HEROES AND VILLANS! Brighton hammer Villa as Emery's overhaul exposed and new era gets off to worst possible start

If you're going to sell six of the XI who helped you win a first trophy in 30 years, then you'd better show why. Aston Villa's opening game only served to suggest that the timing of their mass overhaul may have been a little premature.

Unai Emery stood on the touchline at the Amex and saw his Europa League champions trailing 4-0 inside 31 minutes. His defence, minus Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne, were the architects of their own downfall. Brighton were able to take advantage of Villa giving the ball away in their own box to score two of their four goals.

Emery could not rely on Youri Tielemans to get control of the game - he's gone. He couldn't turn to Morgan Rogers to try and produce a moment of individual magic - he's gone.

Emery couldn't ask Ollie Watkins to run in behind and stretch the Brighton defence - he was left out and looks like he's off to Saudi Arabia.

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The succession planning beyond Watkins is not exactly in place. There's talk of a move for Nicolas Jackson, but with Watkins omitted, Emery had to start with no recognised No.9 in his line-up. Emi Buendia was tasked with leading the line.

Joao Gomes, the man who is serving as the replacement for Tielemans, didn't even last 45 minutes as he was shown a red card on debut.

By the time he was dismissed the game was effectively over. Victor Lindelof, who started less than a third of games last term and would likely be on the bench if Konsa was still present, put through his own net inside 10 minutes. Maxim De Cuyper tapped home to double the Brighton lead and Jack Hinshelwood scored twice in two minutes, which saw some Villa fans in the away end head for the exits.

Villa's summer business has been in part driven by a need to remain financially compliant. That said, rarely, if ever, has history shown that ripping up a team who finished fourth and won a European trophy is a good idea, especially in the short term.

We haven't even mentioned Emi Martinez, who was left out after another summer where he's been linked with the exit door. The Argentine's move to Juventus fell through recently and Villa have already moved for life after Martinez, signing Zion Suzuki from Parma.

Before kick-off, Emery claimed his Villa side were "motivated, we are so excited". It must be said that the Midlands outfit have suffered opening weekend hammerings in the past - losing 5-1 at Newcastle in 2023 before going on to finish fourth.

That was under very different circumstances though and with a team that enjoyed continuity. Emery is the one constant at Villa, and the Spaniard has continually outperformed his resources at Villa Park, but those resources may have been gutted to an extent that even his magic wand is limited.

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