A month into the season, Aston Villa hadn’t scored a single goal. After a really good few years that had seen them return to the Champions League, it was starting to look like the bubble had burst for Unai Emery and his side.
Now, they’re third, six points off league leaders Arsenal, who the face next, and looking good value to end up in Europe’s elite club competition come the end of the season. Emery is once again proving he’s one of the most underrated managers in the league.
So, what was going so wrong at the start and how have Aston Villa turned things around so impressively?
A disappointing summer
Missing out on the Champions League last season threw Villa’s summer transfer plans for a loop. The club are currently spending over 90% of their revenue on player wages, leaving them very little room to operate within the Premier League’s PSR.
As a result, only back-up goalkeeper and Evann Guessand were signed for a fee, while they had to rely upon the loan market to bring in Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott, with Swedish defender Victor Lindelof arriving on a free transfer when his contract with Man United expired.
None of those lads seem to be Emery players either. It was well reported that the manager was pushing the club to sign Marco Asensio on a permanent basis after his impressive spell on loan for the second half of last season over Elliott.
It should come as no surprise that Elliott, Sancho, and Lindelof have only played a combined 230 league minutes so far this season. Guessand and Bizot on the other hand have at least been semi-regulars, registering 780 minutes.
The sale of Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle for a reported fee of £40 million to help the club adhere to PSR reportedly left some of the squad questioning their futures. It was starting to feel like they weren’t going to be able to push on if there wasn’t any money to spend.
So, Emery has largely played the same players he had last season, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but adding first-team ready signings, particularly at right back and attacking midfield, would have likely allowed them to get over their early season malaise a little sooner.
Attacking players finding some form
Morgan Rogers was easily Aston Villa’s best player last season; in fact, it wasn’t really close. The winger/attacking midfielder was named the Premier League’s Young Player of the Year after scoring eight goals and providing 10 assists in his 37 games.
Yet, at the start of 2025-26, he was anonymous. It took until October 19th for Rogers to register his first goal contribution, the equaliser in their 2-1 win over Tottenham. It was indicative of Villa’s issues.
Rogers is a very direct attacker, and his aggressive style is hard for opposition defenders, but at the start of the season, he didn’t look as intense as we were used to. With two goals and two assists, his previous five games across all competitions have been brighter, however.
The ex-Man City academy star isn’t the only one that’s stepping up. Signed in January, Donyell Malen had a slow start to life at Villa, scoring just three goals in his 17 games across all competitions last season.
Malen has more than doubled that this time around. The Dutchman is Villa’s current top scorer in the Premier League with four, bagging another three goals in the Europa League. Like Rogers, it’s his past five game that are the most impressive, with four of his goals coming in that timeframe.
The form of striker Ollie Watkins has carried Villa through some rough periods in recent seasons, but since the start of this term, it hasn’t quite clicked for the striker. He was looking like the player we know and love in the thrilling 4-3 win over Brighton, though.
Watkins ended the game with two goals, from his four shots, had seven touches in the opposition box, and even created two chances. He wasn’t everywhere, but he was clinical, and that kind of confidence boost could be what he needs to get his season going.
Verdict
Morale was low at the start of the season for Villa. Emery was clearly frustrated with the club’s lack of business, and players were unsure where they were going to go after narrowly missing out on the Champions League.
Getting players out of the mental slump is arguably the hardest thing a manager needs to do, but this isn’t Emery’s first rodeo. After the 1-1 draw with Sunderland, he branded his players “lazy”, they’re anything but that now.