Latest news with #DamianVidagany
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Emery, Vidagany and Monchi: Inside Aston Villa's power triangle
'What makes him so good is that his intuition is second to none,' says agent Kenneth Asquez. He's describing Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo, better known in football as Monchi and a man he has known for more than two decades. Monchi is among football's most renowned sporting directors, having successfully transitioned from a nine-year playing career as Sevilla's backup goalkeeper to an administrative position at that La Liga club, where he worked with a manager named Unai Emery. Advertisement They were reunited in June 2023 when Monchi joined Aston Villa, having been at Sevilla together from 2013 to 2016, and they have now formed a 'triangle of power' alongside the club's director of football operations, Damian Vidagany. Ahead of an important summer for Villa, The Athletic spoke to more than 20 people, including agents, coaches, executives and other staff, to better understand the balance of power at the club and how it impacts transfer strategy… Emery, Monchi and Vidagany share an extremely close relationship. Their offices at Bodymoor Heath, Villa's training ground, connect and the three of them eat breakfast and lunch together most days. 'Monchi and Vidagany spend so much time with Emery that they know what he thinks and what he wants,' says Asquez. 'What used to happen in England was that managers saw a sporting director as a threat. If you're a proper sporting director, you're not a threat, you're an asset. It's to help the workload.' Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, joked that whenever you see Monchi, invariably Vidagany is not far behind — and vice versa. 'Monchi goes everywhere with Damian because his English is not very good,' says one friend. Vidagany also accompanies Emery to media interviews and helps translate any questions he does not fully grasp. Though Monchi's still working on his English, he is unafraid to speak in front of audiences. Before Champions League fixtures last season, there would be a meal attended by executives from the two teams. Monchi would make a speech at these gatherings, welcoming opponents to the Midlands. He is described as an emotional and reactive character, yet quieter than Vidagany. 'Monchi's a philosopher,' one agent remarks. 'He references history, philosophy and religious books during meetings. He's a very religious deep-thinker.' Advertisement 'The football side of the club is brilliant. The Spanish are gents and top class,' one senior executive at another Premier League club tells The Athletic. While Emery is an affable figure, his huge workload means he prefers to concentrate solely on his Villa team. This is when Monchi and Vidagany step in and, especially in the latter's case, provide the conduit. The pair are responsible for keeping the club's owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, briefed and helping direct them on decisions. (Head of emerging talent and loans, Adam Henshall, is involved in some meetings and is highly thought of, too, with agents stating he could one day be an effective sporting director.) Several people we spoke to described Villa as 'two clubs' — the football department and the off-field management. The football side has amassed significant autonomy to make all sporting decisions. They work from the main building at Bodymoor Heath, just outside Birmingham. Off-field employees are dotted around the country, including Villa's central London office near Oxford Circus. The power base at Villa is different from that at Sevilla, when Emery and Monchi won three Europa Leagues in as many seasons. Fundamentally, authority was more evenly split there. With Villa, Monchi's role is to facilitate Emery's wishes. This was made clear last summer when he listed four key objectives. 'First, to find a solution for the PSR (the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules). That's the most important,' Monchi said in September 2024. 'Second, to have a younger squad. Three, to have a deeper squad. And the fourth is to be aligned with what Unai wants.' 'Monchi would tell you openly that the best manager he's had at Sevilla was Unai,' says a close contact of the sporting director, 'because he's the manager who would get the highest performance out of players and that allowed him to sell at peak prices. He (Monchi) was more in charge at Sevilla, but now his role is to assist and provide Emery with options.' Advertisement That said, Monchi does have a leading influence when signing 'project players' — ones who may be initially unknown to Emery. Especially during a transfer window, Monchi — who is supported by family members working at the club, such as his son, Alejandro — will be spotted on his phone at all hours, even taking calls outside the Villa dressing room after matches, or in regular meetings abroad with players' families and agents. Broadly speaking, his approach has two recruitment phases: gross tracking and net tracking. The former is in the months before a window, scouting widely to forge a picture of the standout players. Gradually, this is refined into a definitive list of players to pursue as the process moves into the net tracking phase. Player tracking includes studying home and away games, against varying strengths of opposition and also international matches if applicable, with Monchi leaning on members of his recruitment team to watch players at different stages (seeing them six or seven times), hoping to remove biases and ensure neutrality. '(Former Brazil full-back) Dani Alves wasn't picked out with data before he joined Sevilla,' says a close contact of Monchi. 'That was through watching him. He has a large but close circle of friends whom he trusts and they would tip him off. He doesn't use data to point the finger at a player. The data is information that allows him to be present at many stadiums. 'Monchi went to sign Kevin-Prince Boateng at Hertha Berlin, but the asking fee was more than what Sevilla wanted to pay. On the way home from Germany, Monchi stopped in France and they bought an unknown Lens player called Seydou Keita. A year later, he joined Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.' Vidagany and Monchi are integral cogs in the overall operation, but they are assisted by a cohort of analysts, scouts and recruitment staff. In the wake of global director of football development Johan Lange and head of scouting Rob MacKenzie moving to Tottenham Hotspur in October 2023, along with some other personnel, Villa remain in the process of revamping their scouting system. One change under Monchi is that department staff are now being asked to focus on specific regions. Under the previous regime, it was more fluid, with them mixing across different parts of the world. Advertisement Villa are also reshaping the upstairs rooms at Bodymoor Heath. The plan is to move the data insights department into the office next to Monchi, encouraging effective collaboration and making it easier to discuss private matters. Head of recruitment Bryn Davies is in charge of the data team and their work feeds into Monchi. Emery, Monchi, Davies and the latter's staff will present and discuss potential signings. Vidagany does not have a say on which players Villa bring in, his job is to act on who the recruitment personnel decide to go for. After Emery speaks on the positions he wants, those targets are then whittled down. It is not uncommon for Villa's recruitment team to initially have a hundred possible targets for one position. Emery will select a few who interest him and ask for further checks. At other times, he will bring a player to their attention. Data is important, but it's used to inform, not dictate. It can help flag players who are on the system, which, if the numbers are good, allows Villa to watch them live, accompanied by background checks on their character, mentality and whether they suit Emery's environment. In the case of Marcus Rashford, their winter-window loan signing from Manchester United, Villa made calls to close observers. Background checks came back favourably. Monchi and Davies are deft at discussing targets with Emery, who will, at times, cede ground if some of the players he wants do not show up well on reports. Emery tends not to care how old they are or what league they play in, so long as they are good enough. If a player he does not know is presented well to him — Jhon Duran's acquisition from Chicago Fire of MLS at age 19 being a case in point — he will sanction the move. Like Emery, Monchi is receptive to the new wave of data if the case is presented effectively. Often, the best way to do this is with presentations using fewer words and more images. He will, however, challenge the numbers shown to him. He then has a wealth of connections to take mooted deals forward. 'He is absolutely spot-on and has an aura,' says one colleague. 'He is the best I've worked with and has a good heart.' Vidagany is Emery's eyes and ears, a bridge between all footballing departments and between the dressing room and management. He met Emery at Valencia, where he was manager from 2008 to 2012. Vidagany, a journalist in his previous life, worked in the club's media and marketing section. Today, his office sits between the manager's and Monchi's. Advertisement 'Damian can make people feel 10 feet tall,' a Villa employee says. 'He is a great communicator, can put an arm round a player, explaining why they were left out, or rave about their performances.' Vidagany wants every staff member to enjoy coming into work. If they do, he reasons they will be more effective at their jobs, more accepting of long hours and create an upwardly mobile culture. Staff approach him with issues or just to chat. To boost morale, he encourages regular internal promotions to ensure the British workers feel as valued as Emery's Spanish contingent. This is to guard against any sense of a divide at Villa. In truth, Vidagany's remit is all-encompassing, ranging from meetings when Emery organises them — sometimes at short notice and sometimes when he has to be strong enough to calm the manager down — to discussing logistical dilemmas around Bodymoor Heath or knowing the costs of renovations. He also takes seriously the need to defend Villa when they sense they are under external scrutiny. Last season, Vidagany regularly posted online after he felt Villa were under pressure from other clubs or on the wrong end of officiating decisions. Vidagany is in charge of negotiations, which is regarded as his strongest attribute, but he is also an engaging, talkative character and makes an effort to invite contacts to the training ground for breakfast or lunch. 'He is a great host,' says one agent. 'Damian has a good awareness of players' emotions. He has apologised to players in the past if he feels Villa have made an error, but doesn't sugarcoat anything.' Players' families also appreciate when Monchi and Vidagany are involved in contracts and there are instances of them stepping in at the latter stages of academy-level deals if required. Every few days, the pair update the owners, who ask to be kept informed on transfers and contracts, whether it's about the first team or junior age groups. Villa's power base is undoubtedly geared around Emery. Monchi and Vidagany are facilitators, there to implement footballing strategy. And though the club's transfer windows can be volatile, largely owing to PSR, there is now a stable framework for on-field success.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Aston Villa Transfer DealSheet: Summer window latest, key targets and likely exits
In crushing fashion, Aston Villa's summer strategy became clear. Missing out on Champions League qualification on goal difference (due, in part, to a controversial refereeing decision on the final day) meant that Villa's decision-makers could firm up the plan for the type of budget and recruitment for the transfer window. Advertisement Villa will lose out on a minimum of £30million ($40.7m) — potentially a maximum of £100m — but, regardless, Villa knew player sales would have to compensate for the deficit in the finances, having suffered more than £200m in losses in the previous two yearly accounts. While they will not suffer the repercussions on their top five failure until the next set of accounts (those due in June 2026), who they sell has to be taken into account. The Athletic has spoken to multiple sources on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to talk, to explain the landscape. Manager Unai Emery has the final say but his close circle — including Monchi, president of football operations, president of football operations, Damian Vidagany, Adam Henshall, head of emerging talent and loans and head of recruitment Bryn Davies — present a list of targets and positions being sought. They are assisted by Villa's data team. Villa need to noticeably reduce the wage bill to comply with UEFA's financial limits, which restrict spending on 'player and coach wages and transfers and agent fees to 70 per cent of the club's revenue' from the 2025-26 season onwards. They are expected to incur a substantial fine from UEFA following last season's breaches. This year, Villa have to fall below 80 per cent, but were above the 90 per cent limit in 2023-24. Only Arsenal's wage growth was higher than Villa's last season, so there is an acceptance that squad costs have to reduce, which further affects the budget. There is an expectation that before the June 30 PSR deadline, which marks the end of the financial year, will not be as turbulent as 12 months ago. In some respects, UEFA's Squad Cost Rules (SCR) — with Villa participating in the Europa League next season — is more alarming. Complying with PSR forces Villa to acknowledge that sales are a necessity as costs are higher than revenues. Only Chelsea (£431.3m) have lost more on a day-to-day basis in the previous two years, discounting player sales. Recruitment figures accept market conditions, influenced by PSR, means they will need to pivot between targets. Villa's scouting team have planned for a multitude of scenarios — this includes shortlisting what players replace certain departures. Villa are likely to be shopping for a lower tier of player, in a transfer fee and salary sense. This does not suggest players are second, third and maybe fourth options — it means the recruitment team will have to be cannier in spotting high-potential, lower-cost players. Advertisement Potential suitors are aware of Villa's PSR deadline and, similarly to last season, will attempt to take advantage through lowball offers. Villa intend to strengthen at right-sided centre-back and right-back — though the £5m January signing of Andres Garcia from Levante has provided a source of pride among sources inside the club. Goalkeeping options in the event Emiliano Martinez departs are being explored. They need to replace his deputy, Robin Olsen, who will leave at the end of his contract in July. Emery is short in wide areas and a striker to replace or provide high-end competition to Ollie Watkins would be preferable, though much is dependent on outgoings. If Lucas Digne leaves, Villa will assess left-backs. The same is true in central midfield and No 10 positions. Feyenoord forward Zepiqueno Redmond is scheduled to join Villa at the start of July. The 18-year-old is out of contract at the Dutch side and visited Birmingham with his representatives less than a fortnight ago. Villa had aimed to recruit a young forward following Jhon Duran's departure in January. Redmond has only played four Eredivisie games and is expected to begin with the under-21s. Like most other Premier League sides, Villa have watched Southampton's Tyler Dibling. Meanwhile, Lille's Lucas Chevalier is among those on the radar to replace Martinez. Another player who has Premier League interest is Hellas Verona's Diego Coppola. At 21 and a right-sided central defender, he would fit the profile of player Villa want. The Athletic reported in April that Villa were frontrunners to land highly-rated Sverre Nypan from Rosenborg. Recruitment staff made trips to Norway to monitor Nypan, with lots of work going into convincing the player — who counts Arsenal and Girona as admirers — of Villa's project. Advertisement Presentations have been shown to him and the family, outlining plans to integrate him into Emery's set-up. Despite protracted conversations, no agreement has been reached. Villa retain the option to make Marco Asensio's loan from Paris Saint-Germain permanent. The 29-year-old, who would become one of the highest earners, wants to continue working with Emery. Villa have a lot of saleable assets and most players have seen their values appreciate. Martinez's exit could solve the most headaches, with the Argentina No 1 fetching a sizeable fee. He is the highest earner of any permanent player and would alleviate PSR and UEFA SCR concerns. If Martinez was to move to a European club — having received interest from Saudi Arabia in 2024 — it would require chain-like transfer activity, with the goalkeeper replacing another from a big European side and so on. Villa have yet to formally receive interest. To solve UEFA's SCR, Digne is an option. Villa would not receive a huge fee for the left-back, but he is on £120,000 a week and has 12 months left on his contract. Ideally, Villa would continue with Digne challenging Ian Maatsen, but PSR means Villa cannot carry multiple top-level players for one spot. Villa accepted they had to sell Duran or Watkins in January and although the former ended up leaving, they were not opposed to the latter departing. This is pertinent this summer, with Watkins expecting clarity on his future. Arsenal are monitoring his situation. Digne knows regular football is paramount if he is to be selected in France's squad for next year's World Cup. Villa had delayed discussions over his future and a possible contract until they learned what European competition they would be. Talks over a new contract for Tyrone Mings will take place. Leon Bailey has long-standing interest from Saudi dating back to when Villa sold Moussa Diaby to Al Ittihad last summer. Manchester United and others held preliminary talks in January, having known Villa were keen to sell. His representatives have been in contact with clubs in the Middle East. Advertisement A long-term contract is on the table for Boubacar Kamara. Other clubs have contacted the players' representatives, asking to be kept informed but Kamara wants to stay in the Premier League and while talks have progressed, there was an expectation he would wait until he knew if Villa would be in the Champions League. Kamara is a huge admirer of Emery and is widely regarded by multiple sources as Villa's best player. Morgan Rogers is the most valuable asset. The 22-year-old attacking midfielder has had a stellar 18 months since signing from Middlesbrough and has multiple admirers. He would command a vast fee having signed a new deal this season. Jacob Ramsey has long-standing interest from elsewhere in the Premier League and, as an academy graduate, would represent pure bookable profit. Crucially, though, Ramsey's salary is manageable and Villa need to fulfil the 'homegrown' or 'club-trained' quota when registering their squad for the Europa League. This will be taken into consideration with Lamare Bogarde, who provides useful squad depth and is club-trained, but a sale would help with PSR. Villa will try, again, to cancel Philippe Coutinho's contract. He has been on loan at Vasco da Gama but still has 12 more months left on his deal. Other players attempting to be moved on include Leander Dendoncker. He has been on loan at Anderlecht but the Belgian club have decided against exercising the clause to sign him. He has interest from clubs in the Gulf. Bayer Leverkusen are not taking up the option to sign Emiliano Buendia, who spent the second half of the campaign in Germany. Kaine Kesler-Hayden, who won Preston North End's player of the year following an excellent loan, is expected to join a Championship side or lower-end Premier League team. Left-back Alex Moreno fell down the pecking order on loan at Nottingham Forest, with Villa open to offers. Villa signed Enzo Barrenechea from Juventus last summer but he spent the campaign on loan at Valencia, where he has impressed and the 23-year-old would provide a profit on the €11m paid last year. Advertisement Samuel Iling-Junior will hold talks in the coming weeks with game time a priority for all parties. After signing last summer he spent the season with Bologna and then Middlesbrough. This season's under-18s group will have interest after becoming the second youth team in history to complete the treble behind Chelsea. Villa won the FA Youth Cup and the Under-18 Premier League South title before ending the season with national final success against Manchester City. Who leaves on loan depends on the coaching staff's sense of each player's needs; whether they are better served experiencing first-team football or continuing to develop internally. Further loans are on the cards for Sil Swinkels, Lewis Dobbin, James Wright, Josh Feeney and Kadan Young. (Top image: Martinez and Watkins could both leave this summer; Getty Images)
New York Times
26-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Breaking down the decision Aston Villa felt cost them the Champions League
Hands glued behind his back, Unai Emery stood motionless at full-time and his eyes transfixed on one man. Emery did not move from the moment referee Thomas Bramall blew the whistle for the final time in Aston Villa's season until, some while later, his stillness was broken by the other officials, prompting the Villa manager to head towards the tunnel. Advertisement Director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, and Monchi, president of football operations, had intercepted Emery, but the Spaniard followed Bramall down the long tunnel, protesting the sense of injustice against his team. This was a tale of more Old Trafford woe for Villa — now three wins in 30 visits — but this time, Villa were enraged by one refereeing error that, in their eyes, ultimately led to the club missing out on Champions League qualification. The Athletic explains what happened and the potential ramifications… Three minutes ended up defining Villa's season. It started in the 74th minute when Manchester United's goalkeeper Altay Bayindir rushed out of his goal to pick up a straightforward ball from Harry Maguire's defensive header. Morgan Rogers, however, stole in before Bayindir had collected cleanly. Rogers nudged the ball past Bayindir, who had only one hand on the ball, before scoring into an empty net. Crucially, though, Bramall had already blown his whistle to signal a foul before Rogers had scored, meaning the video assistant referee (VAR) could not intervene and overturn the decision. Had Rogers' goal stood, Villa would have taken the lead, strengthening their grip on a Champions League position and three points in front of Newcastle United, who went on to lose to Everton. This incident left Villa's players and coaching staff incandescent, furiously protesting the decision. Amad Diallo then headed in three minutes later to put United a goal ahead. Villa were eventually defeated 2-0, ending the season in sixth place, with Emery sarcastically applauding Bramall after awarding United a penalty for a foul on Amad. He took a seat on an Old Trafford step in seeming resignation, accepting Villa would instead qualify for the Europa League. The Athletic revealed Villa intended to make an official complaint to the Premier League that a more experienced referee was not selected to officiate a game of such magnitude. An official club statement came later on Sunday evening, confirming they had written to the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body which organises officiating in England: 'With such high stakes surrounding today's fixture, the club believe a more experienced referee should have been appointed,' the statement read.' Of the 10 referees to officiate across the Premier League today, Mr. Bramall was the 2nd least experienced. Advertisement 'The decision to disallow Morgan Rogers' goal, which would have given the club a 1-0 lead with 17 minutes remaining in the match, was a major contributing factor to the club not qualifying for the Champions League. 'As per the standards that have been established over the course of the season, a decision to whistle early is clearly inconsistent with current refereeing guidelines. VAR exists to ensure that these types of situations receive the scrutiny they deserve. Unfortunately, the technology was not allowed to serve its purpose. 'Ultimately, we acknowledge that the outcome for us will not change, but we believe that it is important to address the selection methodology to ensure that high stakes matches are treated as such with regards to officiating and to ensure that the implemented VAR technology is allowed to be effective.' Bramall, 35, was promoted to Select Group 1, the highest level for referees in England, before the 2022-23 campaign. This season, he has refereed in both the Premier League and Championship, overseeing 11 in the top flight and 12 in the second tier, according to Transfermarkt. PGMOL, the body which organises officiating in England, has been approached for comment. From Villa's perspective, senior figures and staff can accept a human error, even if the decision defined their season and meant they missed out on securing Champions League income, essential to summer plans and their profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) predicament. The broader issue in the club's eyes was PGMOL's lack of preventative measures, such as selecting a more experienced referee given the high stakes involved in the fixture. Villa's hierarchy spoke to PGMOL technical director Howard Webb at full-time and the former Premier League referee expressed sympathy for Villa's complaints. Advertisement 'The complaint is not about the decision, it is about the decision of the experience of the referee,' Vidagany said in Emery's post-match press conference. 'The problem is that why the international referees weren't here today.' 'I think he is a young referee who has progressed very quickly,' captain John McGinn told TNT Sports. 'Maybe we could look at having more experienced referees. I don't know. It's just an incredible decision and makes today even worse than it should be. 'I know the rule but it's hard on us. For him to blow his whistle at that point, it's really, really tough to handle. It's a really costly one. We only needed a point to reach the Champions League.' Some Villa sources, who have spoken on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, admit their expectation heightened following Newcastle's defeat. In retrospect, Villa only required a point at Old Trafford to qualify for the Champions League. Bramall alternates officiating between the Premier League and the second-tier Championship, in which there is no VAR, so a referee does not have to wait for an attacking move to reach its natural conclusion before blowing their whistle. Yet there is also an acknowledgement that Villa did not deserve to win. Emery admitted the performance 'was disappointing', while McGinn insisted United 'absolutely deserved to win'. Villa failed to register a shot in the first half in an oddly cautious and error-strewn showing. Matty Cash's poor backpass led to Emiliano Martinez's red card on the stroke of half time, with Villa having toiled from a structural standpoint before the sending off. VAR guidelines state that as long as a referee has not blown his whistle before a goal is scored or an offence has occurred, it can intervene. If the referee has already blown before the ball has crossed the line, like Bramall mistakenly did, there is nothing VAR can do. This may seem jarring given the complaints which followed after Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi suffered a ruptured intestine when colliding with the post earlier this month. Advertisement Awoniyi had failed to get on the end of Anthony Elanga's cross, but the goal would not have stood due to an offside in the build-up. On that occasion, the assistant referee, under instruction, allowed the move to play out, only to then raise the flag once it had come to a natural conclusion. At Old Trafford, the inverse happened, with Bramall stopping play before Rogers could score. 'The key moment was the goal of Morgan Rogers and how the referee, in that moment, decided this action,' said Emery. 'He whistled and he needed to have it under his control, waiting for VAR because VAR was coming.' Yes. And, ironically and painfully again, to Villa. Away to Crystal Palace in 2019, midfielder Henri Lansbury seemed to have converted a low shot into the far corner. But referee Kevin Friend had blown his whistle for simulation, with Jack Grealish going down in the box just before. Grealish protested that he had never appealed for the penalty, but Villa's captain was booked. With Friend having already blown his whistle before Lansbury's strike, the Premier League confirmed the VAR, Andrew Madley, had been unable to 'check the goal'. This similarly drew the ire of players and travelling supporters, who were denied both a crucial goal and an opportunity for the VAR to review the decision. Aside from becoming the first team outside of the traditional 'Big Six' to qualify for the Champions League in successive seasons, Villa will lose out on a minimum of £30million in income, potentially rising upwards of £100m. This would have helped to offset the current deficit in the club's finances, having suffered over £200m in losses in the previous two yearly accounts. Europa League money helps, though it is incomparable to Champions League riches. Less money means less revenue, so, until Villa's other commercial revenue streams catch up, the large hole in the finances has to be covered by player sales. Players were required to be sold regardless of whether Villa secured Champions League football for another campaign. Staying in line with PSR — which dictates teams cannot incur losses of over £105m over a three-year period — forms a critical part of the club's thinking. This is especially relevant when it comes to UEFA's financial limits, which restrict spending on 'player and coach wages and transfers and agent fees to 70 per cent of the club's revenue' from the 2025-26 season onwards. This year, Villa have to fall below 80 per cent, having been above the 90 per cent limit in the 2023-24 campaign. Martinez, Leon Bailey, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey and Ollie Watkins have suitors, while there is interest in Rogers. There have also been examples of Villa delaying contract talks until they knew what budget they would have, while some players had been waiting to learn whether they would be playing in Europe's blue-chip competition next season. The after-effects of Sunday's controversial defeat will be felt for some time. (Top photos: TNT Sports;)
BreakingNews.ie
25-05-2025
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
Aston Villa to file complaint over choice of referee for Man Utd clash
Aston Villa will make an official complaint to the Premier League over the choice of referee for their key clash at Manchester United after seeing a goal controversially ruled out as they failed to qualify for the Champions League. Unai Emery's men struggled at Old Trafford and life was made harder by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's sending-off just before half-time, yet they looked to have taken the lead through Morgan Rogers in the 73rd minute. Advertisement United's back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayindir did not have the ball in control when it was taken out of his hands by the Villa man, but referee Thomas Bramall had blown for a foul before his strike found the net. Morgan Rogers' goal was controversially disallowed (Martin Rickett/PA) The Premier League match centre confirmed 'the incident was not reviewable by the VAR' as 'the whistle was blown by the referee before the ball entered the goal' – a body blow quickly followed by Amad Diallo and Christian Eriksen goals. Villa's 2-0 defeat saw them finish sixth and miss out on Champions League qualification, with the club set to complain to the Premier League having felt a more experienced official should have been selected. Villa director of football Damian Vidagany said: 'The complaint is not about the decision. Advertisement 'The complaint is about the selection of the referee – one of the most inexperienced referees for one of the most difficult matches of the season, involving another four or five teams. 'It's not about the decision. The decision is clear. It's a mistake. The referee apologised for the mistake, so we can do nothing. 'The problem is why the experienced referees, international referees were not here today.' The Professional Game Match Officials Board had no comment to make when contacted by the PA news agency. Advertisement Villa boss Emery, who walked off field talking to referee Bramall, said: 'We scored one goal, and normally this goal, if the referee was under his control, this moment, to wait before to whistle this action, I think it was a goal, after VAR. We watched on the TV. 'But we are making mistakes, the players are making mistakes and the referees, sometimes they are making mistakes. 'We have to accept it. We lost and we didn't deserve more.' Unai Emery speaks to referee Thomas Bramall after the game (Martin Rickett/PA) Villa only needed a point at Old Trafford to secure Champions League football next season as Newcastle lost 1-0 at home to Everton. Advertisement Captain John McGinn told TNT Sports: 'It's tough to take, especially in the circumstances. 'I don't think any of us in the dressing room, anyone watching the game, felt like we deserved to win. Man United were the better team, they were on the front foot and missed loads of chances. But the decision is incredible. 'I think everyone, when VAR was implemented, wanted the correct decisions – if it's offside, be offside. 'You watch rugby, if a try is given, even if the referee's awarded it, if it's wrong it's overturned. Advertisement John McGinn admitted the disallowed goal was 'hard to take' (Martin Rickett/PA) 'So, I know it's the rule, I've seen it a couple of times, but it is so, so hard to take, especially with the impact it has on us. As a team and as a club it's so big. 'So for Thomas to blow his whistle at that point, it's really, really tough to take. 'I don't think we deserved to win the game but at that point you're one-up with 20 (minutes) to go and all you need is a point to get in the Champions League. It's a really costly one.'
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Manchester United 2-0 Aston Villa: Controversial and messy end to season for Emery's Villa
Aston Villa missed out on the Champions League by the smallest margin as their campaign ended in hugely controversial to 10 men after goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was sent off for charging out of his penalty area and barging Rasmus Hojlund to the floor, Villa's hopes looked with Everton taking the lead at Newcastle, Villa were in the top five and then felt they should have had the opening goal at Old Trafford only for Morgan Rogers' effort to be Thomas Bramall instantly blew, saying Rogers had kicked the ball out of the hands of United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, and because the decision was made before Rogers then scored, that meant the video assistant referee could not get replays showed the goal should have stood and Emery was furious, even more so when United then scored two late goals with Villa missing out on a Champions League place because their goal difference was worse than fifth-placed Newcastle' things got messy. In the post-match news conference director of football operations Damian Vidagany, sitting next to Emery, said the club were unhappy 35-year-old Bramall had been given such an important game."We are going to send a complaint," said Vidagany. "The complaint is not about the decision, it is about the selection of the referee - one of the most inexperienced referees in the Premier League."The club then confirmed that complaint later on, although they did admit that "ultimately, we acknowledge the outcome for us will not change".But, when it all calms down, it will be Europa League football, and not Champions League football, for Villa in 2025-26.
