“He’s been doing this all season,” said Theo Walcott on Match of the Day 2 last Sunday night, reflecting on how Unai Emery made second-half changes to help his team earn a point at West Ham. “He’s a master in tactics, and the players listen to him. He has so many messages. Players want to play for him.”

There’s certainly no shortage of appetite for work among the Villa players, who negotiated a potentially awkward week reasonably well – striding confidently past Ajax into the last eight of the Europa Conference League, and making a net gain of a point