.4) and Man City (2.1) have a higher points per game ratio than Villa (2) in the Premier League. Young, 37, has played his part in the club’s turnaround and believes the good times are back at Villa Park.
Ashley Young said: “I played here when the club was in Europe and I think that’s been an ambition from the manager, from the owners, from us as players – everyone wants to get the club back in Europe. We’ve got nine games left now, there’s games that are winnable and games that are going to be tough, but we will try and win every game and you know, we’ll have to see at the end of the season. Talking about finishing in the European positions, if you looked at where we were before the manager came, we were looking over our shoulders. We’re in and amongst it now and I think we talked about teams such as Fulham, Brentford, Brighton, where they were a few weeks ago and they’re not far ahead of us now. It’s in touching distance, but like I said, we’ve got to take each game as it comes and we just need three points and we’ll take it from there.”
Villa extended their unbeaten run to six games on Tuesday night by beating Leicester City 2-1 at the King Power Stadium. Bertrand Traore – who was recalled by Emery in January from his loan spell at Istanbul Basaksehir – won the game with a stunning strike in the final minutes of the match.
Ashley Young said: “The way it happened, obviously scoring at that time, VAR then coming in and making the right decision from the foul on Ollie, but it was just the perfect way to win a game. To be honest we started the game well and we fully deserved the three points, so everyone was delighted and for Bert to get on the scoresheet the way that he did. To be honest, I think half the squad was saying to him take a touch! But that’s Bert, he plays off the cuff and we were all delighted for him. Since he has come back he has got his head down and he’s been working and getting on the scoresheet will give him more confidence. I think the way things are going at the moment, the momentum that we have got and the confidence that we are playing with you can see it just spill over on the pitch. I think at the end of the game you saw the celebrations the way they were. It was nice to get the three points away from home again and like I said, we just need to keep winning games, keep building and we’ll see what happens come the end of the season. We had spoken after Chelsea, going to Stamford Bridge and winning there was a massive achievement, but it was then the questions that were going to be asked, like can you back it up. Going to Leicester on a Tuesday night isn’t the easiest of games, but we just had to stick to our game plan, what the manager wanted, take hold of the game. We knew it was going to be a different game to the one which we encountered against Chelsea and were going to have more possession of the ball. We had to be patient, they sat in a low block and it was down to us to break them down and it took a little while, but in the end I have every confidence in this team, my teammates and in the squad, with the confidence we’ve got to go out and beat anyone. I think that we have to just keep playing with the confidence that we have been showing and keep taking that into every game that we have got. The manager touched on that after the game. He said that it wasn’t just the players on the pitch, it’s the players in the squad. It’s everyone, everyone that gets us ready for the games because everyone has a part to play and if everyone is playing their part and everything is going well on the training pitch then you’re in good stead to come into the games on the weekends. We’re back at Villa Park on Saturday to hopefully get three points in front of our home fans.”
Emery’s appointment has galvanised the whole club, and qualifying for Europe is a genuine possibility in the final weeks of the season. Young has praised the Spaniard for the impact he’s made in the short amount of time he’s been working at Bodymoor Heath.
Ashley young said: “If you ask anyone that’s in the squad, they’re all enjoying it. When you’re winning games it’s what everyone enjoys doing and the manager puts a lot into his tactical preparation for the game, for every individual game he does that in the week so it has been fantastic how the boys have taken to it. I said a couple of weeks ago that at times, the fans would get impatient with us, but that’s just what the manager wants. I think everyone is enjoying and confidence is oozing from everyone, nobody is hiding from the ball, everyone wants the ball and when we’re getting in the attacking third, there’s shots, there’s crosses, there’s goals. As long as we keep building on that, I think success is around the corner. We have to keep taking each game as it comes and we have to go again against Forest. The fans at Villa Park are like a 12th man, so when they are behind us it gives us that extra momentum for us to go forward. The team spirit here is fantastic, everyone wants to fight for each other, so as long as we put all of that together, I think that it’s just looking upwards now and looking forwards to the games that are coming up.”
