Unai Emery’s Player Treatment at Aston Villa Under Scrutiny

6 minutes

Aston Villa have been struggling so far this season, and once again Unai Emery’s treatment of new signings is a topic of discussion.The Villans currently sit in 15th position in the Premier League table after six games, picking up just one win during that period.Emery’s side sit on five points having secured a win and a draw in their last two matches, but it’s still not been a convincing campaign.Last season, Villa performed exceptionally, but during the summer transfer window, a number of their key stars headed for the exit door.Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa, Emi Martinez, Ollie Watkins, and Lucas Digne were among those to depart, with Villa losing the spine of their side.The Midlands club brought in a number of replacements, as expected, but not all of them have hit the ground running.Aston Villa sales in summer windowAgainst Brentford last time out, Matteo Ruggeri, Johan Manzambi, Nicolas Jackson, Zion Suzuki, and Joao Gomes were the only summer signings to start the match.That left Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ibrahim Mbaye, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Alejandro Garnacho, and Leon Goretzka among those who were either on the bench or missing from the squad for various reasons.Manzambi and Jackson both made an impact against Brentford, producing an assist and a goal, respectively. Impact isn’t a word that you can throw at all of Villa’s recent signings, but sometimes that’s not through any fault of their own.Alejandro Garnacho joined the club from Chelsea during the summer transfer window on loan, and he’s managed to play just 31 minutes in the Premier League this season. You could argue that he’s not doing enough to warrant more minutes, but it suggests that it was a bit of a waste to bring him to the club.Everyone could see that Garnacho has been struggling in recent years, so it was a mistake even to bring him to the club.It’s a similar situation for Harwood-Bellis. Villa paid big money to bring him to the club in the summer, but now he’s failing to make the squad at all.It begs questions over whether the recruitment team and Emery are aligned in their thinking, as Villa have signed a player that the manager clearly doesn’t fancy.It’s hard to point fingers. Is it the recruitment team or Emery’s fault? In reality, Emery must have some say, and his treatment of the aforementioned players certainly seems unfair.It’s not the first time this has happened, either. Villa signed Harvey Elliott on loan from Liverpool last season, and Emery barely gave him a chance.When he was on the bench, he rarely came on the pitch, and more often than not, he wasn’t even in the squad for Premier League games.Questions need to be asked of Emery’s treatment of some of their players, as they can’t continue to waste money on new signings in the modern era, especially if they want to progress.