It's not been the start to the season that Aston Villa would have wanted.
Just a few months on from lifting the Europa League trophy and securing a top four finish, Unai Emery's side were thumped 4-0 by Brighton and Hove Albion on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
Just to make matters worse, the situation around Ollie Watkins has left a bad taste in the mouths of many supporters.
"Unai Emery has geared Aston Villa up for consistent success in Europe"
Emery was cryptic as to what has gone on with the England striker, saying that the reason for Watkins' omission against Brighton was 'a question for him'.
That comes after several high-profile players have already left Villa Park this summer, including Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa, with Emiliano Martinez also being tipped to go.
But Peter Crouch believes that the Villa boss has already shown he is more than capable of riding out to storm and continuing to take the side on to bigger and better things over the long run.
The former Villa striker told FourFourTwo earlier this summer: "Unai Emery deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the really elite managers, with what he’s done at Aston Villa.
"Winning the Europa League was massive, and Champions League football again is going to help them take things up another notch in the long term.
"I’m pleased for the fans who’ve suffered over the years.
"I interviewed Unai at the training ground and he’s in it for the long haul. Why wouldn’t he be? They’ve got ambition.
"They’ve built a hotel at the training ground – that’s important because they might fly back from a European game, sleep there, then do a warm-down the next day.
"He’s geared that club up for consistent success in Europe, and I think that’s what they’ll get."
Villa will find out their opponents for the league phase of this season's Champions League when the draw is made on Thursday, August 27.
