What's going on at Aston Villa?
Aston Villa have had a concerning start to the season, having only scored their first Premier League goal last weekend and seeing their Director of Football, Monchi, leave the club this week. Villa's transfer window was hampered by PSR, which led to some underwhelming transfer business including a loan move for Jadon Sancho and a free transfer for Victor Lindelöf. Unai Emery has some work to do to improve Villa's form, especially in their offensive play, and so far there are no rumblings of his job being in danger.
Unai Emery's Aston Villa is a team on its knees, far removed from the days of running Paris Saint-Germain close in the Champions League.
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) September 22, 2025
Their lack of goals has felt like a surface-level issue for a team with many deficiencies.
The season is only five league games old, yet the… pic.twitter.com/uYuDDtgiQ0
Villa's game against Sunderland was a great opportunity to win their first Premier League game this season, especially after Sunderland went down to 10 men in the first half. But their goalscoring woes were still on show and they could not capitalise on their advantage. Emery was clearly frustrated after the match, calling his team "lazy" and saying that they need to "recover their identity". Villa have played with less intensity than we've been used to since Unai Emery became their manager. They've still got the bulk of the same squad as last season, so it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where Villa can make some changes to turn their fortunes. Prior to the match against Sunderland, Villa were either bottom or second-bottom in terms of rankings for key offensive stats. They were bottom for goals scored and xG and second-bottom for total shots, shots on target and big chances. These stats make it clear to see that Emery's team have lost some of their attacking verve, and they will be hoping the signings of Evann Guessand, Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott can adjust quickly and help rediscover some goalscoring form.
At the start of this week, Aston Villa's Director of Football, Monchi, left the club and was replaced by Real Sociedad's Roberto Olabe. This news came as a surprise but also could've been expected by Villa's hierarchy, especially after the difficulty of the summer transfer window. The new man, Olabe, has worked with Unai Emery before, so there shouldn't be a massive adjustment period when the former starts. Olabe's main remit will be to fix up Villa's transfer strategy to make it more sustainable, akin to the work he did at Real Sociedad. There could be more of a focus on academy graduates coming through, and buying young, promising players who have the potential to explode. This change in strategy is needed because of Villa's PSR problems, particularly because their wage-to-revenue ratio was around 96% according to Deloitte's 2025 Money League. So, wages definitely need to come down, meaning Villa could lose key players such as Emi Martinez, Ollie Watkins and Amadou Onana.
🚨 Monchi leaves Aston Villa with immediate effect as decision has been made.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 23, 2025
Former Sevilla and AS Roma director leaves #AVFC project as the chapter is over. pic.twitter.com/9NCKKIrOC0
It's clear that there has to be a focus on improving Villa's offensive play for Unai Emery, and with a 1-0 win in the Europa League in the bag, the Spaniard will hope that his players can start to gain some confidence and momentum to take on to the rest of the season. Let's see if the likes of Sancho and Elliott can come in to make a difference, and if Ollie Watkins can rediscover his form too.
