There is a human impulse to stick with what, and who, you know. When presented with a choice of old or new, there is an understandable preference for positive past experiences.
It can feel like a comfort blanket or imbue a sense of nostalgia, wanting to repeat a once-fond memory. This can be your favourite television series, that holey old hoodie that fits just right, or going back to a cherished place from your childhood.
“It still doesn’t feel real (coming back). Since the first time I arrived here, I fell in love with the club,” wrote Tammy Abraham in the programme notes for Aston Villa’s home game against Brentford on Sunday. “Ever since I left the club, I’ve pretty much watched every game. I have so many great memories and I’m here now to create more.”
That nostalgic feeling is warm and cosy, yet the counter-argument is that you are treading, sometimes literally and figuratively, over old ground. As a self-help guru would say: narrow-mindedness does not allow growth.
Villa’s return for two old favourites in the transfer market in recent days raises this very question. Are the two (re)signings of Abraham and Douglas Luiz and, to a lesser extent, Leon Bailey being brought back early from what was meant to be a season-long loan to Roma perfect reunions or looking back at a time when the club should be looking forward?
Are they the signings Villa require to energise their squad for the second half of the season, a group presently ailing after back-to-back home league defeats?
Douglas Luiz, left, and Tammy Abraham were welcomed back to Villa Park in midweek (Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
“Another 20 goals would be nice,” joked defender Tyrone Mings, when asked about the return of former Villa team-mate Abraham last week. a reference to the striker’s previous season in claret and blue. “A fantastic player, a fantastic person. It’s important that players who sign in January hit the ground running. Tammy is a bright lad, knows a lot of people here and I have no doubt he will be a great addition to the squad.”
This iteration of Villa are never content to stand still. It is why, despite all the complications with various financial sanctions, Unai Emery presses on with demanding progress every season, and squad improvements in every transfer window. Many managers may accept they have to hold out for marquee additions in the summer, but Emery views constant evolution and change as a stimulus for growth.
As a consequence, it may seem counter-intuitive for him to drive the signing of a forward who had scored 26 goals for the club in the 2018-19 Championship promotion-winning campaign when on loan from Chelsea. Or a midfielder who left for Juventus of Italy’s Serie A 18 months ago and in that time, has failed to recapture his best form, hence the 27-year-old Brazilian’s now-curtailed season-long loan at Nottingham Forest.
Villa have transformed under Emery’s elite-level coaching since his 2022 appointment. Recruitment, and his complete autonomy over this, though, has experienced mixed results. Evann Guessand’s loan (with an option of a permanent transfer) to Crystal Palace for the rest of this season, just six months after joining from Nice, is another example of a move that has not worked out, and it underlines that new signings at Villa can find it hard to break into the team, owing to the existing environment and personnel proving long-standing and successful.
The returns of Douglas Luiz and Abraham mean Villa’s squad remains ironically similar to the one Dean Smith left behind when he was sacked as manager in November 2021. It was not lost to many on social media that Emery only needs a left-back — maybe Matt Targett, the Villa old boy currently on loan to Championship side Middlesbrough from parent club Newcastle — to also re-sign to be able to field an entire XI who had played for the club under Smith more than five years ago.
Emery wrote in his section of Sunday’s programme that he dares Villa fans “to dream”. In his view, dreaming carries a practical element — Abraham and Douglas Luiz are practical signings made for the here and now and are confidently anticipated to make an immediate impact.
The two deals are an example of realism within the winter window’s market conditions and, if they turn out to be successful, they could help realise Villa’s dreams.
Both started against Brentford yesterday, and their immediate inclusions were needed: Villa were short in midfield, which meant Douglas Luiz came straight in, while Ollie Watkins’ slight injury — he should be fit for Bournemouth away on Saturday — required Abraham up front.
The necessity of Abraham and Douglas Luiz driving renewed impetus is even more acute after what turned out to be a 1-0 loss at home to a side down to 10 men for the whole second half following Kevin Schade’s red card.
Villa toiled to break down an increasingly low block, playing sideways and slowly across a wall of blue shirts, whose occupants grew in belief that they could hold onto their lead and simply crowd them out. Emery’s men completed 355 passes in the second half, their most in a single half of Premier League football on record (in this case, since the 2003-04 campaign), while their 27 shots in the match — most of them in vain — was (by nine) their highest total this season.
Although it was in defeat, Douglas Luiz was Villa’s best player and offered a reminder that Emery’s system, forged on a cluster of midfielders and intricate combinations, suits his attributes.
Abraham, meanwhile, symbolised the frustration felt inside Villa Park, having had a first-half shot saved by Caoimhin Kelleher before turning a rebound into the net in the second half, only for a four-minute VAR check to deem the ball had gone out of play right down at the other end of the pitch before the move began.
The 28-year-old England international, who has been at Roma and Milan (the latter on loan) in Italy and then Turkey’s Besiktas since leaving Chelsea in summer 2021, covered his face with his hands as he anxiously awaited the verdict and appeared crestfallen when his goal on his second Villa debut vanished at the sound of the referee’s whistle.
Emery roared at his players to stay calm, yet exasperation grew by the minute. As Brentford retreated and defended manfully, the home side proved short of ideas.
They remain six points clear of fifth place in the battle for Champions League qualification, but the need for Abraham, Douglas Luiz and Bailey — who sent a shot over the crossbar in the final minute of normal time, having come on as a substitute at half-time — to invigorate team-mates is obvious. Tellingly, Villa played the entirety of the second half with just Douglas Luiz in central midfield and Abraham as the only striking option that could be used.
Emery rued dropped points last season, determining that missing out on the Champions League via goal difference was down to these marginal errors. Two draws with relegation-bound Ipswich Town were haunting, particularly the February contest when the visitors had defender Axel Tuanzebe sent off shortly before half-time.
Something similar transpired on Sunday, with Schade shown red almost to the exact same minute.
This time, however, it was worse; Villa have lost both league games to Brentford 1-0, so have suffered successive, potentially damaging, home defeats in the top flight, following Everton’s win by the same score two weeks ago.
Still, a key reason why Villa got so close to making the Champions League last season was because of January’s impetus via the arrivals on loan of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio.
In a better position now than they were 12 months ago (eighth, with nine fewer points), if Abraham and Douglas Luiz can offer something comparable, Champions League football again in 2026-27 will remain within their control. But the nature of this latest loss has dialled up the pressure.
