Last season was the greatest Aston Villa have enjoyed since they won the European Cup in 1982. They claimed their second European trophy by lifting the Europa League, but even without that would have secured Champions League qualification by finishing fourth in the Premier League. Despite a miserable start during which they failed to win any of their first five league games, there was even a spell around Christmas when it looked as though Villa might be challengers for the title.
The question after a season like that is always: where next? The answer is probably less clear now than it was amid the delirium of Istanbul in May. A reasonable consideration, even a couple of weeks ago, would have been: was that a one-off high, the limit of the club’s ambitions, or was there more?
The danger for any team, but particularly one relatively unfamiliar with success, is to rest on its laurels, to be too loyal to those who have brought the long-awaited silverware. It’s an understandable enough impulse: any transfer comes with a risk, so why make changes when what was there before worked? Why offload players to whom there is a sense of gratitude?
Villa have not rested on their laurels. Three major players – Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Ezri Konsa – have left, Emí Martínez seems likely to join them and Ollie Watkins might go as well. Nor is it a club cashing in while it still can.
But it probably wasn’t quite planned this way either. The exodus is a combination of accepting that certain players are ready to fly the nest and trying to make as much money from them as possible for a rejuvenation of the squad. The danger is that too much is being changed too quickly.
Those changes have not just been among the playing staff. Two physios and the head of the medical team went to Arsenal. Jaime Arias Galán, a technical assistant, has left.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
