The three key areas Unai Emery must address for Aston Villa this January

It would be something of an understatement to say the 2022/23 season has been a turbulent one so far for Aston Villa.

We are still not at the halfway point of the season but have already seen a managerial switch, players being accused of downing tools, record-breaking wins, and embarrassing defeats.

The primary job for Unai Emery for the remainder of this season is to instil a sense of stability after a hectic five years for the club. He is within his rights to aim higher of course, Villa are only four points outside the top six after all, but the primary objective must be stability.

Thankfully, the transfer window is just around the corner where the Spaniard can make his mark on the squad. The rumour mill is already swirling with Villa being linked with the likes of Joao Felix and Marcus Thuram, though both players seem unlikely to join.

Key issues in the Villa squad

The summer transfer window was something of a dud for Villa. Despite making some stunning signings with Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos, they left some gaping holes that Emery needs to patch up.

Former manager Steven Gerrard was somewhat one-dimensional in his squad building over the summer, with the Liverpool legend being dead set against using wingers at first. He sold both Anwar El Ghazi and Trezeguet and loaned out Bertrand Traore, leaving Villa short of wide options.

However, this plan was thrown out the window after Leon Bailey dazzled in a pre-season win over Manchester United to earn himself a starting berth for the opening game against Bournemouth. Gerrard continued to persevere with wingers, often lining up with Bailey and Ollie Watkins either side of Danny Ings.

His decision to sell most of Villa’s wingers and wide forwards has caused issues for Emery, who is a fan of having a wide forward to play off a striker. Both Bailey and Emi Buendia have been used this way already in a 4-2-2-2 and a 4-4-2 respectively. While Villa did win both games, it left them having to use Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn as wide midfielders in the 4-4-2.

This is where the need for a new striker arises.

Key area 1: Striker

While it is true that Villa have two capable strikers at the club already in Watkins and Ings, they have repeatedly showed that they cannot play together consistently. Both Gerrard and Dean Smith tried and failed to make them work, all to no avail.

There is also young star Cameron Archer, but he has barely played this season and needs to go back out on loan to rediscover his groove. Therefore, Villa must turn to the market.

Links with Felix and Thuram are encouraging and shows a level of ambition, but both seem incredibly unlikely. Villa would need to fend off interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs to secure their signatures and that can be a tough sell with the club sitting in midtable. However, it is a feat Villa have done before with the signing of Boubacar Kamara on a free transfer over the summer, so never say never.

The striker position is the only glaring weakness in Villa’s current system, which allows Emery to focus more on depth for the rest of the window.

Key area 2: Backup goalkeeper

Swedish ‘keeper Robin Olsen arrived at the club on an initial loan in January to try and solidify Villa’s goalkeeper position. Emiliano Martinez has made the starting position his own since arriving in 2020, but they have lacked a reliable backup since Tom Heaton left in 2021.

Promotion hero Jed Steer faltered in his two appearances against Chelsea last season and Olsen has floundered in his limited game time. The former Everton and Roma shot stopper has conceded seven goals in just 146 minutes of league football, equating to a goal every 20 minutes. Throw in a 4-2 Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester United and you can see why Villa should look for new blood.

Finding a dependable backup is difficult as they must be good enough to throw in without having to worry too much, but also be happy to sit on the bench. There are two routes they can go down with this. Either they find a young up-and-coming ‘keeper who is willing to wait for their chance or they bring in an old head.

Villa also have Viljami Sinisalo, Oliwier Zych and Filip Marschall on their books, though the former is currently out on loan at Burton Albion. Zych and Marschall are also just teenagers, so throwing them in too soon could be incredibly damaging for them.

Key area 3: Backup full-backs

A final area that clearly needs improvement is depth in the full-back positions, with Villa currently only having Ashley Young and Ludwig Augustinsson as cover.

Young has been a surprise star this season, showing the same levels of fitness and dependability he had during his first spell at the club. Ezri Konsa has also covered at right-back on occasion, though this ended in disaster in a humiliating defeat to Fulham in Gerrard’s final match as manager.

With both Young and Augustinsson set to leave at the end of the season however, Villa will need to address this issue soon. French right-back Frederic Guilbert is still technically a Villa player, but he has been dumped in the U21s and looks certain to leave. Youngster Kaine Kesler-Hayden dazzled for Villa over pre-season but is currently enduring a difficult spell on loan at Huddersfield Town.

Just like with the goalkeeper situation, Villa do not need a new starter on either side with Matty Cash and Lucas Digne having the berths locked down. However, the issue of depth will come up again at the end of the season and Emery may look to arrest it quickly.