28 Feb 2026 11:18:38
I have posted many times that our slow predictable play is far too easy to play against every team now knows how to stop us it just look at the last six games. What has worked in the past is not working now, top coaches adapt otherwise what's happening at the moment happens.
We can virtually predict our play from keeper to full back to keeper to defender whilst teams are setting up to get the ball back off us, predictable is an understatement and everyone except Emery can see it.
28 Feb 2026 13:04:13
How do you know Emery can't see it? Maybe he does see it, but it comes down to what players he has available to him, which at the moment is, to say the least, depleted by injuries.
28 Feb 2026 15:11:22
So what do we do then, AK, just keep losing without putting up a fight, because that's what's happening at the moment.
28 Feb 2026 17:13:46
ByAK, nobody is disputing the injuries have caused us issues, and I expected struggles for the first couple of weeks after, but he persists with playing the same way, with a few players who aren't capable. He's a very well paid manager who's been given the keys to the kingdom. He needs to earn his crust and change something. He can't get by on credit in the bank forever.
With our current struggles, we have a real possibility of dropping out of the European places altogether, and we certainly won't win the Europa League the way we are playing now. Do I want him sacked? Absolutely not. Do I want him to adjust? Absolutely. We keep seeing the PSR excuse, but he's had plenty of money to spend in his time, and his recruitment has been really poor overall.
28 Feb 2026 21:16:02
Sensible post, Dan, and bang on. There are a few that are burying their heads in the sand, doing nothing. We are in trouble, and nothing is changing to address it. A few need to wake up and realise things must change.
28 Feb 2026 21:40:08
Actually, Villa's net spend under Emery has been £42 million, not great when compared to others, and as for his recruitment being poor, a manager rarely, if ever, gets all transfer business right, but let's not forget he signed Tielemans, Rogers, Diaby, Torres, Duran. That's not too shabby, in my opinion.
28 Feb 2026 21:55:36
And, bear in mind, given our lack of flexibility, Aston Villa need to be absolutely perfect in the transfer market. Emery doesn't have the ability to spend 90M on Antony, bin him off 18 months later, and replace him with 75M Mbeumo. He can't spend 600M in 3 transfer windows like Man City and totally rebuild the squad! Aston Villa and Emery need every transfer to be perfect, and when you are shopping in the sub 30M market, that is extremely difficult (or, let's be honest, virtually impossible).
I'd be incredibly hesitant to point the finger at Emery's transfer business given the fact Aston Villa are at a monumental disadvantage financially. The big 6 don't have this issue, and we are currently sitting above 4 of them in the league, and it's almost March. Let's have a slight bit of perspective, shall we?
01 Mar 2026 01:17:30
Maatsen 30 odd million Guessand 30 odd million Onana 50 million Malen 25 million Kosta Garcia Enzo Illing Jr Dobbin Archer Philogene Although Duran was bought under Emery's tenure, he wasn't one of his. Lange had him ready to sign while Gerrard was still there. A lot of money spent on those players, none of whom really worked out. It's true that he has been restricted financially, but he has spent quite a bit on players who didn't fit his style, so it's hard not to put some blame at his feet.
Some players there we didn't lose money on, but we didn't really make much on selling them either. Selling Malen so early in the window was a huge mistake. We were left with only 1 striker for a full month, and dropped valuable points. I love Emery, but he's not blameless and not without his flaws.
01 Mar 2026 08:29:10
I'm not saying Emery is blameless, some of his team selections recently have been bizarre IMO but I trust him to get the team back on track. He always does! Of the players you listed above, the only one I'd genuinely question is Guessand, as he never looked like a good fit for our system, but Palace fans love him already so there is a player there and, hopefully, we can recoup our money in the summer and rectify the issue. The other wild transfer is Harvey Elliot; the obligation is way too restrictive, so he's sadly taken up a much needed loan spot and added zero value. The rest, let's be honest, are PSR moves in some capacity, which are a byproduct of the restrictions imposed on clubs like Villa, as I said we have to be absolutely perfect in the market and that is virtually impossible given the market we are shopping in.
30M gets you Joao Pedro's left boot these days, so consistently finding "hits" in the market is a challenge, sadly. The reality is we have an extremely strong first 11 that can compete with most teams in the league (particularly at home), but once you chip away at that 11, we lack genuine quality, and when you are chipping away at one area (midfield), we simply can't cope. You take Rice, Zubamendi and Odegaard out of the Arsenal side and they would struggle, and they have a ridiculous squad to call upon; we don't, and it's showing, sadly. This slump does not happen if we have McGinn, Tielemans and Kamara fit! I think, as fans, we need to take stock and appreciate we would have absolutely taken this position at the start of the season. Now is not the time to turn against the team or a manager that has given us so much.
01 Mar 2026 11:38:34
Spot on, BK. Take the entire first choice midfield out of any team for 3 months and they would find it difficult to hold onto top five, that includes City and Arsenal.Emery has done what has been needed with transfers. The majority of our signings in the last 3 years have given us something for 12-18 months and then sold for a profit.We could have sold the likes of Konsa, McGinn or Watkins for good money in the past but they've been reliable for so long that it wasn't worth the risk.
01 Mar 2026 12:17:59
Everyone's making good points, but there's a good counter for every point. It's true 30 million only buys you Pedro's left boot, but he was initially brought to the Premier League for considerably less. imo our best CB pairing this season was Konsa and Lindelof, but he can't get a sniff now, even though Torres can't seem to be able to pass water, and his defending is bang average at best. Watkins can't hit a barn door or make a good decision to save his life. Bailey is poor, to say the least, but getting more minutes than he should. Buendia has only had one good game since Christmas. The sale of Malen at the start of the window was very poor timing and wasn't the best decision for the club to sell him in the first place. If Guessand wasn't going to fit the system we play, then why did we spend 30 million of our restricted budget on him in the first place? To me, that's very poor scouting.
We are so short on players but refuse to give any youth a chance like other clubs do successfully quite often; these are all management mistakes that we can't afford. It's true if you take 3 players from any first team midfield it will hurt them, but on Friday we played a Wolves team that won one game all season, and, fair enough, we didn't have our full first team, but we didn't really threaten to score whatsoever against the bottom team in the league. It was a truly shocking performance and not good enough from manager and players alike. They are being paid huge amounts of money every week; they need to man up and take responsibility as individuals as well as a team.
01 Mar 2026 15:47:54
Pedro had plenty of experience of English football, cost Brighton around £30m, and their fans at that point supported their team regardless of form. So many of our fans turn on players at the first sign of imperfection. For us to achieve aims and expectations, we need everyone on it week in, week out.
It's hard to blood raw and inexperienced players. Emery was in a bit of a no win situation with Malen and Guessand. Guessand was stuck out wide because Malen, who should be a winger, wanted to be a striker. Emery tried to find a way to work with both, but clearly the solution wasn't to the benefit of the team.
01 Mar 2026 16:08:42
Having said that, our transfer business hasn't been bad; it could always be better, and if you are looking for value, we could do worse than look at Bodo Glimt pair Kasper Hogh and Jens Peter Hauge. Both have scored Champions League goals and would come fairly cheap.
Celtic had a £9 million bid rejected for Hogh, but Bodo would have accepted between £12-15 million, which represents minimal risk given the cost. I do think we need to look at the Scandinavian market more than we do.