Aston Villa staff profiles
Pen pics of Aston Villa's coaching, science, medicine and analytics staff. To see staff profiles for other clubs, click here.
FOOTBALL EXECUTIVES
PRESIDENT OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
Monchi
Nationality: Spanish
Monchi - real name Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo - has long been one of the foremost Sporting Directors in world football. Was a goalkeeper for Sevilla before becoming their Sporting Director in 2000. Transformed them from Segunda División side to perennial trophy winners. Only blot on his copybook was ill-fated two-year spell with Roma from 2017 to 2019. Reunited with Emery, with whom he had worked at Sevilla, at Villa in June 2023.
DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
Damia Vidagany
Nationality: Spanish
Was Marketing Director at Valencia during Emery's time at the club. Moved to Villa as the Head Coach's personal assistant and has regularly appeared alongside him at press conferences. Moved to the more formal role of Director of Football Operations after Monchi was appointed in June 2023.
COACHING STAFF
HEAD COACH
Unai Emery
Nationality: Spanish
One of the most successful coaches in European football. Won three Europa Leagues with Sevilla before joining Paris-Saint Germain, where he claimed seven trophies, including a domestic quadruple in his second season. Things didn't go quite so well at Arsenal, where he lasted only one-and-a-half seasons, but still reached the Europa League final. Joins from Villarreal, where he won the Europa League (again) in his first season and reached the Champions League semi-finals in his second.
ASSISTANT
Pako Ayestaran
Nationality: Spanish
Started out as a fitness coach before becoming Rafa Benitez’s assistant at a number of clubs, including Valencia and Liverpool. Left in acrimonious circumstances in 2007 to become a manager in his own right, and has led teams in Spain, Israel, Mexico and Portugal. Now back to being a number two.
FIRST-TEAM COACH
Pablo Villanueva
Nationality: Spanish
Long-time assistant of Emery’s, having worked with him at Sevilla, PSG, Arsenal and Villarreal.
GOALKEEPER COACH
Francisco Javier Garcia
Nationality: Spanish
Also worked for Emery at Sevilla, PSG, Arsenal and Villarreal.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE COACH
Antonio Rodríguez Saravia
Nationality: Spanish
Came through the youth ranks at Barcelona before forging a pro career at other clubs in Spain. Was an assistant and manager before becoming Development Coach for Emery at Villarreal.
SET PIECES COACH
Austin MacPhee
Nationality: Scottish
Globetrotter as a player, turning out for teams in the United States, Romania and Japan. Moved into coaching in his late twenties and has been assistant with St Mirren, Hearts, Mexico, Northern Ireland and FC Midtjylland. Appointed as Villa's first set pieces coach in August 2021.
PERFORMANCE
FITNESS COACH
Moises de Hoyo
Nationality: Spanish
Worked for Watford for four months last year, but left because his family had remained in Spain. Was reunited with Emery at Villarreal, having worked with him at Sevilla. Has also been a fitness coach at Deportivo La Coruna and Levante.
PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR
Jeremy Oliver
Nationality: Australian
Appointed in November 2018 and oversees the medical/ performance department. Had previously worked in his homeland of Australia.
HEAD OF INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE SCIENCE
Aman Singh Shergill
Nationality: English
Appointed as Performance Scientist in November 2019 following four-and-a-half years at near rivals Birmingham City. Promoted to current role in January 2024.
STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH
Oli Stevenson
Nationality: English
Youth player at Villa before taking a sports science degree at Loughborough University and taking a different path. Started as an S&C with the Academy before being promoted to the first team.
PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE COACH
Patrick Moore
Nationality: English
Joined the club as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in January 2019 from Brentford, where he had worked for three-and-a-half years. Title changed to Physical Performance Coach in May 2021.
HEAD OF NUTRITION
Serra Tumay
Nationality: American
Joined in September 2022, having previously been Olympic Sports Performance Dietician at UCLA. Was a college footballer of some repute herself.
MEDICAL
HEAD OF MEDICAL SERVICES
Arnaldo Abrantes
Nationality: Portuguese
Was an international sprinter for Portugal before qualifying as a physician. Was Head of Medical for Estoril and Nottingham Forest before joining Aston Villa at the start of 2023/24.
HEAD PHYSIO
Ali James
Nationality: English
Appointed in November 2022, having previously worked for Wasps in rugby union for a decade.
LEAD PHYSIO
Alan Smith
Nationality: English
Club stalwart who joined in July 2000.
LEAD REHABILITATION PHYSIO
Steven Polley
Nationality: English
Promoted from the Academy following the departure of John Hartley to Derby County in December 2020. Moved into current role in December 2022.
ANALYSTS
VIDEO/ DATA ANALYST
Victor Manas
Nationality: Spanish
Described as Emery’s “second pair of eyes” and has worked with him at Almeria, Sevilla, PSG, Arsenal and Villarreal. Last year TGG interviewed Manas about his work.
HEAD OF PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
David Stewart
Nationality: English
Joined from QPR in 2016.
PERFORMANCE ANALYST
Scott Adey-Linforth
Nationality: English
Was the first analyst to work with Villa Ladies. Promoted to Academy and then first team.
PERFORMANCE ANALYST
Joseph Ure
Nationality: English
Hired from Tottenham in April 2019.
FOOTBALL RESEARCH/ DATA
LEAD DATA SCIENTIST & ENGINEER
Arjav Trivedi
Nationality: English
Worked for Arsenal for three years as a Data Scientist and Engineer before a brief spell with Fifa. Joined Villa in October 2021 and responsible for using “cutting-edge techniques to derive insights from data”.
OPERATIONS
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Matt Bennett
Nationality: English
Arrived at the club in October 2019 from Minnesota United. Responsible for all first-team operations, including team travel and player logistics.
PLAYER CARE MANAGER
Phil Roscoe
Nationality: English
Joined from Liverpool, where he had worked for seven years, in May 2022. Worked with Gerrard during his time with the Reds. Role at Anfield was Academy Player Care Manager.