'Peak Villa not much higher than last season - but depth is better'

A change is as good as a rest, so they say. Villa will hope so since the international break is no longer much rest at all, with so many players away.

Perhaps there was always going to be a dip after the emotional rush through September and October, and the charged atmosphere for the Champions League wins over Bayern Munich and Bologna.

Ninth place at the final international break of the autumn does, at first look, seem a bit of a let down. However, Villa were within one touch - that touch being Evanilson's header as the end credits were rolling against Bournemouth - of being on 20 points instead of 18, and therefore third. In Europe, to have misfired in Bruges and still have nine points is entirely satisfactory.

"Our objective is to try to beat teams that are contenders and favourites to be in the top seven," said Unai Emery on Saturday. "But at the beginning we are starting behind them."

This sounded almost exactly like what he was saying last season, when the more fancied challengers for the Champions League places waited in vain for Villa to falter. It may still be true, although not quite as true as last autumn.

Villa's summer spending was limited by regulations, and they had to sell Douglas Luiz, which felt unbearable at the time, although perhaps much less so now. Their squad may have fewer expensive names than, say, Chelsea's, and arguably peak-Villa now is not much higher than peak-Villa of a year ago. Undoubtedly though, the depth of the squad has been improved.

The benefits of this may only be appreciated in the later weeks of the season.

Last spring, Villa ended up stumbling to the finish line, happily having done enough to secure fourth place. However, that exhaustion was arguably the biggest reason they failed to win the Conference League. If they need to sprint for a European place next April and May, they should be better equipped for it.

Morgan Rogers' remarkable year offers further evidence. Twelve months ago, he was not on the Villa scene at all and, after joining, did not make a Premier League start until mid-March.

His promotion to the full England squad is due reward for his work since then and highlights the most significant feature of Villa under Emery and his staff: they find good players, and make good players better.

That should keep their long-term trend rising, despite a wobbly couple of weeks.

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