The Lay of the Villa Land
With Aston Villa’s pre-season coming to its closing matches, the My Old Man Said podcast returns to have a catch-up show to get the lay of the land and to look at the foundations of Villa’s summer transfer business so far — Johan Manzambi, João Gomes and Alejandro Garnacho in, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne, and Morgan Rogers out.
After catching on to the latest Villa news — from the North Stand rebuild pests to Brian Madjo’s registration appeal success — the Three Points and Emery’s Clipboard, we reflect on Villa players’ impact on the summer’s World Cup and score them accordingly.
World Cup Villa Player Report Card
Emiliano Martínez set the record for the most saves in a World Cup final, with 11 against Spain. His opposite number, Unai Simón, by contrast, made 10 saves in Spain’s whole run to the trophy. Villa’s goalkeeper essentially took on Spain himself, trying to drag them into a penalty shootout to decide the trophy, since the rest of the Argentine team offered next to nothing going forward.
Martinez played the most minutes of any Premier League player in the World Cup.
In terms of outfield players, Ezri Konsa was also right up there with total minutes played, despite not starting the semi-final against Martinez’s Argentina. The Villa defender posted the tournament’s highest pass accuracy at 97%, and returned with an England bronze medal and very little scrutiny.
John McGinn became the oldest Scottish player to score at a World Cup, a personal landmark regardless of Scotland’s wider struggles. Morgan Rogers, by contrast, arrived under outside hype comparing him to Jude Bellingham — a comparison nobody inside Villa’s own coverage ever entertained — and delivered a tournament that undercut it: seven appearances, three starts, one assist, nothing close to a coming-of-age moment.
In the latest episode of the My Old Man Said, we go through how the 10 players who were all Villans at the start of the tournament fared, and the impact it had on their stock.
The MOMS podcast is now back in earnest for the 2026/27 season.
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Credits:
David Michael – @myoldmansaid
Chris Budd – @BUDD_music
Phillip Shaw – @prsgame