Post Analytics

Ezri Konsa penned a letter to Aston Villa fans ahead of the Europa League final: “That Spurs game? We deserved to be booed. You pay good money to see us put our hearts on our sleeves, and that day we didn’t do much at all. But I think we were just so focused on the second leg. All I would talk about that week was Forest Forest Forest. Just ask my missus. She’d say, ‘What do you want for dinner?’ ‘Forest.’ From the way the boys were talking, I knew we were gonna win. Two days before the game, I saw Ollie Watkins making coffee. I walked over, put my arm around him and said, ‘Ollie, we need you on Thursday, please.’ He looked me in the eye and said, ‘Don’t worry. I’m gonna score. I’m gonna fight. I’m gonna give ’em absolute hell.’ I had never heard Ollie talk like that. There was something special in the air that week. In the dressing room before kickoff, Ginny spoke as the captain, and then I also had a few words. I told the boys to lock in and enjoy it. I said that I had never won a trophy here, and that now that we’re this close, there’s no way in hell we’re losing this game. When Ollie cut his eye open in the first half, and they put that bandage around his head, I looked at him and thought, Yeah, these Forest defenders are in for a treat. He was a man on fire, causing havoc, non-stop running. About 10 minutes later, Ollie scored. And then Emi, John, John. 4–0. I still haven’t fully taken in how special a night that was. To reach a first major European final in 44 years, to write history for such amazing fans, it’s hard to put into words. A lot of the fans at that stadium weren’t born the last time Villa made a European final. The noise that night, I’ve never heard Villa Park like that. If you watched me at the final whistle, I didn’t really show the emotions that I maybe should have shown, but it was one of the biggest highs I have experienced. As I was celebrating with the fans, my mind went back across my seven years here, and how far we have come together.” t.co/8IavNZGrix @EzriKonsa | @AVFCOfficial | @EuropaLeague