Given the start time, I was up entirely too early to watch this one properly following a late night with friends. However, I did manage to watch most of it on my phone in bed and found myself wishing I’d kept sleeping.

There’s been a lot of talk about this one, the first half in particular. I missed Elanga’s early chance, did see Bizot’s subsequent save from Gordon. There was a free header looped over. From a big chances-created standpoint, I’ll say I hardly agree with Alan Shearer that Villa were absolutely battered. Should Elanga have scored? Probably. But that’s why there are goalkeepers and god knows how many times Villa have started games bossing proceedings only to regret not capitalizing. One might remember losing to the same opponent 1-5 and Sir Alex thinking Villa played the better football.

So, what I saw was simply a very aggressive press and Villa lacking the composure—or the quality on the day—to play out and get a foothold. Newcastle were well aware of where and how they wanted to apply that pressure, and it left Villa frustrated and on the back foot.

After the half, it was a different story with Villa seizing the initiative and looking the more likely to score until Gordon got free and Konsa pulled him back. Bit of a flop to sell it, but it was hardly controversial. From there, you don’t expect much, although I thought Villa might sneak a late one given the way the game was being played. Emery only bringing on Malen seems to imply he had the same feeling.

Regardless, Villa defended well and pulled out a solid point, given the circumstances, and on balance, this might not have been a bad exercise.

Details
Me, I didn’t really have a problem with the lineup. Kamara and Onana in the double-pivot is a look Emery likes and would’ve used more if Onana hadn’t been out so much last season. It obviously lets Youri play further up and shields the back line pretty well. On the day, though, perhaps it would’ve been better if Youri had been deeper to help the quality of the balls being played out. That said, everyone was under intense pressure and it’s hard to do a lot racing back to your goal to receive with someone right on you.

Elsewhere, I’m also never quite sure about SJM in contests like this. You like his doggedness and combativeness, but he’s not always the passer or handler you want. Buendia might have been the better pick for his superior passing and vision, but you’re probably giving up a bit of defensive cover.

My guess is that Emery, well acquainted with Newcastle’s pace and style, expected what he saw, and wanted a defensively solid set-up to keep things under control at the start knowing he could change it round. The way the game turned, he might well have been onto the winning strategy without the red. And I’m also going to assume he’d have thought Villa would be sharper. It will be interesting to see if employs this set-up against other aggressive presses because high-pressing teams basically go all out to gain the advantage as early as they can, and I don’t think it’s negative to hedge your bets and approach the game as a 90-minute arc. Villa returned the favor to start the second and Newcastle didn’t have quite the same energy or composure as they started with.

The other element not helping on the day is that Burn and Shärr are a very good central pairing, better than any we can put out. Quick, strong, and combative, they’re not easy to catch out or push around. And Shärr, at least, has a better range of passing than either Konsa or Mings. Questions are obviously being asked about Konsa, and if I were in charge and not being held back by spending rules, I’d have been signing an aggressive, world-class CB this summer, followed by an elite RFB. And if were in charge we’d also likely be in League One.

In the end, a point and clean sheet against Newcastle is generally a reasonable outcome, especially the way it played out. And I’m pretty sure that our approach is going to evolve depending on how the window winds down. Guessand will play a bigger role, hopefully Malen, too.

So there’s that.

Back to the Window
As to the window, Bailey’s gone out on loan, Dendoncker’s just gone, and we seem to be edging closer to an Asensio return. The Trossard talk has quieted down, and I’m wondering if Monchi & Co are pushing things to the wire to see what Jackson’s clearout price comes down to. Don’t ask me to make sense of where any of this would leave us with our wages conundrum because I don’t think anyone outside the club and the authorities really knows. Bailey and Coutinho probably accounted for a pretty decent share, though. Think I saw Leon was on £124k a week, or some such. Not sure I ever saw a figure for Phil, but it might’ve been closer to astronomical.

If either of those latter two deals comes off, though, the side would have fairly considerable attacking strength and form/opponent/rotation options. Like everyone, I wonder about Jackson’s temperament, but he’s a player Emery knows. Trossard would be interesting because he’s so slippery and good with the ball.

But that’s wages and dead weight off the books. It’s obvious Emery wasn’t looking to keep hold of Bailey, nor did we struggle that hard to hold onto Ramsey.

For Emery, unable to make all the changes he’d like as quickly as he’d like, the challenge is that he still has a number of players that wouldn’t be his first choice in a perfect world. To my mind, he has to adapt Villa’s game plans and management to the limitations of what he has. He’s a brilliant manager, but can’t transform players’ basic qualities. They’ve all had their moments, but the mean level of quality in say McGinn, Cash, Bailey, and Ramsey is not elite. And even though Konsa and Mings have gotten their England call-ups, they’re not truly elite, either. But Emery realizes the value of the combination and experience, their physical pluses, and has again deemed them good enough so as to focus elsewhere.

McGinn doesn’t have a lot of suitors for this reason, nor Cash. But again, they’re good enough to keep them from needing to be priorities. Ramsey, who knows without the injuries. Bailey, well. For me, the upside is that Emery and Monchi haven’t been shy about taking top valuations to balance the books and make changes. But only if the player is deemed dispensable. Duran was probably the hardest decision, being so young and having so much upside. Ollie, Rogers, Martinez…they’d all have a price, too, but clearly these are players Villa will not sell just to balance the books a little.

Congratulations
And last, but certainly not least, congratulations to Morgan Rogers on his very well-deserved Young Player of the Year award. Here’s to more from him.

Over to you.