Morgan Rogers sums up the gap between Aston Villa and Man United right now, writes TOM COLLOMOSSE – the Red Devils are now lagging behind both on AND off the pitch
Nassef Sawiris would love Aston Villa to keep the tills ringing like Manchester United yet Sir Jim Ratcliffe would probably sacrifice several million in revenue to match their rivals’ purpose on the pitch.
One result at Villa Park was never going to be enough to change the perception of these two clubs.
At Villa, the football structure is clear – Unai Emery runs the show and everything follows from there. Co-owner Sawiris, the Egyptian billionaire, knows Villa must increase their financial muscle to compete regularly with the elite in England and Europe.
He understands that with a stadium capacity of a little more than 40,000 and a global following that is a fraction of United’s, Villa have no margin of error if they wish to stay at the top. The only way to do so is to sell players – but remaining ultra-competitive while cashing in on your best players is a trick very few clubs can master for long.
United reported revenue of nearly £650million for the year ending June 30. Fans will always file into Old Trafford no matter how poor the team are, just as they will part with money for replica shirts at stores all around the world.
Aston Villa and Manchester United drew 0-0 at Villa Park in Sunday’s Premier League clash
At Aston Villa, manager Unai Emery runs the show and everything follows from there
Villa Co-owner Nassef Sawiris (right) knows they must increase their financial muscle to compete regularly with the elite
Yet while making money will never be a problem for United, wealth is not much use if you do not use it wisely. Eight months after Ratcliffe’s takeover, the power structure is unclear. Nothing demonstrated this more effectively that Ratcliffe’s response last week when he was asked about Erik ten Hag’s future.
‘I like Erik,’ said Ratcliffe. ‘I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call.’
Not his call? Ratcliffe invested £1.25billion for a 27.7 per cent stake in the club but the decision on whether to stick with the manager – arguably the key figure at any club – is not his to take? What a strange state of affairs.
Even if Ratcliffe was trying to explain that the decision would not be his alone, it was still an odd phrase to use. Every organisation needs clarity. Ratcliffe has rebuilt the hierarchy at Old Trafford, with Sir Dave Brailsford, Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox all exerting influence. At what point do too many cooks spoil the broth?
Villa have taken the opposite route by allowing Emery to shape the club as he sees fit and this will leave them with a great deal of work to do when he leaves. For now, though, it is working just fine.
United had a guy like Emery once.
Eight months after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s (second from left) takeover, United’s structure is unclea
Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge of just about everything and returned unprecedented success
Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge of just about everything and in return for the keys to the kingdom, he delivered 38 major trophies in 26 years.
The Scot was in the posh seats at Villa Park and when Ratcliffe and his fellow directors must toy with asking him if he fancies coming back. When Ferguson was in charge, everyone knew where they stood. That does not look the case now.
Morgan Rogers is an excellent example of how things work at Villa. Rogers impressed Emery in Villa’s 1-0 win at Middlesbrough in the FA Cup on January 7 and was signed for £8.5million 25 days later.
Villa insisted Rogers had been firmly on their radar for some time but if he had been a top priority, why not involve him in the deal that took youngster Finn Azaz to Middlesbrough two days before the FA Cup tie?
Watching Rogers’ performances this season, United’s priority should surely be to find these diamonds in the rough and turn them into superstars, rather than paying way over the odds for unproven players.
Even though this was not his best game, Rogers still asked more questions of United than any other Villa attacker. He drops deep to collect the ball, turns and charges at the opposition’s back line. They could certainly do with some of that energy and aggression at United.
When Ezri Konsa went off injured early in the first half, it meant Villa were without more than a third of their first-choice XI, with Amadou Onana, Jacob Ramsey and captain John McGinn all sidelined. They felt the absence of those players in a strangely cautious display yet still the selections and tactics made sense.
Morgan Rogers (pictured) is an excellent example of how things work at Villa
Ross Barkley was signed as midfield cover and duly came in for Onana. Jaden Philogene was brought back from Hull last summer and started both here and against Bayern Munich.
Emery is still not convinced about playing Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins together from the start and so left it an hour to bring on Duran, hauling off Leon Bailey and moving Rogers wide. All that made sense.
Contrast that with United, who left £43m summer capture Matthijs De Ligt out of the starting XI and included Jonny Evans, who was originally signed on a short-term contract two years ago after being released by Leicester. De Ligt was joined on the bench by Lisandro Martinez, Antony, Joshua Zirkzee and Manuel Ugarte – all high-profile signings during the Ten Hag era.
Though this may have felt a wasted opportunity, Villa still feel like a club on the up. United, on the other hand, are struggling to get out of the starting blocks.
