Matt Maher: More reasons to be optimistic about Aston Villa's Champions League chances than not
Speak to anyone at Villa and they’ll tell you one of Unai Emery’s greatest strengths is consistency of mood.
No matter the result, the manager always - as he would put it - “keeps balance” in the belief maintaining equilibrium helps keep his team calm at times of struggle.
Already once this season it has worked to spectacular effect.
Back in September, when from the outside it appeared Emery and Villa’s world was caving in, the atmosphere inside Bodymoor Heath was very different.
The result was one of the greatest runs of form in club history, which took Villa from the Premier League’s bottom three and into the title race.
It is why you are unlikely to find Emery panicking at the loss of momentum which has switched focus away from what is happening above them in the table, to what is occurring immediately below.
A disappointing home draw with Leeds, coupled with late wins for Liverpool and Manchester United, has heightened fears among what was already one of football’s more fatalistic fanbases their team is destined to be overcome in the race for Champions League football.
It’s true Villa’s position isn’t so comfortable as it was in early January, when their advantage over fifth-placed Chelsea was 11 points.
