Title Talk For Engagement
Football loves a narrative, and modern football media loves one even more. The problem is that narratives are now routinely manufactured long before they are earned. The latest example is the growing insistence on framing Aston Villa’s strong first half of the season as a “title race”. It is lazy, engagement-driven noise, and it ignores both history and basic logic.
Emery Cutting Through the Noise
Unai Emery has already addressed this on several occasions, and reiterated it in his latest press conference ahead of Aston Villa’s trip to the Emirates to face top-of-the-table Arsenal.
“Two years ago, we were finishing the first half of the season with 39 points. Just now, we have 39 points, and you were making the same question,” stated Emery to the press.
“We finished fourth in the Champions League position, of course, fantastic.
“To speak about the title, it doesn’t make sense for us now, in December. For me, it doesn’t make sense,” he added.
This is not false modesty. It is realism. Emery understands that league titles are decided in April and May, not when the Christmas decorations go up. Momentum in December is useful. It is not destiny.
The focus is very much on the next game, which has more relevance in the here and now, as Emery pointed out.
“Of course, we are motivated, we are excited, but for the moment we are [in],” said the Villa boss. “For the match we are going to play and with three points difference between them and us (Arsenal).
This is our motivation, but if we are thinking today, [match day] 38, the life is passing. We are not enjoying.”
Villa’s History Tells You Everything
Aston Villa supporters have been here before, which makes the current media frenzy even more irritating.
Under Martin O’Neill, Villa started seasons strongly. By Christmas, the club had sat comfortably in the top four conversation. The target was Champions League qualification, not titles, and even that proved elusive. From March onwards, performance levels dipped, energy faded, and squad depth was lacking. O’Neill was later exposed for a relaxed approach to training and player downtime eventually caught up with the squad. Fitness dropped. Sharpness went. The season fizzled out.
The same pattern appeared earlier under John Gregory in a season that saw Villa top at Christmas in the 1998/99 season, after they had started the season with a 12-game unbeaten run. A very promising league position. Then reality arrived. From Boxing Day a winless run of 12 games began and Villa slumped to sixth by the end of the season. Winter optimism had soon faded.
Crucially, during those periods, nobody serious was talking about title races. There was an understanding of scale, resources, squad depth, and the brutal attrition of a Premier League season.
The last true feeling of being in a title race for Villa was in the first ever Premier League season under Ron Atkinson. On New Year’s Day after 22 games (when the league had 22 teams), Villa were third on 38 points, level with second-place Manchester United and three points behind table-topping Norwich City. Despite Dalian Atkinson’s injury, which ruled out the striker who had scored 11 goals in Villa’s first 18 games, for months, it certainly felt like Villa were in a title race when they returned from Old Trafford in mid-March with a 1-1 draw.
Villa were running on fumes though, as ‘Fergie time’ was born and United had all the momentum and eventually lifted the title ahead of the final game.
Two Years Ago Says It All
As previously mentioned, Emery himself points to the most relevant comparison. Two years ago, Villa reached the half-way point on 39 points. The conversation was never really about winning the league. It was about whether Villa could cling on long enough to qualify for the Champions League. That framing was correct. It respected context.
Villa finished fourth. An extraordinary achievement. But it came through control, structure, and relentless focus on the next match, not through indulging fantasy headlines in December.
The league has not become shorter since then. The physical and mental demands have not eased. If anything, the margin for error is thinner.
Engagement Farming Disguised as Analysis
So why the title chatter now?
Because “title race” drives clicks, clips, and social engagement. It feeds TikTok prediction videos, hot-take panels, and manufactured debates that collapse under the slightest scrutiny. It is content landfill.
Talking about a title race at the half-way point does not raise ambition. It distorts it. It shifts focus away from process and onto outcomes that are not yet relevant. Emery knows this. Elite managers always do.
Perspective Is Not Pessimism
None of this is about dampening excitement. Villa are doing great. They are competitive. They are well coached. They are capable of beating anyone on their day and most importantly are showcased a mentality that is stronger than in previous seasons under Emery.
But perspective is not negativity. It is discipline.
As Emery made clear, the only thing that matters right now is the next match, the next three points, and sustaining standards into spring. Enjoying the actual journey and games, rather than pointless future speculation.
Title races begin when the daffodils appear. Everything before that is just noise.
UTV
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