Unai Emery could make major Aston Villa change as North Stand rebuild continues
The stand has been closed for the 2026/27 season as part of a £100m rebuild and is expected to remain shut until at least August 2027.
That will see Villa continue to operate at a reduced capacity, with fans having already felt the pinch. But boss Emery has also had to make his own sacrifice too.
Before the renovation began, Emery chose not to have an office in the dressing room in order to give his players more room to prepare. Instead, he opted for a personal workspace in the stadium's tunnel.
But that chould change, with the rebuild set to see new offices for the manager and his coaches incorporated into the dressing room set-up.
Speaking about the renovation earlier this season, Emery said: “We have one handicap, it's less supporters for this situation.
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"But at the beginning of the season, the club decided it, and it’s something to improve for the future – not now, but for the future.
"It's not excuses. We must try to be together, and without 7,000 supporters like (there) normally are in Villa Park, we must push everybody, and play football.
"One improvement in Villa Park is (to) play football, better football than we played. Compete better than we compete, to be focused more than we did, to be demanding more than we did.
"Those improvements are very important, more than the stand, and giving us lack of some supporters (who) normally were helping us.”
Emery is not the only one to have offered his take on the North Stand overhaul. Speaking earlier this season, defender Matty Cash suggested that the reduced capacity had impacted Villa’s form at home.
"Our home form has not been what we want it to be," he said. "Without sounding like we're making excuses, because we have to deal with the circumstances.
"Obviously for the club and the platform, it's really good to make the stand bigger, and the stadium bigger for capacity.
"But it's obviously different, I'm not going to sit here and lie and say it's not, it is different.
"But as I said, the circumstances, you have to deal with it as a player, you can't make excuses, you have to play with what's in front of you.
"When it's done, it will be amazing but obviously at the minute, it is a bit different without making excuses."
Villa will be back at home after the international break as they welcome Sunderland to Villa Park.
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