Aston Villa haven’t won a cup in a long time; their last domestic trophy was the League Cup in 1996, and they kick off their campaign again on Wednesday, September 27.
Villa did reach the competition’s final in the 2019/20 season, but were defeated by Manchester City at Wembley, and there has been some criticism from supporters and analysts for the Villains’ withdrawal from cup competitions since then.
Unai Emery’s team has had a decent start to the season, beating Everton and Chelsea while losing badly to both Liverpool and Newcastle United. Gabby Agbonlahor has urged the Spanish manager to learn from his European blunders and produce a solid team against Everton on Saturday.
According to Birmingham Live (26 September), he said on Talk Sport: “The fans are really disappointed after the side lost their first game in Europe by changing their team a bit, and I think Emery has learned his lesson.”
“He’ll go all out against Everton.” I believe he will attempt to win a prize. It’s been too long for Villa fans, and I believe he will want to win this.”
While Emery made changes to his Villa side during their Europa Conference League loss to Legia Warsaw, the team he selected was far from weak. Six of the players that appeared in the European match then started the Premier League match, with an average of 26.2 and plenty of Premier League experience.
Although fans will want to see Villa compete for trophies on all fronts, it is seldom that simple for teams, especially when you include in the additional European fixtures that Emery’s side must deal with. Aston Villa will have to play 48 games this season, seven more than they did last year, if they do not advance further in their current competitions.
The problem in Europe was less about team rotation and more about the Villains’ wastefulness on the ball; according to Fotmob, they had 19 attempts on goal in Poland but only struck the target six times. At Stamford Bridge, they had 15 shots but only tested the goalkeeper seven times.
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