The Good, Bad and Ugly as The Winds of Change Blow
There we are then. Aston Villa are about to embark upon another season under Unai Emery, all preseason games are done, and everyone is set and ready to go, aren’t they?
The Good
The European Super Cup Final against new nemesis Paris Saint-Germain was a genuinely enjoyable game.
Despite Aston Villa entering the game as heavy underdogs, there was no meek display; in fact, the youthful Villa side should have beaten the Parisians, who have yet to get into their stride.
A better finish from George Hemmings, some shots instead of crosses from Alysson and more direction on big Brian Madjo’s headers and the game would’ve been out of sight.
Alas, it was a bit of a missed opportunity to add a second Super Cup to the trophy cabinet after 1983’s. Who knows when the chance will come again?
Villan of The Week – Brian Madjo
Who else could it be? The now youngest-ever scorer in a Supercup showed that even Champions League defences can be demolished with power and youthful exuberance. It’s a crying shame Madjo has picked up an injury during the display, but it might end up being a good thing to pause the hype train that has him replacing Harry Kane as England’s number nine already.
Madjo is a raw talent, and hopefully he will be bled into Villa’s starting team this season. After all, why protect him and future him for another side? If you are good enough, you are old enough, and from early impressions, Brian Madjo is good enough to be in Aston Villa’s First Team squad this season.
The Bad
Speaking of the Super Cup, it seems to have revealed a more serious situation at Aston Villa than many were expecting.
After Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins were named in the squad list to play in the Super Cup, fans were expecting to see them return to training in the days before the game. As time began to tick on, there was still no sign of them, and people were studying training and plane boarding videos in the hope of a glimpse of at least one of them.
It was a reasonable expectation for the three of them to be back in and around the first-team squad for the game. If not necessarily to start, getting minutes off the bench (and then in the Borussia Mönchengladbach game) would be vital with the season opener against Brighton coming up on Sunday 23rd August, as it would be their first involvement in Villa’s pre-season.
As well as that, from a personal and professional point of view, this is a showpiece game that serves as a reward for your previous season’s achievement. It’s a blue ribbon event that players would want to take part in.
Luis Enrique said after the game:
“It was a difficult match to prepare for. The players needed a rest and some time with their families, but every time they pull on the Paris Saint-Germain shirt, there’s that connection with the fans and amongst the players themselves. What we showed again today is that, despite mistakes and a lot of things missing, we’re the team we’ve always been.
We always talk about the players who start the match, but it’s very important to be ready to come on as a substitute, especially in this sort of match. All the players are on the same page, and that’s very important, because to win big trophies, you need everyone to pull together.”
The absence of the Villa trio, announced by Emery in his press conference on the eve of the game, raised eyebrows, ire, and a few concerns.
Emery said:
“They are not here – Konsa, Watkins and Martínez because they finished their season on 19th July and I gave them four weeks to rest, it’s completely necessary,”
Except it wasn’t.
PSG had their full squad available despite them being involved for exactly as long as the Villa Players. Fabian Ruiz came on and got his season up and running after winning the World Cup with Spain. Lucas Digne’s social media was full of him sweating it out to be ready for the game. What was the difference for the Villa boys?
If we ignore the late notice, which wasn’t great from a travelling fan point of view, and the fact it hindered Villa not only in the game, but also in getting minutes in Konsa and Watkins’ legs before the season started, then what are you meant to think the reason was?
What other reason could there possibly be for the three Villa players not to be involved?
Get the New Villa 3rd Shirt Sponsor-free below – a likely August-Only Opportunity
The Ugly
Around the time Aston Villa’s last friendly defeat against Borussia Mönchengladbach was drawing to a close, rumours surfaced online.
Aston Villa were back in serious negotiations with Parma and Japan Goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, with Emi Martinez apparently again in discussions to leave the club.
Add this to the growing speculation that Ezri Konsa has had his head turned by Arsenal (to be a hybrid right-back, centre-back back-up player until William Saliba is fit again), and conspiracy theories start to become less like the ravings of internet sleuths and more like logical reasons for at least two of the three players being left out of the PSG game.
When Emery commented on the absences after the Super Cup, saying :
“Even after Watkins called to play after the game against Bayern, I told him to continue resting when he was on FaceTime with John McGinn. Now is the moment to rest.”
The cynical amongst us would think it was an attempt to shield Watkins from some online criticism, but now, with no mention of the other two and the ever-evolving picture surrounding them, the possibility that Watkins was actually the only one wanting to play but a victim of circumstance is one for the theorists to start mulling over.
Of course, online speculation is just that until something is concrete, but what cannot be ignored is that losing any of those three players after the departures of Tielemans, Rogers and the injury to Onana would put a drastic and potentially ugly spin on expectations for the season.
Yes, it is good and necessary to evolve, but ripping out the entire spine of the team and trying to bed in a new one with no preseason is certainly not ideal a week out from the start of the season.
UTV
Get MOMS in your inbox every Friday, free. Sharp, smart, informative Villa writing for supporters who can spot the clickbait from the back of the Holte. No spam. Join the astonvilla.wtf newsletter →
Follow Phil on X/Twitter here – @prsgame
Follow MOMS on Twitter/X & Facebook & Threads & Bluesky & Spotify
Couldn’t agree more with your comments albeit more injuries today which leaves us desperately light up front and at the moment in a worse position striker wise than last season, it may well lead to us having another bad start to our season particularly as Konsa is about to leave and the Martinez saga is not settled, is it feasible that we can sign quality players as cover for these lost positions,with less than two weeks until the window shuts, I have no idea what the club are doing they have been finalising the signing of Rugerrie for days now and as yet no one has seen him. For me we do too much talking and not enough positive action, our situation is now becoming critical we clearly haven’t anywhere near enough squad depth to cope with the new season and I just wish the club would do something about it otherwise it’s coming back to bite us big time.