'We have to improve things' – Emery hoping for transfers after Brentford defeat

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery revealed the club will seek to bring in reinforcements before the end of the transfer window after falling to a 1-0 defeat to Brentford. 

Villa struggled against the Bees, with Dango Ouattara marking his Brentford debut with a goal in the 12th minute, which was enough to seal all three points. 

Indeed, Villa had 17 shots against Brentford (just two on target), their most attempts without scoring in a Premier League game since October 2022 against Chelsea (18).

The result also saw Villa fail to win either of their opening two games in a Premier League season for the first time since 2019-20, while they last failed to score a single goal across these two matches in 2002-03. 

Villa have made just three signings this summer, headlined by the capture of Evann Guessand from Nice as they look to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). 

Emery's side have been linked with a move for Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, and the Spaniard is hoping Villa will be able to freshen up the squad before the deadline. 

"We have to improve things," said Emery. "We have to clarify some circumstances we have in the transfer window.

"We have enough players, but we need to clarify some circumstances with some players staying or not or and the possibility we can have to add someone to help us."

Emery offered no defence of his side's display, having watched them rarely trouble Caoimhin Kelleher, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 1.23 from their attempts. 

"Today we competed bad. It was not enough and we conceded some minutes on the field that we have to try and avoid," Emery added. "We are not like we want. 

"The first 20 minutes, we weren't performing and playing with the intensity we needed and conceding one goal is more difficult. Today we are very disappointed with the result."

For Brentford, meanwhile, they won just their second Premier League game against Aston Villa, keeping a clean sheet against the Villans for the first time in the competition.

The Bees have now won their first home match of the season in eight of their 10 top flight campaigns (D2), while manager Keith Andrews got the first win as Brentford boss.

"I'm very proud of the team," said Andrews to the BBC. "It was scrappy and ugly at times - and I loved it. We made it into a game they didn't want.

"We were very comfortable behind the ball. The desire to keep the ball out of the back of the net, it was selfless work from so many players."

Andrews refused to be drawn on the future of forward Yoane Wissa, with the striker left out of the squad amid transfer speculation surrounding a move to Newcastle United. 

"I spoke about Wiss before the game. I'm not really interested in speaking about him after the game," Andrews added. 

"It's about the players who played today who played with so much heart."