Villa highlight Emery effect
The great strides Aston Villa continue to make under Unai Emery can be measured by comparing last season’s home performances against West Ham with Sunday’s runaway romp. Last August, the team, still coached by Steven Gerrard, was booed from the field after a 1–0 loss to a West Ham in poor early-season form, and well short of the depth in quality they brought to Villa Park 14 months on. And yet only Danny Ings of that day’s Villa starting lineup has since departed the club. As an 11th successive home win, making such short work of David Moyes’ team was no outlier, the fast breaks and fierce finishes reminiscent of last month’s similar 6-1 torching of Brighton. Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby, of the new arrivals, have made impressive impacts, but it is the form of players like Douglas Luiz and Leon Bailey, the forward previously so inconsistent, that highlights the excellence of their Basque manager. John Brewin
