Aston Villa’s Malaise | OneFootball

When Aston Villa beat PSG 3-2 in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final in mid-April, few would have expected things to unravel as quickly as they have done in Birmingham. Unai Emery’s side did still go out to the Parisians, having lost the first-leg 3-1, but it was a more than valiant effort against the best team in the world.

In fact, their Champions League adventure served to prove just how good Villa were last season. They beat RB Leipzig, drew with Juventus, and, most memorably, beat Bayern Munich 1-0 at Villa Park. Just qualifying for Europe’s elite competition was a landmark itself and these results were clear signs of progress for the club under Emery’s guidance. What next? It seemed they were going from strength to strength.

A Bad Spell

But things have gone terribly wrong since then. The start to the new season has brought only one win across any competition, and that only arrived this week in an unconvincing Europa League defeat of Bologna.

Their record otherwise reads as six games played, four draws and two losses. They were the last team in England’s top four leagues to register a goal this season and that only in a disappointing 1-1 draw against newly promoted Sunderland.

The Villa are currently 18th in the league after five games, with three points and a goal difference of minus four. They are also out of the Carabao Cup after losing in the third round against Brentford.

But how and why are things falling apart so quickly at Villa?

The Tipping Point

Well, it can probably be traced back to the final day of last season. Villa played a struggling Manchester United side and a draw would have seen them finish fifth and qualify for the UCL in back-to-back seasons. They ended up losing 2-0, via two late and disastrous goals. Consequently, they finished sixth, equal on points with fifth place Newcastle but missing out on the Champions League due to goal difference.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, and the disappointment was compounded by a massively underwhelming transfer window. Last January Emery and the club decided to bring in Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford on huge wages. Whether the signings were successful or not is up for debate. What is not, however, is that they were ambitious and very costly.

Transfer Woes

Villa are a club who toe the line anyway when it comes to PSR. Their wage-to-revenue ratio was 96% for the 2023/24 season, a figure that was significantly higher than most other Premier League clubs, and clearly unsustainable. They were fined $12.8m by UEFA in July for breaching the European governing body’s financial rules last season, including spending more than the permitted 80% of income on player wages

One would have assumed they would aim to change their approach this summer. But after months of complete inaction, Jadon Sancho was one of the few players they decided to bring in, on a loan deal.

The same Jadon Sancho whose weekly wages are in excess of $337,500. Both Chelsea and Manchester United decided he was not worth the huge expenditure. But Villa persisted with the deal. They are believed to be paying 80% of his wages, over $270,000 a week.

He is, unsurprisingly, by far and away their highest paid player, taking home more than Emiliano Martinez and Youri Tielemans who are both on $202,500 a week.

A strange financial decision for a club who need to be careful with their money and only signed five players this summer. Did they expect Sancho to be the answer? The player who could push them to new heights?

In a Word: Lazy

After the draw with Sunderland, Emery said: “We were lazy, sometimes defensively lazy. For example, the way we conceded we were lazy. We are not dominating.

“We have to fight the duels, and we were not fighting all duels. I watched the goal we conceded and we were lazy. We were lazy, but all the team, not the centre-backs or just Matty Cash. We are lazy.”

The Spaniard has never come out and publicly lambasted his players, a sign of just how bad things are.

Too Soon To Tell

But despite the poor start to the season, it is only the start. Seven games have been played, and Villa registered their first win this week in the Europa League, a competition which Emery has won a staggering four times.

He remains one of the top coaches in world football and if Villa can win against Fulham on Sunday, the seas will appear a lot less choppy.