Matt Maher: Unai Emery sounds ready for an urgent rethink at Aston Villa

It’s a word you can almost guarantee the Villa manager will utter at every press conference and the blueprint underpinning success.

In simple terms, it is what makes his team consistently look so well coached.

So when Emery expressed fear the structure had been “lost” in the aftermath of Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat to Chelsea it was more than worthy of note.

For the first time, it felt like an admission what has worked so well in the past isn’t working now.

When Villa have experienced bad runs before, most notably when they failed to win any of their first six matches this season, Emery’s has refused to flinch from the gameplan, maintaining belief consistency of message would eventually see them through.

Back in the dark days of September, it paid off handsomely as the goals of John McGinn and Emi Buendia brought the campaign spluttering to life.