Emery has transformed Villa from relegation fodder to top 4 hopefuls in one year
Visit a few English training grounds and you are sure to see the slogan 'Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard' prominent on a wall.
This slightly glib motto has struck a chord with a number of managers but fails to consider another element.
When you can combine ferocious hard work with talent, you have a pretty unbeatable recipe and this is precisely what Aston Villa have in Unai Emery.
Nobody at the club will say so, but a top-four finish may be within reach for Villa this season.
To put that into context, when Emery replaced Steven Gerrard a year ago, his first task was to ensure Villa were not dragged into a relegation battle.
Now they are two points off the top of the Premier League and have delivered these results without four of Emery's key men from last season: Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia, Jacob Ramsey and Alex Moreno.
'He dreams the same way we dream,' said skipper John McGinn. 'He is patient when it comes to his ideas and tactics, but he is the same as us: he wants to win and he wants to win now.
'You can see that with how ambitious he is, the signings he is making. It's up to us as players. You either get on board with it, get on the train and improve to a level where he wants to get to, otherwise you'll be shifted out and we've seen that already.'
Emery feels there is no time to waste. When Villa were heading home after Thursday's Europa Conference League thrashing of AZ Alkmaar in Holland, Emery and his staff were straight on to their laptops.
Not to relax with the latest Netflix drama, but to review the game just gone and prepare clips and tactical pointers for the players to consider ahead of Sunday's meeting with Luton at Villa Park, where Villa will target a 12th consecutive Premier League
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