So Everton have had a very decent start to their season, much of which is down to their newfound confidence from moving to their new shiny Hill Dickinson stadium ( It shows the money they’re making when a law firm can have the naming rights), which the twins have said is beautiful, by the way.
I don’t think for one minute they’ll sustain the run, as they didn’t look anything special to me today. Yes, they probably had more chances, but Emi’s great save apart, I don’t think they offered too much.
That said, it was more than enough to make us look awful, as they created chance after chance because we offered nothing at all or just gave it away.
I’ve been saying for a long while that our football is awful and if it’s possible, I actually think it’s getting worse. I wasn’t alone in that, but it seems more and more that many other Villa fans are thinking the same. Rubbish footy is hardly acceptable to me even when we’re consistently getting results, but when we’re repeatedly losing, it’s downright unnaceptable.
One of the most positive fans I know has recently said our footy is boring.
And it’s the reason why Emery is treading thin ice, in my opinion. Constantly playing backwards and sidewards football has 100% been found out. The opposing team just has to sit back, wait for us to give them the ball, which we do with alarming regularity and then hit us on the transition with pace. Even then, if we do manage to get forward, the opposition has had 20 seconds to regroup while we mess about. What won us lots of games previously, was our pace when we broke. That’s a rarity now.
It’s that easy. Yet we’ve been seeing it week in, week out. Our method isn’t working anymore. And if we keep failing to get results, he will be gone quicker than you can say “pass it to Martinez”.
So while the first half was something I could bearly be bothered to watch, so Emery changed it up a bit.
Tielemans had to come off, so the blindingly obvious move was to move Mcginn inside and play a wide player on the right. Enter Guessand, who didn’t set the world on fire, but just looked much better suited than the Scot. Let’s face it, John’s just at his best in the middle and we immediately managed to get a grip of the midfield.
And then, it’s about playing players who deserve to be playing. This seems to be a massive sore point for the fans at the moment and I totally agree with it. I’ve been accused of being overly supportive of Rogers and it’s true. I think he’s a stonking player. You just don’t get voted young player of the year for being rubbish. But yes, he has been terrible this year and that is now four games.
While I think a manager trying to play his players into form is admirable, it can only go on so long if the results aren’t coming. Are we at the stage where we need to drop the lad? I’m sure many would say yes, but I’d be asking why Emery hasn’t hooked him in probably all of our games this season? You don’t want to kill his confidence, but by the same token, a player needs to be at least hinted at, that the performance hasn’t been good enough and that’s why he’s been replaced.
But then, I could probably say similar about all of the players. Not one has looked good, something that I find concerning.
Another one exactly the same is Watkins. We know he has good and bad runs. It’s been the same for a while. But he cannot be allowed to get to a place where he thinks he’s guaranteed a start.
I like the look of Malen, but when he got his chance he was equally poor. Isn’t that where Emery should be saying he needs to play his way into form? It would seem not. Yet another expensive signing who’s warming the bench.
I’m a typical native. And I’m restless and don’t see a point against a toothless Everton side as a good result. But at least it was a point and not a loss.
Emery needs to change tack and go on the front foot, just like we did two seasons ago. It’s what got us into the Champion’s league, after all.
The trouble is, I’m not sure we have the weapons to do it now. We’ve sold all our pace.
Which is what’s making me wonder if that’s why we play so ponderously.
Sunderland away next. Oh god.
UTV!
I’m still worried.
Why am I thinking Sunderland is a really tough game?
It shouldn’t be like this.
Great article Badger and I am in full agreement.
Whilst I appreciate Emery and the management team has known financial restrictions of PSR and SFR would impact they have not helped the cause.
I find it incredible that Onana €59m – £140k per week, Maatsen €44m – £100k per week and Malen €25m – £140k per week have been bought and are not nailed on starters. This represent Dover £100m in transfer fees and £380k per week sitting in the bench. Villa just cannot afford this luxury. Players bought must be ready to play from the off. It can’t be that hard to learn the tactic of walk with the ball – don’t find space – try not to pass forward!
Emery now has to work his socks off to find a away of getting a tune out of this team. As a smart man he has to know the current style is not working and that a change is needed. What that looks like I don’t know, except it must result in us putting the ball in the back of the net more times in a match than the opposition.
Sid – where did you get the numbers from?
As far as I understand it, those numbers are well over stated.
That’s not to say that your main point isn’t spot on. Despite what the actual figures are, if we’ve invested in these players why isn’t Emery confident enough to use them more than he does given that he’s supposed to have the last word in everything football at the club!?
It’s a conundrum.
There is no doubt in my mind that Emery is under pressure which he’s trying to deflect with reference to PSR and EUFA sanctions. This will be his most difficult season since walking into the club.
Club legend or another disappointment – we’re about to find out.
I don’t understand ANY of this anymore. Clubs don’t just collapse like this unless there is a major withdrawal of funding, i.e. dodgy owners. Howe went through something like this last season. A team that were great before, then shite, then they came back… Is that what we’re experiencing? Troubled waters?
I agree Bum Bum that not all seems right in the Kingdom of the Villans but I really don’t see it as stemming from the owners.
I’m beginning to believe that the players are falling into a defeatist mindset driven by all the negativity around PSR and EUFA. Many of the articles are around how the financial sanctions are ‘crucifying’ the club exasperated by the sale of Ramsey which appears to have upset the dressing room – if comments are to be believed.
It’s so easy to feel it’s hopeless fighting against a system which is targeting your club.
Going to be a long, tough season.
Hi Hitch – the transfer values are in Euros not £, which makes them look higher. I couldn’t be bothered to convert them into £’s. The transfer figures were from transfermarket.
The weekly wages were from Capology.com
I have a further fear that Villa are making the same mistake over renewing certain contracts. Currently they are trying to protect player values. But my worry is with the contract given to Digne. We have been told he has taken a pay cut and signed until 2028. I would argue this should be his last season, he no longer has the pace and it will only get worse. I see no prospect of us being able to shift him on and we have 2 years of dead salary. As a club we just can’t afford dead wages. Sometimes it’s best to let players contracts run out.
Thanks Sid – I missed the € sign reading it as £’s.
It’s a tough one with players like Digne but, taking into account EUFA’s draconian sanctions on our transfer market dealings then it was probably the only option open to them.
Emery has to get a tune out of the squad we have because we are basically embargoed on transfer dealings for the foreseeable future if we want to play in Europe.
A smart man, Emery is – but he’s also stubborn and that could be his undoing if he doesn’t adjust his tactics. You have to assume in his head that he’s not changing tactics because he feels like the players are not yet playing to the system he’s been trying to play but as Badger says, the football is getting worse, not better.
I recall the first 12 months of his play that playing out from the back seemed very high risk (a lot of offside goals conceded), and that we’d get found out. It appears we did – so what’s the next strategy? To me the problem last year was too many goals conceded, and this year we seem to have flipped on our heads and look improved in defence somewhat but now can’t buy a goal. I’m hoping this is just time that Emery needs to bed in new personnel.
I do understand what you’re saying about the players we’ve bought, Sid – but I don’t think it’s as straight forward as we didn’t bring players in ready for the first team. I think Maatsen on this list was the most questionable. What went so wrong with Moreno? He was incredible at first and kept Digne out and then Digne comes back into contention with some of our most consistent play.
Onana has been unlucky with injuries but looks like he can get there but definitely needs to figure out his fitness and have a better run in the team. He’s in danger of not being first pick in the double pivot even if he is fit if he can’t get a solid run of games.
Malen I think was squeezed by some last minute acquisitions of Rashford and Asensio but sincerely thought he’d get more game time than he has but as already mentioned looked terrible in the one start he was given. We’ve got a long season ahead of us and Emery has shown he’ll rotate and use the squad so I think we’ve got to step back for the next 3-4 games and see how it unfolds. If after 4 games we’ve not started scoring and picking up a few wins, I’m concerned.
Moreno unfortunately lost his pace following his hamstring injury which was a key factor in his play.
Martinez, Cash, Digne, Konsa, Mings, McGinn, Buendia and Watkins are all pre Emery signings but started against Everton. There is clearly something badly wrong about our recruitment process. Are Monchi and Emery on the same page? If Emery gets the final word on incomings, and yet he doesn’t think his signings are worthy of a start, then clearly he’s to blame.
A defeat against Brentford in the Carabo Cup and against promoted Sunderland who were in league one a few years back, and I will be calling for a change.
It isn’t just about losing games but the way we have played which is beyond boring. Fans at Villa Park expect us to go for the jugular but we have become a team who try to not lose. The constant sideways and backwards passing is annoying everyone now that we aren’t scoring or entertaining.
As poor as our start is I think any knee jerk reaction will cost us.
I think Emery believes this low will pass, you cannot force it But when a goal comes or a couple of players start looked more convincing , he will tap straight into it and build on that. Painfully it starts with a clean sheet. But let’s be honest, 0-0 away to a Moyes team as always a result. We have been battered and bruised by the league and the media over the pres season and transfer window. It’s not right but we get over it. The players know it, the manager knows it. Let’s keep the faith and be grateful this is stupidly early to call for heads and Emery has to go through a process now that is going to take some more weeks.
Tom, Emery hasn’t got weeks to turn things around. Many of the Villa fans I know who go to VP are getting frustrated by the quality of the football and negative tactics. Football is a results based industry. Teams like Sunderland, Leeds and Burnley would expect to their team struggling but we should expect better because of the players we have now. It’s not all down to Emery of course. The players should be looking in the mirror and questioning if they are giving the Sir Ron 110%. Players like Watkins and Rogers under Sir Ron would have been dropped with a boot up the arse. It’s Emery’s stubbornness in keeping faith with them that might end up costing him his job. Players need incentives and being dropped for too many poor performances is one of them.
Interesting article here. It’s all supposition, but I agree with the sentiment;
https://insidefutbol.com/2025/09/15/my-gut-tells-me-richard-keys-makes-big-aston-villa-claim/694717/
Badger
I’d read that one and think Key’s is way off it in this one.
My question to Key’s is how the hell can the owners spend big? SCF put a 70% cap on revenues to expenditure. Just to rub it in the club was fined €11m. So Me Clever Cloggs Key’s if Villa had spent more they would have received the other part of the suspended fine (€30m+ from memory) and suspension from future Euro competitions.
If the owners were pulling up stumps, why move forward on the North Stand development.
Perhaps Key’s should remember he is a relic from the past who lost his Sky job for misogynistic language.
Richard Keys is a prize twat.
Another good article here, too;
https://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/2025/09/top-clubs-face-uefa-fines-but-are-they.html
The 70% SCR rule for European competition is surely ONLY relevant if the team in question has qualified for one of the three competitions. It’s mostly because of this rule that we have reduced our squad cost in terms of wages. It’s probably the reason why we were prepared to let Martinez go as one of our biggest earners. I found it strange keeping Digne even if he is on a reduced salary when Moreno was probably on a lot less. Getting the likes of Coutinho and Dendoncker off the books is a big deal. Maybe Richard Keys is right about Edens and Sawris using the rules as a smokescreen for the fact they don’t want to spend any more.
Fact is this season the hope is we don’t get involved in a relegation battle because we haven’t got the characters in the squad to cope with a dogfight. Tonight’s competition offers our best chance of silverware. I would be happy with a Carabo cup win and a mid table finish right now even with an early exit from the Europa and FA Cup. I’m fed up with this constant desire to qualify for Europe at the expense of domestic silverware. None of us will remember 4th – 7th place finishes but we will remember winning at Wembley.
I will be pissed if Emery doesn’t take tonight’s game seriously. Another defeat will do nothing for morale and fans vote of confidence in him.
For me there are two players who cannot do what Emery bought them for.
Torres is the first. On his arrival the BMH video was running on the day of his medical, and I was surprised at how weedy he looked from the waist up. I thought then he could not be a CB in the EPL. So it has proved – he is neither as quick nor as strong as needed. /but considering the holes in midfield Emery has got Torres with his on the ball assurance and passing skills should be the first replacement.
Onana is the second. Almost the opposite of Torres, Onana is big, powerful and clumsy. Unfortunately he is also injury prone. This does not help when his best role is a battering-ram – running through the first line of defenders in a low block and drawing the foul or knocking opponents aside. Emery seems to employ him as a midfield maestro. He was no different a Everton, so where did this idea come from?
I expect as many changes as Emery can make for tonight’s squad. The promising youngsters deserve a go.
My special tv box has finished and can’t get another one 😫
Is it worth trying another way or villa so bad not worth it
Anyone got an idea please 🙏
Roy. If you are familiar with an App called Downloader and your box is an Android or Firestick, I could help you gat Sports Channels. Please keep your reply simple so as not to cause issues of security for our site.
Thanks gerry, daughter on the case with app downloader on TV looks promising anyway in the meantime I understand villa have scored so maybe worth watching them again.
Will let you know results
Daughter asked is villa playing in claret and blue or blue tonight
If its blue she likes that colour
All four new signings playing. And Kamara fit for the bench
M. Bizot
I. Maatsen
Pau Torres
E. Konsa
M. Cash
L. Bogarde
J. McGinn (c), Captain
D. Malen
H. Elliott
J. Sancho
E. Guessand
Subs
A. Borland
E. Buendía
L. Digne
J. Jimoh-Aloba
B. Kamara
T. Mings
S. Proctor
M. Rogers
O. Watkins
Well that’s a change. Brentfords first attempt on goal and they haven’t scored.
All gifts gratefully received. Welcome Elliott
Football dead for me watching tonight’s football, boring game even 30 minutes in, if I could pull back time I’d would have been playing for England in today’s football. All this drawing board football is rubbish, I’ve lost the will to be a fan, All you have to be is fit as an athlete nothing more. Off to bed. Shit we just scored. Elliot.
Finally a goal!!!
A terrible shot from Elliot but keeper made a pigs ear of it. All the good things come from Captain McGinn.
Malen looks as poor as Watkins as a CF. Guessand has had a few good moments and Sancho is linking up well with Maatsen. I think we will need a second because I can see Brentford scoring.
Continued small green shoots of recovery. In years to come – a young relative will ask you where where you when Elliott scored the first goal for Villa in the 2025-26 season?😂😂😂😂
That was a bad miss from sancho. Both Brentford defenders on the other side of the goal when he hit the post
Thanks gerry, daughter on the case with app downloader on TV looks promising anyway in the meantime I understand villa have scored so maybe worth watching them again.
Will let you know results
Daughter asked is villa playing in claret and blue or blue tonight
If its blue she likes that colour
Gerry i seen its blue and Brentford scored happy i seen it but not happy with score so far thanks for help
Pens!!!
What a shit second half. We are a poor team at the moment. I didn’t know Watkins had come on. We need a striker in January because he looks like he doesn’t care. Malen isn’t a striker either. Penalties up next so it’s a lottery.
Bollocks.
Wowzer!
Rookie manager 2 Emery 0!
A shit performance and I can see us losing on Sunday. We are in a relegation battle. Mark my words, although I would like to hear other posters reasoning for us to start flying up the table. Absolutely livid that we have blown another cup opportunity against a team that made 10 changes tonight.
Absolute shite yet again and out of the cup yet again
Fuckin fed up