The season overall

[charlatan]

I think I've realised that it's more the excitement of watching the matches that lives with me rather than winning trophies (though I'd like to see us win the FA Cup to complete the set of those that matter in my lifetime). I never expect us to win any given trophy (or rather we haven't made it close enough for me to expect one for a very long time), so I'm more concerned with our ability to hit the heights fairly regularly, to be competitive. We did that this season and have done since Emery was installed.

That said, there seems to have been a creeping trend towards a more passive approach across Emery's reign which makes the losses harder to take anything positive from and the football generally less enthralling. Would feel better about the Palace and Manchester United games if I felt like we had given them a real shot. Didn't feel bad about the PSG defeat at all.

Overall we did marginally better than I had expected at the start of the season and it would seem daft to be disappointed for long bearing that in mind.

[VillaTim]

Once the dust all settles i think they will all reflect back with huge disappointment at the missed opportunities , particularly the FA Cup which had opened up nicely for us.

[Joe S]

I'm of an age where I've seen us win at Wembley. I've also endured years of absolute bobbins. I'm comfortable with where we are now. Only 2 or 3 teams win something, this year I concede is an outlier, and we could / should have won the FA Cup. Would I take not being bobbins next year, yes I would. So on the basis we took 3rd versus 7th to that last game, I'm good with the season, I'd take it again next year.

[LeonW]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/may/26/villas-champions-league-miss-wasnt-just-about-one-bad-call?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

It's hard to disagree with anything in this article.

Nails our season completely.

I think alot of it is disingenuous.

It’s not embarrassing to question, quite legitimately, why an inexperienced referee who has veered between championship (no VAR) and the premier league (VAR) is officiating in a game of such magnitude. Case in point being the major mistake made not following VAR protocols and making the call from almost 30 yards away. Why would it not be legitimate to question that?

Secondly, throwing in the Sheffield united thing from 5 years ago is an embarrassing way to make your point and not relevant to proving it. Why not throw in the disallowed Lansbury goal away at palace that season. We should have got a point from that and they got it wrong. Therefore we’d be par.

Our failings are our failings, just as other sides have their own. What is relevant, is that no matter how badly we were playing (and we were appalling which requires a different type of inquest) the point is that with 20 minutes to go at nil nil, an inexperienced referee guessed a decision from distance that was not only wrong (which is just incompetence but see earlier point about experience) but didn’t follow protocol and which was not only worth 10s of millions but will have a significant short term impact on our arrivals and departures. Playing well or playing badly is meaningless when attributing the value or not of a decision. It was a major mistake, it cost us abd it must play a part in any final analysis. It’s like saying that losing a cup final from a bad decision isn’t relevant to assessing a season. Nonsense. Of course it’s material.

[RamboandBruno]

I think I've realised that it's more the excitement of watching the matches that lives with me rather than winning trophies (though I'd like to see us win the FA Cup to complete the set of those that matter in my lifetime). I never expect us to win any given trophy (or rather we haven't made it close enough for me to expect one for a very long time), so I'm more concerned with our ability to hit the heights fairly regularly, to be competitive. We did that this season and have done since Emery was installed.

That said, there seems to have been a creeping trend towards a more passive approach across Emery's reign which makes the losses harder to take anything positive from and the football generally less enthralling. Would feel better about the Palace and Manchester United games if I felt like we had given them a real shot. Didn't feel bad about the PSG defeat at all.

Overall we did marginally better than I had expected at the start of the season and it would seem daft to be disappointed for long bearing that in mind.

This is a really good post.
The PSG game I was a combination of really gutted but immensely proud, maybe the most proud Ive been coming away from Villa Park. On the flip side Sunday was terrible but Palace was the worst, definitely the lowest Ive felt coming away from a game since Fulham 2018. To just not show up in anyway at all, was mind blowing.
In 22/23 when Emery came in we generally had good results, punctuated by losses, but then had that momentum filled run that got us to 7th,  that was a joy. The first half of 23/24 was incredible, blowing then decent teams away literally battering them and the 1-0 mauling of a then tip top man city, is still one of the most complete performances I’ve seen at VP.
This run from late Feb has been title winning form and really enjoyable, but apart from the odd game (Newcastle), we now have spells in games where we do what we have to do, rather than the gorgeous football we were playing August to December 2023.
Not sure what it is, we’ve lost Dougie who was integral, but Tielemans although a different player, has been great (although him and Doug both played in that man city game). Ramsey has been in and out and not got his dynamism back yet, Bailey hasn’t been the same player, we haven’t had pre xmas 2023 Diaby. Maybe the form of those players is the difference. It also does feel as much as we have patient controlled build up. we then rely on Rogers to literally ‘do something’. The additional factor as well, other than maybe Liverpool away early in 23/24 and Spurs at home debacle, defeats when they came, nearly always felt like we were in the game. This year away games at Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle, Wolves, Palace, man utd, Palace again in the cup, we’ve just been battered largely without response.
Not sure if our reduced attacking fluidity and dynamism is interlinked with our propensity to fold more often.

[VillaTim]

We've really missed the outball to Bailey who hasn't shown up this season and also Diaby who whilst not the best footballer had absolute pace in abundance . We've really missed them two and it's probably left too much on the shoulders of Watkins and Rogers.
Rashford added that pace and skill it's a shame he got injured at a critical time of the season .

[Tony Daleys Shorts]

Although it was the correct decision to sell him, it’s easy to forget how much unpredictability, excitement and dynamism we lost when Duran left.

[VillaTim]

Although it was the correct decision to sell him, it’s easy to forget how much unpredictability, excitement and dynamism we lost when Duran left.

Agree, I'd forgotten about him .

[Beard82]

I think I've realised that it's more the excitement of watching the matches that lives with me rather than winning trophies (though I'd like to see us win the FA Cup to complete the set of those that matter in my lifetime). I never expect us to win any given trophy (or rather we haven't made it close enough for me to expect one for a very long time), so I'm more concerned with our ability to hit the heights fairly regularly, to be competitive. We did that this season and have done since Emery was installed.

That said, there seems to have been a creeping trend towards a more passive approach across Emery's reign which makes the losses harder to take anything positive from and the football generally less enthralling. Would feel better about the Palace and Manchester United games if I felt like we had given them a real shot. Didn't feel bad about the PSG defeat at all.

Overall we did marginally better than I had expected at the start of the season and it would seem daft to be disappointed for long bearing that in mind.

This is a really good post.
The PSG game I was a combination of really gutted but immensely proud, maybe the most proud Ive been coming away from Villa Park. On the flip side Sunday was terrible but Palace was the worst, definitely the lowest Ive felt coming away from a game since Fulham 2018. To just not show up in anyway at all, was mind blowing.
In 22/23 when Emery came in we generally had good results, punctuated by losses, but then had that momentum filled run that got us to 7th,  that was a joy. The first half of 23/24 was incredible, blowing then decent teams away literally battering them and the 1-0 mauling of a then tip top man city, is still one of the most complete performances I’ve seen at VP.
This run from late Feb has been title winning form and really enjoyable, but apart from the odd game (Newcastle), we now have spells in games where we do what we have to do, rather than the gorgeous football we were playing August to December 2023.
Not sure what it is, we’ve lost Dougie who was integral, but Tielemans although a different player, has been great (although him and Doug both played in that man city game). Ramsey has been in and out and not got his dynamism back yet, Bailey hasn’t been the same player, we haven’t had pre xmas 2023 Diaby. Maybe the form of those players is the difference. It also does feel as much as we have patient controlled build up. we then rely on Rogers to literally ‘do something’. The additional factor as well, other than maybe Liverpool away early in 23/24 and Spurs at home debacle, defeats when they came, nearly always felt like we were in the game. This year away games at Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle, Wolves, Palace, man utd, Palace again in the cup, we’ve just been battered largely without response.
Not sure if our reduced attacking fluidity and dynamism is interlinked with our propensity to fold more often.

I agree with this - we rarely hit the highs of performance that we did in the first half of last season.   I think Luiz was a miss - But I think more so - Leons bailey's complete loss of form - he was excellent at times last season - and 19 GA in the league compared to 3 this year is a big part. 

[tomd2103]

Still feels a bit flat after Sunday and has felt a bit like that since that disastrous afternoon at Wembley.  I think being in the Europa League would have felt much better if it had been the best option we could achieve after a late run, but it just feels a bit underwhelming given what was on offer on Sunday.

As for the season as a whole, probably one of near misses really.  The Champions League run was really enjoyable with some great moments along the way.  I still think if Tieleman's header loops over Donnarumma or Asensio scores his 1v1 then it might well have been us lining up to face Inter Milan on Saturday.  The night against Bayern will live long in the memory, especially given the backdrop of Gary Shaw's death, as will the picture of him in the 1982 final with Duran super imposed and running towards his outstretched arms.

The FA Cup run was also enjoyable, but completely ruined by the no-show at Wembley.  We seem to have a really dreadful performance in us an we saved two of them for two of the biggest games of the season. 

Solid enough in the league, with only one home loss all season.  I just can't help but think that it was home draws though against Bournemouth, Manchester United, Ipswich, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brighton that were costly.  That said, it's easy to forget how badly we were impacted by injuries for a large chunk of the season (Kamara's extended run at CB being a result of that) and I do think the Champions League exploits took their toll at times. 

[Meanwood Villa]

I'm still miffed about not getting CL. I didn't think I'd be as upset and as underwhelmed with the consolation prize of Europa League. It's the manner of the tame surrender which is doing it I guess. Also, it's made me realise this is the first time we've had something we're chasing at the end of the season that hasn't gone our way since 2018. (Going up 2019, Staying up 2020, Conference League 2023, Champions' League 2024) so maybe I've got used to finishing seasons on a high.

Looking at the positives, we did better than I expected pre season, didn't look out of place at the top table at all, finally had a domestic cup run under Emery and registered our second highest top flight points total in over 30 years. Reasons to be cheerful but I'm still depressed.

[VillaTim]

Off the pitch , as fans we've been further taken advantage of and treated like crap . The price of success ? (Without a trophy) . My wallet is braced for this weeks instalment.

[Brazilian Villain]

Seems about right. https://x.com/TheAthleticFC/status/1927621234126115142

[Beard82]

Its funny - but bottling the CL and FA Cup - Combined with what other clubs have achieved this season (Spurs, Palace, maybe Chelsea) - has kind of raised my expectations for next season. 
I really think next year we need to get CL and Silverware - anything less kind of feels like we have hit a ceiling. 

I have this massive concern that we have seen the peak of this new dawn and desperately want to be proved wrong.

[SamTheMouse]

The main thing that strikes me about that survey is the fact that over half of Spurs fans declared themselves 'very satisfied' with the season, despite an absolutely pathetic league campaign.

It really underlines the fact that when all is said and done, it's silverware that counts.