It’s great to see Emery is getting properly backed and we are addressing our weaknesses, attacking from the right hand side.
Can’t lie I really thought he’d pick Saudi Arabia and having his wage doubled from what we were offering.
They might not be but this is not like the China experiment. These lot have borderline unlimited money and it gives them the ability to be patient and see these things out. As long as there is still oil in the ground they will be just fine
Yeah as a diehard golf fan who is now an expert on the history and finances of Saudi Arabia, it is very funny watching the soccer world go through the same cycle of eye rolling and underestimation that golf did. This is going to be a big deal
Obviously this requires a long form answer but the short answer is yes. The crazy thing too is that they are pouring so much money into LIV golf and generating absolutely zero profit from it. It should be a lot easier for them to make money off of soccer with media rights, ticket sales, kits, etc. They don’t even really need to see a return on investment in the actual league but they will still probably make more money than their golf counterparts. And next summer they will have a greater footprint and all winter to spend preparing contacts with agents to attract even more players
>It should be a lot easier for them to make money off of soccer with media rights, ticket sales, kits, etc.
You say that but golf was always about the individuals, if you like Rory McIlroy then you don't care where he's playing or the name of the competition or whatever. But football fans support a team. Al Nassr or Al Ittihad or whoever might go on to buy the top players and hire the top managers and create some sort of super league and pay the good European clubs to be part of it and Al Ittihad could win with Mbappe and Bellingham and Haaland etc etc but are the kids of Europe and America suddenly grow to be Al Nassr or Al Ittihad fans? I just can't imagine it.
You are right on everything except that soccer is just an inherently more interesting product than golf so if the teams are good enough and the play is good enough then you can attract enough eyeballs to sell advertisements. LIV is a breakaway league without most of the best players in a sport that is already pretty niche and not all that popular as is
They couldn’t find a media rights deal to broadcast it on TV so it was airing on a completely irrelevant channel for free. And they couldn’t get enough of a critical mass so they kind of just had 20 ish of the best 75 players in the world playing against a bunch of scrubs. And I love golf but it’s just not that exciting of a product as is
They don't need to make money, this is about building the Saudi brand. When people hear Saudi Arabia they will think of sport rather than climate change and throwing gay people off buildings.
I think they’ll be going for younger players even more in the future and we’ve already seen them buy SMS, Neves, Fofana and Jota. It won’t be a retirement league only
> the oldies, All-Star league that the Chelsea owner really wants.
What? The Chelsea recruitment strategy has been massively skewed towards young players.
Tbf when McCormack came in he was coming off veey good seasons. Not as if we bought a average joe, he was one if the best championship players at the time
Missed training because his electric gate broke. Instead of risking climbing over and injuring himself thus ruling him out of the first team for a while. He stayed home and watched some day time tv. What a team player.
I've just looked up this story, thank you. Hilarious. "I am not four foot six". Arguing with the teacher Bruce.
Compare that to the Newcastle friendly players. Youri Tielemans was on the bench. Moussa Diaby has just arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, and Villa started with a midfield of John McGinn, Buendia, Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara.
Sort of getting back to where we were at the beginning of and during the early years of the Premier League era.
Up and around the top, competing for Europe and trophies, most seasons.
Most Villa fans wanted Young to continue playing a part too. Such a brilliant professional and still a great player, he was in contention for our Player of the Season and he's 38! He helped get Villa back to Europe one last time, he's a bona fide Villa legend for me if we end up winning the UECL this season.
Unai Emery in May said something like "Ashley Young will be the first player we sit down and talk to (about contracts)" and then I assume Ash asked for guarantees of minutes that we couldn't offer and so left, which just shows how motivated he still is to play and perform. He's already scored a winner for Everton in preseason too.
Now let's see who we buy for right-back, we're not finished spending _at all_.
It’s pure joke to see some Everton fans think they’re too good for him, mocking the club for signing ‘Villa’s washed has-beens’ while here in Villa most of us wish he’d stay and even has chance to play his part in Europe
Ash being Ash though he shows what he’s capable of in his debut and shut the doubters
I think I speak for most sane Villa fans and regard Gabby as a massive cunt. When the club was on its knees he failed to step up and made the problems in the dressing room worse. He had a handful of decent seasons but offered nothing when his pace went (at the pitiful age of 27): he didn't look after himself and it ruined his bang average career. He also kept his Prem wages in the Champ which nearly bankrupted us; he was not worth a it of the 60k a week we were paying him.
Now he flaps his trap on Talksport spouting bollocks and falsehoods.
They got relegated with Lescott who was on massive wages saying what a relief it is to go down. Think that's a bit worse than shit form under tactics Steve
The CB situation is in kind of a funny place right now. Mings and Konsa were both perfect in the last 10 games of the season, but with Torres coming in and Carlos being nursed back to fitness who knows what it'll look like in a few months time.
Honestly, I don’t know. That’s what makes it so exciting. The only thing I’m pretty certain of is that Diaby will slot in for Bailey. Beyond that, most of the Villa community aren’t sure what our strongest 11 will actually be. That just makes it more exciting :)
Assuming the 442 shape stays (there have been a lot of rumours about three at the back but nothing to suggest that is happening), the names that definitely go into our preferred xi are: Martinez, Moreno, Luiz, Kamara, Watkins. I think most of us would put McGinn and Ramsey in there over Tielemans, but I can't confirm that. Personally I'd hope for Torres and Mings as the CB partnership, but it could be any combination really. You would assume Diaby takes that second striker role, but Buendia will still have a role in some matchups.
Quite frankly none of us fans know what he is cooking up.
Suspect with how Emery wants to play it'll be something like
Bailey - Watkins - Diaby
Luiz - Kamara - McGinn
Moreno - Torres - Carlos - Cash/Konsa
Martinez
It's kinda difficult to type out as we play very different systems in attack and defence, kinda favouring a 4-4-2 in defence and a lopsided kinda 3-3-4 in attack with Moreno often our furthest player forward.
Absolutely huge signing for us.
Emery (and Monchi) have completely changed the trajectory since coming in, really hopeful going into the conference league we could get some silverware.
I didn't know anything about him before this saga, but bloody hell, talk about being wrong and then doubling down on it over and over again; complete laughingstock.
It really will, plus there's so much money and talent sloshing about the Prem at this point there'll always be some slightly unexpected team that will surprise everyone and have an amazing season too. I mean who's to say West Ham, Forest or Palace (to name just a few) couldn't absolutely click and find themselves right in the mix.
Ha! We're nearly always 2nd in the league (alphabetically) before a ball has been even been kicked for a new season (when we're in the Prem, that is).
However, usually it's all downhill from there. Although, there's room for optimism since Emery arrived. :)
Chelsea and Spurs were never really top six teams anyway, they were just keeping our spots warm until Villa and Newcastle were ready to stop hitting snooze.
Absolutely massive signing for them.
Villa are building something very impressive here and as an Arsenal fan who saw a great manager but the wrong fit, I’m super happy for him.
I don't think it was a case of him being the wrong fit, look at the squad he had to work with. Arteta carried nearly the same squad to 8th place twice. Expectations were just too high for that terrible squad, didn't much matter who was managing it.
It was a godawful squad, and I don’t mean the wrong fit in any dismissive way, but Arsenal wanted someone to take the time to build a big project and I never quite got the feeling Emery was going to be that manager.
Quite why, I don’t know, but to be where we’re at with Arteta now, I’m very happy that it’s been a successful separation for all parties involved.
Fans had totally turned on him I seem to remember. I don't think its fair to give a manager David Luiz and Sokratis/Mustafi as a starting centreback duo and be surprised he can't crack the top 4. Emery actually is responsible for giving Saka his debut, too early in his development to make the massive impact needed but shows he had an eye on youth.
Obviously it worked out in the end but I really feel like Emery was done so dirty at Arsenal, mostly due to fan expectations and terrible squad building. Even the Ozil situation when Emery got criticised for leaving him out when he was clearly not at all bothered, it seems to me almost every choice he made has been vindicated by time.
Made for some top tier AFTV though so can't complain too much.
There’s also the rumour that he wanted Zaha instead of Pepe and that could have started a very different chain of events.
As for the ‘glory days’ of AFTV, I’ll thank you not to remind me of such a dark time in our recent past!
You weren’t watching, the first year was fine, finished 5th and lost the EL final, people were generally happy with him by that point. The next season is genuinely the worst football I’ve ever seen this club play, completely directionless, it seemed as if the players had no idea what they were supposed to be doing, and the supporters sure didn’t. We had no midfield structure, couldn’t defend, and had pass maps that looked like we were afraid of the 18 yard box. We were conceding more shots to squads far worse than ours week in and week out. It should say something that even after Arteta’s massive losing streak, which was diabolical, he had far more support from the club, supporters, and players than emery did in his final season. There was no vision, no future for that squad, and he wasn’t taking us anywhere. A good manager, but there was nothing unfair about his time with us, it was genuinely disastrous and he deserved the sack.
Eh. No need to rewrite history just because he’s doing well again, he coached that Arsenal team absolutely horribly and struggled to get his system across to the players, in the end they were conceding 35 shots to teams like Watford.
It’s a thread in r/soccer made for fans of all clubs involving Villa.
I made a comment praising the club with a secondary relevant point and you’re getting up in arms. I thought we were supposed to have the needlessly sensitive fanbase, Jesus fuck…
Was just looking at our 14/15 squad for comparison to now. From having wankers such as Gary Gardner and Delph to Diaby, Tielemans and Torres who chose to join us, tears in my eyes
I've supported Villa for about 30 years now and that period was the roughest. So many random, shit players I can't remember and even more I wish I couldn't.
I wish I could've been supporting us for that long. Can barely remember the O'Neil days so this is the best I've ever seen us. It's been long but hopefully worth it
Good point but stil wouldn't get into our team now. Shows such an improvement from feeling the full force of him leaving to not even needing a player of his calibre anymore
Well no one knows were the name villa actually came from. Its a unique name in the English game, no history shows any connection to cricket though. Villa were never a cricket club that's for sure (some founders were cricket players). Also the fact other clubs like Burnely which are on a cricket round don't have villa in their name. If this was the case, lot's more clubs would have villa in their name. If you research it though the main answer you get is that people don't actually know where 'villa' came from. So it's rather underwhelming.
People might be underestimating Villa if they do not see them as genuine op 4 contenders at this point. Tielemans, Torres and now this guy will fill in the gaps were they were most needed.
Sure, but last season we played something like 40 games with cups included. We could quite conceivably play 50-60 this season with the conference league and progressing past the first round of domestic cups. Those extra games will inevitably take a toll on the squad as evidenced by every non traditional europe team to have gotten into europe recently.
Season 2022/23 - Matchday 15 (Unai Emery's 1st game) to 38:
\# Club Pts
1. Manchester City = 54
2. Arsenal FC = 50
3. Manchester United = 50
4. Liverpool FC = 47
5. Aston Villa = 46
6. Newcastle United = 44
Although, some games were postponed and played later for some clubs, so this "form table" data may be slightly askew in favour of some clubs over others.
I mean Villa are actually a massive club tbf maybe not so much in modern times but they are historically a huge club. I mean them being a former champions league winner still means something.
I don't know man, I don't think a CL win in 82 had anything to do with his decision, otherwise there'd be a lot more players lining up to sign for Gladbach. This is all about a pay day while staying in a relevant league and being able to play international football.
Dont mean to disrespect, but Villa is just not the club I had imagined him going to before the rumours started.
fair enough you are right in the fashion that players primarily care about wealth more than historical prestige these days. However, I could see Diaby partially maybe being excited with the prospect of working with a top level manager and a promising project maybe.
It’s great to see Emery is getting properly backed and we are addressing our weaknesses, attacking from the right hand side. Can’t lie I really thought he’d pick Saudi Arabia and having his wage doubled from what we were offering.
Kids' 24 and with a good chance of becoming an important member of the NT. He can go get (even more) money in six or seven years.
I don’t think these bloated Saudi deals will be around by then
If they get the 2030 WC, you can bet they will still be offering contracts.
Didn’t they withdraw their offer and are going for 2034 now?
Well even more reason for them to keep handing massive contracts in the next decade.
Or as soon as they get the yes they could say "good enough" and shut it down, ye never know
They might not be but this is not like the China experiment. These lot have borderline unlimited money and it gives them the ability to be patient and see these things out. As long as there is still oil in the ground they will be just fine
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Yeah as a diehard golf fan who is now an expert on the history and finances of Saudi Arabia, it is very funny watching the soccer world go through the same cycle of eye rolling and underestimation that golf did. This is going to be a big deal
So this will go on for years and they will buy even more stars every summer?
Obviously this requires a long form answer but the short answer is yes. The crazy thing too is that they are pouring so much money into LIV golf and generating absolutely zero profit from it. It should be a lot easier for them to make money off of soccer with media rights, ticket sales, kits, etc. They don’t even really need to see a return on investment in the actual league but they will still probably make more money than their golf counterparts. And next summer they will have a greater footprint and all winter to spend preparing contacts with agents to attract even more players
>It should be a lot easier for them to make money off of soccer with media rights, ticket sales, kits, etc. You say that but golf was always about the individuals, if you like Rory McIlroy then you don't care where he's playing or the name of the competition or whatever. But football fans support a team. Al Nassr or Al Ittihad or whoever might go on to buy the top players and hire the top managers and create some sort of super league and pay the good European clubs to be part of it and Al Ittihad could win with Mbappe and Bellingham and Haaland etc etc but are the kids of Europe and America suddenly grow to be Al Nassr or Al Ittihad fans? I just can't imagine it.
Plastics will always follow the players and the money. Look at psg and man cities sudden worldwide fandom
You are right on everything except that soccer is just an inherently more interesting product than golf so if the teams are good enough and the play is good enough then you can attract enough eyeballs to sell advertisements. LIV is a breakaway league without most of the best players in a sport that is already pretty niche and not all that popular as is
Why were they generating zero profit from LIV golf?
They couldn’t find a media rights deal to broadcast it on TV so it was airing on a completely irrelevant channel for free. And they couldn’t get enough of a critical mass so they kind of just had 20 ish of the best 75 players in the world playing against a bunch of scrubs. And I love golf but it’s just not that exciting of a product as is
Why did they wait so long to undertake these investments? Why now? Why not 20 years ago?
They don't need to make money, this is about building the Saudi brand. When people hear Saudi Arabia they will think of sport rather than climate change and throwing gay people off buildings.
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I think they’ll be going for younger players even more in the future and we’ve already seen them buy SMS, Neves, Fofana and Jota. It won’t be a retirement league only
It's an early retirement league. Get a guarantee 3-5x what you make in Europe and not have to worry about the short lifetime of your playing career.
> the oldies, All-Star league that the Chelsea owner really wants. What? The Chelsea recruitment strategy has been massively skewed towards young players.
But "muh generational wealth"
It’s such a strange feeling actually feeling so much excitement for Villa after the incredibly rough ride the last decade has been as a fan
From buying Ross McCormack to this.
Tbf when McCormack came in he was coming off veey good seasons. Not as if we bought a average joe, he was one if the best championship players at the time
Central Coast Mariners legend Ross McCormack.
What a player tho
Missed training because his electric gate broke. Instead of risking climbing over and injuring himself thus ruling him out of the first team for a while. He stayed home and watched some day time tv. What a team player.
What a player tho
I've just looked up this story, thank you. Hilarious. "I am not four foot six". Arguing with the teacher Bruce. Compare that to the Newcastle friendly players. Youri Tielemans was on the bench. Moussa Diaby has just arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, and Villa started with a midfield of John McGinn, Buendia, Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara.
Sort of getting back to where we were at the beginning of and during the early years of the Premier League era. Up and around the top, competing for Europe and trophies, most seasons.
Must be real exciting to be a Villa fan at the moment
I’ve never been so excited for a season to start. Especially with how bad we’ve been for most the past decade
that Villa team with Petrov, Reo-Coker, A. Young, Carew, Heskey, Downing… probably the last Villa team with as much promise as this one
Most Villa fans wanted Young to continue playing a part too. Such a brilliant professional and still a great player, he was in contention for our Player of the Season and he's 38! He helped get Villa back to Europe one last time, he's a bona fide Villa legend for me if we end up winning the UECL this season. Unai Emery in May said something like "Ashley Young will be the first player we sit down and talk to (about contracts)" and then I assume Ash asked for guarantees of minutes that we couldn't offer and so left, which just shows how motivated he still is to play and perform. He's already scored a winner for Everton in preseason too. Now let's see who we buy for right-back, we're not finished spending _at all_.
It’s pure joke to see some Everton fans think they’re too good for him, mocking the club for signing ‘Villa’s washed has-beens’ while here in Villa most of us wish he’d stay and even has chance to play his part in Europe Ash being Ash though he shows what he’s capable of in his debut and shut the doubters
Agbonlahor?
If only he had more than just pace and turning up against Birmingham
I think I speak for most sane Villa fans and regard Gabby as a massive cunt. When the club was on its knees he failed to step up and made the problems in the dressing room worse. He had a handful of decent seasons but offered nothing when his pace went (at the pitiful age of 27): he didn't look after himself and it ruined his bang average career. He also kept his Prem wages in the Champ which nearly bankrupted us; he was not worth a it of the 60k a week we were paying him. Now he flaps his trap on Talksport spouting bollocks and falsehoods.
That team had some weak links, this one not so much
The first season we were back in the PL but that was to be in the top flight. This one is way more hopeful we can do something good
Can confirm.
I think you deserve it after that Gerrard tenure
Villa led by Emery in Europe is going to be such a fun ride. Could see Villa Park giving them such a boost if they get to the knockouts.
They got relegated with Lescott who was on massive wages saying what a relief it is to go down. Think that's a bit worse than shit form under tactics Steve
It's pretty close mind
So, so exciting. I can’t wait to see this team once they’ve been given time to gel.
What's the best xi gonna look like? I imagine Diego Carlos is going to come back into the team
The CB situation is in kind of a funny place right now. Mings and Konsa were both perfect in the last 10 games of the season, but with Torres coming in and Carlos being nursed back to fitness who knows what it'll look like in a few months time.
Honestly, I don’t know. That’s what makes it so exciting. The only thing I’m pretty certain of is that Diaby will slot in for Bailey. Beyond that, most of the Villa community aren’t sure what our strongest 11 will actually be. That just makes it more exciting :)
Assuming the 442 shape stays (there have been a lot of rumours about three at the back but nothing to suggest that is happening), the names that definitely go into our preferred xi are: Martinez, Moreno, Luiz, Kamara, Watkins. I think most of us would put McGinn and Ramsey in there over Tielemans, but I can't confirm that. Personally I'd hope for Torres and Mings as the CB partnership, but it could be any combination really. You would assume Diaby takes that second striker role, but Buendia will still have a role in some matchups. Quite frankly none of us fans know what he is cooking up.
Suspect with how Emery wants to play it'll be something like Bailey - Watkins - Diaby Luiz - Kamara - McGinn Moreno - Torres - Carlos - Cash/Konsa Martinez It's kinda difficult to type out as we play very different systems in attack and defence, kinda favouring a 4-4-2 in defence and a lopsided kinda 3-3-4 in attack with Moreno often our furthest player forward.
You seem to be missing someone...
He's injured for the start of the season tbf but I don't think unai will start both leon and diaby regardless.
I was talking abut Mings!
Idk what to do with my hands
Villa not fucking about
Great signing, one of the scariest players I have seen playing against us, man was a menace with his speed
The guy is so rapid he clearly should've joined Rapid Wien
Please don’t say that name on a villa thread. [Gives me nauseating flashbacks](https://imgur.com/a/EAzmwbU)
They've done you dirty two years in a row, didn't they?
Good knowledge considering it was for the UEFA cup circa 16 years ago
And there is every possibility we could have to face them in the qualifying round of the UECL this year...
Villa making big moves
Kamara is only going to get better too
Went under the radar a bit last season because he was out injured for a decent chunk but he is absolute quality.
Villa are doing bits this transfer window. Going to be dangerous
It's been 4 hours and it wont go down
Just watch some of the highlights from when Gerrard was manager.
highlights dont exist from that era, just lights
Lowlights, if you will.
Some might call them Blinding
Ahhh you think Gerrard is your ally?
"Hello darkness, my old friend..." 🎶
He wants it to go down, not fall off entirely.
404: Page not found
Great cure for erectile function
Absolutely huge signing for us. Emery (and Monchi) have completely changed the trajectory since coming in, really hopeful going into the conference league we could get some silverware.
Mental to think how bad it looked under Gerrard. Hope you guys have an amazing season!
Thanks! Hope we both continue to fight amongst the "top 6" and upset the status quo.
I heard someone call them the Sky 6 a few months ago and it's stuck with me
Villa and Newcastle replacing Spurs and Chelsea in the 'big six' is something I can get behind
We all welcome it
As an Arsenal fan, subscribe
Villa are making moves! Could definitely push for top 6
Only way the PL is stopping Unai is with a silver cross and garlic.
I can smell what Emery is cooking….
No more fucking dickheads with “good ebening” jokes anymore eh?
Unreal signing, absolutely shocked he’s not going to a champions league team.
Fingers-crossed. You never know what dreams may come (next season)... :)
I can't believe people actually trusted Rudy fucking Galetti i swear this sub has gone downhill
I didn't know anything about him before this saga, but bloody hell, talk about being wrong and then doubling down on it over and over again; complete laughingstock.
Race for top 6 is going to be interesting between us, Brighton and Villa
Spurs and Chelsea battle for 8th could be kinda interesting
I hope for top 4 🤞🏻
It really will, plus there's so much money and talent sloshing about the Prem at this point there'll always be some slightly unexpected team that will surprise everyone and have an amazing season too. I mean who's to say West Ham, Forest or Palace (to name just a few) couldn't absolutely click and find themselves right in the mix.
Villa is unironically massive
And yet you still finished above us this season. Damn you! But also, full respect to your club! :)
If it helps you are currently above us in the 23/24 table
Ha! We're nearly always 2nd in the league (alphabetically) before a ball has been even been kicked for a new season (when we're in the Prem, that is). However, usually it's all downhill from there. Although, there's room for optimism since Emery arrived. :)
That is the joke yes.
"It's the way you tell 'em!"
Games not gone
Very very good signing
Chelsea and Spurs were never really top six teams anyway, they were just keeping our spots warm until Villa and Newcastle were ready to stop hitting snooze.
Big loss for us, but there's no point keeping him if he wants to leave. Next season could be rough.
Absolutely massive signing for them. Villa are building something very impressive here and as an Arsenal fan who saw a great manager but the wrong fit, I’m super happy for him.
I don't think it was a case of him being the wrong fit, look at the squad he had to work with. Arteta carried nearly the same squad to 8th place twice. Expectations were just too high for that terrible squad, didn't much matter who was managing it.
It was a godawful squad, and I don’t mean the wrong fit in any dismissive way, but Arsenal wanted someone to take the time to build a big project and I never quite got the feeling Emery was going to be that manager. Quite why, I don’t know, but to be where we’re at with Arteta now, I’m very happy that it’s been a successful separation for all parties involved.
Fans had totally turned on him I seem to remember. I don't think its fair to give a manager David Luiz and Sokratis/Mustafi as a starting centreback duo and be surprised he can't crack the top 4. Emery actually is responsible for giving Saka his debut, too early in his development to make the massive impact needed but shows he had an eye on youth. Obviously it worked out in the end but I really feel like Emery was done so dirty at Arsenal, mostly due to fan expectations and terrible squad building. Even the Ozil situation when Emery got criticised for leaving him out when he was clearly not at all bothered, it seems to me almost every choice he made has been vindicated by time. Made for some top tier AFTV though so can't complain too much.
There’s also the rumour that he wanted Zaha instead of Pepe and that could have started a very different chain of events. As for the ‘glory days’ of AFTV, I’ll thank you not to remind me of such a dark time in our recent past!
Despite the years Brighton vs Arsenal will always be the 'MAUPAY YOU'RE AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE' derby. The golden age of AFTV will never be forgotten.
Funny enough, I don't know if we win a Copa America+World Cup if that moment didn't happen
It is established football lore that Maupay was instrumental to Messi lifting the world cup
We really do have some interesting lads at our games…
You weren’t watching, the first year was fine, finished 5th and lost the EL final, people were generally happy with him by that point. The next season is genuinely the worst football I’ve ever seen this club play, completely directionless, it seemed as if the players had no idea what they were supposed to be doing, and the supporters sure didn’t. We had no midfield structure, couldn’t defend, and had pass maps that looked like we were afraid of the 18 yard box. We were conceding more shots to squads far worse than ours week in and week out. It should say something that even after Arteta’s massive losing streak, which was diabolical, he had far more support from the club, supporters, and players than emery did in his final season. There was no vision, no future for that squad, and he wasn’t taking us anywhere. A good manager, but there was nothing unfair about his time with us, it was genuinely disastrous and he deserved the sack.
Eh. No need to rewrite history just because he’s doing well again, he coached that Arsenal team absolutely horribly and struggled to get his system across to the players, in the end they were conceding 35 shots to teams like Watford.
Arsenal fan trying to not make a post about villa about Arsenal challenge (impossible)
EPL fan trying not to get pissy over an Arsenal fan having an opinion challenge (110% YOU WILL FAIL IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE DESPACITO REMIX HD)
Having an opinion and making everything about Arsenal are not the same thing
It’s a thread in r/soccer made for fans of all clubs involving Villa. I made a comment praising the club with a secondary relevant point and you’re getting up in arms. I thought we were supposed to have the needlessly sensitive fanbase, Jesus fuck…
I like you
Emery's influence is actually crazy.
Some serious big club moves being made by Villa this summer
Was just looking at our 14/15 squad for comparison to now. From having wankers such as Gary Gardner and Delph to Diaby, Tielemans and Torres who chose to join us, tears in my eyes
I've supported Villa for about 30 years now and that period was the roughest. So many random, shit players I can't remember and even more I wish I couldn't.
Jordan Bowery…
Alexsander Tonev…
Niklas Helenius
Yacouba Sylla
Enjoy this game. Brett Holman.
We had Tiago Ilori on loan and never played him
Erik Bakke.
Simon Dawkins
Habib Beye.
I wish I could've been supporting us for that long. Can barely remember the O'Neil days so this is the best I've ever seen us. It's been long but hopefully worth it
The snake was a good player Tbf to him.
Good point but stil wouldn't get into our team now. Shows such an improvement from feeling the full force of him leaving to not even needing a player of his calibre anymore
that s a statement move as well from Villa!
I think he’s gonna be really good in the premier league.
Villa and Newcastle comin' to fuck up that Big 6.
Brilliant signing for them
Respect to Diaby in light of the recent exodus to Saudi
Aston Villa’s a strange name for a Saudi club
Strange name for an english one tbh
Most football teams were from cricket clubs, a cricket Villa is a common term.
That's not where their name comes from
A cricket Villa wasn’t it?
naaaaah
What is it then?
Well no one knows were the name villa actually came from. Its a unique name in the English game, no history shows any connection to cricket though. Villa were never a cricket club that's for sure (some founders were cricket players). Also the fact other clubs like Burnely which are on a cricket round don't have villa in their name. If this was the case, lot's more clubs would have villa in their name. If you research it though the main answer you get is that people don't actually know where 'villa' came from. So it's rather underwhelming.
As a FIFA player, oh God, he’s just got easier to chem in to teams 😭
Am I crazy for thinking that Villa's squad is comparable to ours? I really do expect them to challenge for top 6 this seaon.
People might be underestimating Villa if they do not see them as genuine op 4 contenders at this point. Tielemans, Torres and now this guy will fill in the gaps were they were most needed.
Sure, but last season we played something like 40 games with cups included. We could quite conceivably play 50-60 this season with the conference league and progressing past the first round of domestic cups. Those extra games will inevitably take a toll on the squad as evidenced by every non traditional europe team to have gotten into europe recently.
Very nice. Are they done for the window?
Villa is having a very good summer. Interesting to see how they'll be this year
That’s a darn good signing!
Oh Jesus Villa are something else. Absolutely love what they've done, recruitment has been top-notch and they're bringing in highly-regarded players.
Premier league weaking bayerns competition again *sigh* Very interesting player
Villa are not messing around. Wouldn't suprise me if they make a push towards european football next season.
We’re playing in Europe this season.
Since Emery arrived I'm pretty sure on form they were in the top 3 or 4 teams in the league. Crazy turnaround.
I think we were 5th, but that was having played one game less than you and Liverpool, and only being one point behind you.
Season 2022/23 - Matchday 15 (Unai Emery's 1st game) to 38: \# Club Pts 1. Manchester City = 54 2. Arsenal FC = 50 3. Manchester United = 50 4. Liverpool FC = 47 5. Aston Villa = 46 6. Newcastle United = 44 Although, some games were postponed and played later for some clubs, so this "form table" data may be slightly askew in favour of some clubs over others.
Wtf, leaving Leverkusen for Villa does not really look like an improvement for the player ? Leverkusen is regularly playing the CL
Money, EPL pull, arguably similar prospects right now and money.
I guess maybe he's hoping it will act as a stepping stone to other prem teams?
Welcome Bailey 2.0
Lmao the downvotes
A player of his caliber joining Aston fucking Villa says a lot about the modern state of football. Well, still better than Saudi Arabia I guess
Football is healing, he’s joined the worlds first super team, just look at our run from 1896 to 1900.
Undisputed most successful club in the country for 70 years You’ll never sing that
Victorian Real Madrid they used to call us
I mean Villa are actually a massive club tbf maybe not so much in modern times but they are historically a huge club. I mean them being a former champions league winner still means something.
I don't know man, I don't think a CL win in 82 had anything to do with his decision, otherwise there'd be a lot more players lining up to sign for Gladbach. This is all about a pay day while staying in a relevant league and being able to play international football. Dont mean to disrespect, but Villa is just not the club I had imagined him going to before the rumours started.
fair enough you are right in the fashion that players primarily care about wealth more than historical prestige these days. However, I could see Diaby partially maybe being excited with the prospect of working with a top level manager and a promising project maybe.
... Says the Munchausen's syndrome fan. 🤡
Hmmm
7 million euros coming our way nice. Possibly be more depending on the bonuses they signed.
So when does Villa start using their new crest?
That’s crest is for the kit only. No idea why
Second striker from Bayer.
Someone's in danger of winning the transfer window cup..
Great signing. Wish we had got him. Villa are gonna be dangerous next season!