Aston Villa seeing 'unbelievable transformation' under Unai Emery, Ollie Watkins 'on fire' - Peter Crouch

Peter Crouch has lumped praise on Unai Emery for the transformational work he has done at Aston Villa ahead of their 2-1 victory against AZ Alkmaar.

Emery has helped lift the Midlands side from finishing in the bottom half of the table in 2022 to securing European football for the first time in 13 years.

The Spaniard took over from Steven Gerrard in October 2022 and turned around a poor run of form, guiding the side to a seventh place finish in the Premier League last season, securing UEFA Europa Conference League football.

They have continued that excellent run into the new campaign, establishing themselves as one of the hardest teams to beat at home, with Villa rising to fifth in the top-flight, while having only lost once in the Europa Conference League group stages so far.

Speaking during Thursday's match, Crouch lauded the job Emery has done at Aston Villa, claiming that they are now miles away from where they once were.

“I spoke to Ollie Watkins and they were having really difficult time and Unai has just kind-of simplified his game, kind of talked to him through everything,” Crouch told TNT Sports.

“Since the new manager’s come in, Watkins has been on absolute fire. I don’t think there’s many that have scored many than him - maybe Harry Kane and Erling Haaland I think in the Premier League.

“It’s an unbelievable transformation, not just from him but he’s improved the players that were there I think he’s made the right signings and sort of shored things up at the back and they’ve become an exciting team to watch now and they were miles from that before he came in.”

Watkins was pivotal during the match, helping Villa come back from going a goal down to seal their third win in Europe this season.

The former Arsenal manager has enjoyed previous success in Europe, winning three UEFA Europa League titles with Sevilla and another with Villarreal.

Since joining Villa, the 52-year-old has won 61% of the Premier League matches he’s taken charge of, an impressive record, while also helping players like Watkins improve in front of goal, with the striker scoring nine goals so far this season.

Crouch added: “When you’ve got a manager of the pedigree of Unai Emery in these European competitions, if I’m one of those players and you’ve got the opportunity to go and do something special in this competition… Obviously watching West Ham last year and the experience the fans and the team had.

“If I’m sitting there in the Aston villa dressing room and I’m playing the way I’m playing full of confidence, and I’ve got a manager that’s won it so many times, they must be full of confidence."

Asked whether Villa could emulate their Premier League rivals West Ham, who won the competition last year, Eniola Aluko said: “Absolutely and especially under Unai Emery. Nine major trophies, I think four are European.

“And that’s what Villa has all been about. They wanted to get back to that European glory. That’s what they should be aiming for.

“There’s no reason why they can’t do what West Ham did last year. And I think like I said, a very exciting team. They’ve got goals galore in the team.”

Villa also had a goal controversially disallowed for offside in the opening three minutes of the match with Clement Lenglet seeming to head them in front inside three minutes.

VAR subsequently ruled that there was an offside in the build up, with Watkins claiming: "I thought it was close, I didn’t celebrate because I thought it was tight. You never know with VAR.

"The first disallowed goal should have counted. They said they made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes."

Adding on the opposition, the striker said: "When you play teams twice, they study you and have a chance to put it right. They made it tough for us but we’ve won the game and that’s all that matters."

"I’m really enjoying it," he said speaking on his fine run of form. "The team are playing good football and I’m getting chances. Delighted to also be called up again [for England]."

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