Paul Scholes says he has a ‘big worry’ about what could happen at Aston Villa this season

The Spanish coach has been a revelation since arriving from Villarreal in 2022, with Villa last year making the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-finals as the Birmingham-based club beat the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham to a top-four finish.

With Villa plotting to sign Joao Felix, big plans are in the pipeline for Emery’s side heading into the new season, where the former Arsenal coach will want to go one step further from his achievements from last year.

Yet Paul Scholes has brought up one problem concerning Villa for the new season.

Paul Scholes concerned by Aston Villa’s squad size for next season
Speaking on the Overlap, the former England international highlighted that Villa’s squad size could be a problem for the new season, especially with the Villians competing in the Champions League for the first time this century.

Having sold Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz, Villa have lost a lot of quality and two key players who pushed Emery’s side to a top-four finish last season, and Scholes now thinks that this could be a problem in the upcoming campaign.

Scholes said about Villa heading into the new season: “Emery has got great experience, not so much at bigger clubs, but it seems to be those clubs just below the elite, like Valencia and Sevilla. He has been very successful with those type of clubs so you have to trust him.

“I think the big worry for Villa will be squad size. You think of Newcastle last year and they went through a spell of horrific injuries, the same 10 or 11 players were playing every single week. They were just shot to pieces.”

Villa’s squad is big enough to compete on all fronts next season
Teams competing in Europe will be entering a brave new world next season with the UEFA competitions expanding to two extra group stage games and extending until January, with Villa needing to adapt to the new situation.

Yet looking at their current squad with more signings likely to be made, Villa are in a good position to compete on all fronts this season, with Emery and Monchi signing well this summer and getting the right mix of readymade first-team experience and youthful prospects.

Indeed, next season is going to be a long one for teams competing in Europe, and Villa could be well equipped to go the distance in all competitions next year if their squad can remain fit.