"To be honest with you, I watched Aston Villa and I can't believe the scoreline. Honestly Aston Villa played fantastic football and just lost to bad goals," legendary former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said to NBC Sports after seeing Newcastle thrash Villa 5-1 at St James' Park on the opening weekend of the season. "It's a surprising game, football. You can play teams off the pitch and not score - that's what Aston Villa did."
There are very few figures in football with sharper powers of judgement than Ferguson. Newcastle rightfully earned all the headlines after their statement victory, but the Scot shrewdly observed the potential of Unai Emery's swashbuckling side, and they've since unlocked it to overtake the Magpies in the Champions League qualification reckoning.
Villa sat fourth in the Premier League table after 23 games, 13 points clear of Newcastle and eight ahead of United, who are set to visit Villa Park on Sunday. There's no question that Villa have enjoyed a fantastic season so far and Emery is exceeding expectations. However, recent signs suggest they may not be able to stay the course.
Villa have won just three of their last nine games across all competitions, with their latest setback coming in the form of a 3-1 loss at home to Chelsea in an FA Cup fourth-round replay. "We lost more balls than normal. In our medium block, we were not being strong and they were being a threat in behind," Emery admitted in his post-match press conference. "Of course, sometimes the performances of the players could be better."
That lack of intensity is becoming a worrying theme for Villa, and Emery must bring the collective standards in his squad back up quickly, or else all the work put in up to this point will be for nothing.