Nothing ever remains the same. Entropy happens. Evolution happens. People grow, people shrink. The world changes and we must change with it. Change happens. The key is to keep ahead of that change, to guide it. The problem for Aston Villa this summer is that it has felt like change has been happening to them, the understandable desire to rejuvenate the squad coinciding with players being lured away by bigger salaries at more established clubs. The danger is of a vicious spiral, of the exodus inspiring further exodus as faith in the project is lost.
This, though, was a game to steady Villa nerves after the embarrassment at Brighton last Saturday – even if there had been a sense of pressure mounting uncomfortably before Bukayo Saka put Arsenal ahead. Villa might even have taken a first-half lead had Emí Buendia’s drive not come back off the bar. The champions were the better side, but there wasn’t a huge gulf between them. There was certainly enough here for Villa fans to believe that, even if this is a period of transition, the team they might turn into at the end of that process could be extremely useful.
The North Stand offers a visual representation of the state of change, the roof gone and the lower tier reduced to rows of concrete steps with a large bite taken out in either corner. A big hole has gone from the middle of the upper tier as well, offering a view through to the concrete struts beneath. Floodlighting is provided by two flimsy‑looking temporary towers. It’s all a bit ramshackle and patched together. But in time the old 6,000 structure will become a modern stand holding 12,000, as capacity climbs to almost 50,000 in time for Euro 2028. After a fallow season, it will return bigger and better than before, but there is an unavoidable period of rebuilding.
If all goes well, the same is true of the squad. Nine players have left, most notably Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Emí Martínez and Ezri Konsa, who came on to make his Arsenal debut, with the enormously promising Senegalese 18-year-old forward Ibrahim Mbaye and the 24-year-old centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis poised to become the eighth and ninth permanent arrivals on Tuesday.
Two players, the goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and the centre-forward Nicolas Jackson, made their first starts for the club. Suzuki’s performance was mixed. He misjudged one early corner and a late drive bounced off his chest with an alarming thump – gaffs such as that were a feature of his time at Parma, but the Japan goalkeeper still impressed, less in any specific save than with the authority of his demeanour. A large part of goalkeeping, like refereeing and management, is looking the part, persuading others to believe in you.
Suzuki also played a couple of remarkable long passes. One 60‑yard drive hit to George Hemmings with a touch of fade was so well calibrated that the young winger could take it on his shoulder on the move, and drew appreciative gasps from those in the Holte End directly behind the line of the pass.
Jackson was involved only intermittently but he gave some indication of what he might be capable of just before half-time, dispossessing Gabriel, surging 60 yards and then almost picking out Hemmings in the middle with a cleverly shaped cross. He always seemed a little unfortunate at Chelsea, plucked from Villarreal after 16 first-team appearances and expected to lead the line for a Premier League club that was in perpetual turmoil. His movement and capacity to run in behind defences has never been in doubt; where he struggled was in his decision-making. It may be that with maturity and in a side as structured as Villa that aspect of his game improves.
Matteo Ruggeri, Aaron Wan‑Bissaka and the loan signing Alejandro Garnacho were named on the bench, while Leon Goretzka isn’t even at that stage. Wan-Bissaka and Garnacho came on with 12 minutes to go, a debut for the full-back and a second substitute appearance for the winger. Piece by painstaking piece, a second Emery Villa is beginning to take shape.
It will, though, clearly be a significant time before every new signing is assimilated. There are a lot of new components to get used to Emery’s marathon video sessions and fit together. Villa began last season with a run of six games without a win and this season has the potential to be similarly tricky. It may be a season of hoping the European campaign goes well enough that they’re still involved come the spring and then, if Emery’s new side has come together, focusing on the Champions League knockouts and possibly a late surge to qualify for the competition next season.
The new Villa will not be built overnight, and successive defeats without scoring a goal obviously do not represent a great start. There will have to be patience. But the vaguest hints of a new side are beginning to emerge.
