Aston Villa’s self-expression a perfect tonic to darkening clouds

Some days it’s easy to forget that the world’s favourite game is supposed to be about the finer things: spontaneity and self-expression. Football as a test of skill seems a distant concept when the question of whether Maccabi Tel Aviv fans should be allowed to attend a Europa League match in Birmingham has become entangled not just with global politics but divisions here at home.

Artistry feels a fringe matter too when a section of the home support boos the taking of a knee by both teams, as some Spurs fans did here. In the context of the Maccabi ban, which appears well on the way to being overturned, the familiar Tottenham supporter chants of “Yid army” acquired a strange extra dimension.

None of it is easy to process, in a football context, but all of it is easily sucked into the vortex of contemporary polarities, where positions are so often taken before the facts have been examined and weighed.

If Villa were shaken by a row that started with a recommendation by West Midlands Police – not the football club – there was no sign of it at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Unai Emery’s side came from behind to win with two gallery goals.

In his press conferences Emery likes to unspool on tactics, organisation and hard work. To him, football is a game first of application and spatial logic. But with coaxing he allowed himself to reflect on the value of “individuality” as the difference-maker. Villa’s goals by Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia oozed so much individuality that they carried a redemptive quality, even as the news industry was frantically updating the Maccabi Tel Aviv controversy.

Exhibit one was a rising and then dipping clip of the ball by Rogers that swerved in the air as it flew over the Spurs keeper, Guglielmo Vicario. Rogers has auditioned for Jude Bellingham’s role with England but has been underwhelming so far this season for Villa. That’s an inversion of the norm, where players perform well for their clubs but disappoint in England colours.

“Today I watched him – and wow,” Emery said.

Next – a high diagonal pass to Lucas Digne, who brought the ball down from near head height and moved it beautifully to Buendia, all in a single pirouette that Buendia then graced with the winning goal.

Villa made an inauspicious start to the season but have won their last five games in all competitions. In between wins over Burnley and Spurs the peace of Villa Park collapsed when it emerged that the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) had been advised by West Midlands police not to allow Maccabi fans into the stadium on 6 November. ”Violent clashes and hate crime offences” around a Maccabi game at Ajax in 2024, where there were 60 arrests, were cited as the main reason for concern.

The police said the game had been deemed “high risk,” based on intelligence. Before that “intelligence” could be heard or weighed, the ban was repurposed as a test of civil liberties, support for Israel, the true motivations of Birmingham, City council, inflammatory remarks by MPs and ministerial pressure on SAG and the police to reverse the decision, with promises of extra resources to keep everyone safe.

The most unusual backdrop to a Spurs-Villa game was acquiring new dimensions even as the game kicked off, with the energy secretary Ed Miliband saying Villa Park could not be a “no-go area” for Jews. Meanwhile reports suggested Aston Villa had told stewards (before the ban was imposed) they were not obliged to work on the night of 6 Nov if they felt uncomfortable about being there.

A critical mass of pressure for a rethink was formed when the Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the police’s decision “wrong”, saying “we will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets.” Uefa also urged the authorities in Birmingham to relent.

With the team edging towards the league’s top 10 they could relish a victory that combined tactical organisation, spirit and sublime goals – not to mention a bench of waifs and strays, with Victor Lindelof, Ross Barkley and Jadon Sancho among the seated. Barkley came on and made a contribution. Buendia, another fringe player, also showed that Emery’s squad has greater depth than his sometimes austere selections might suggest. Harvey Elliott, who arrived from Liverpool, has the strongest case for asking why he isn’t playing more.

But in a game where Tottenham’s long throw (complete with touchline towel to dry the ball) was an enjoyable throwback to another era, true artistry decided the outcome. It gave Villa fans reason to hope the season will yield more than mid-table anonymity.

On a simple reading, the tension around the Maccabi Tel Aviv game is a simple matter of security and resources, not geopolitical tensions. Either way it’s likely to be resolved this week. The Maccabi game will be tense and stressful and minutely scrutinised. Which is why two lovely Aston Villa goals brought such a cleansing of the senses.

Photograph by Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images