Aston Villa and Newcastle have both rebuilt, but Unai Emery gives Villa a clear advantage

I think Saturday's game between Aston Villa and Newcastle is a really interesting one when you consider what's happened at both clubs over the summer, because there are an awful lot of similarities in the situations they've found themselves in, but also some quite important differences in how they've gone about trying to move forward.

Both clubs have had to make significant changes to their squads after reaching the Champions League, both have lost players who were central to their success and both have had to deal with the financial realities that come with trying to compete at that level. We've spoken so much about Villa's summer and the difficulty of replacing some of the players who left, but Newcastle have effectively been through their own version of that process, and I think Saturday gives us an opportunity to see where the two sides are in terms of their development.

The thing that stands out to me about Newcastle is the type of players they've brought in, because I actually quite like some of their recruitment, but I wonder whether they're going to have to be considerably more patient than Villa before they see the benefits of it.

They've signed a lot of young players who, in a slightly different market, I think might have ended up at clubs like Brighton or Brentford. That's not meant as a criticism, because those clubs have been extremely good at identifying talent and developing players who eventually move on for substantial fees, but there's usually a period where those players are allowed to find their feet before they're expected to perform consistently at the top end of the Premier League.

At Newcastle, because they've lost so many established players, some of these players are going to have to come straight into the team and contribute, and I think that's a difficult situation to put them in. If you're signing a talented 19 or 20-year-old and introducing him alongside Bruno Guimarães and Sandro Tonali, you've got a completely different environment to one where those players have gone and you're asking several young signings to establish themselves at the same time.

That's where I think Newcastle might struggle for consistency, particularly when you factor in the injuries they've had as well. Jacob Ramsey, Anthony Elanga and Dan Burn have all been fitness concerns ahead of this game, and those are exactly the sort of players who would ordinarily help the younger members of the squad settle into Premier League football.

You look at some of the players Newcastle are now relying on and there are individuals who perhaps weren't necessarily first choice last season but have suddenly become really important. Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy are good Premier League players, and I'm not suggesting otherwise, but I think it says something about how much the squad has changed that they're now among the players Newcastle are looking towards to provide that experience and consistency.

I also think their recruitment is interesting from a wider perspective, because Newcastle supporters have become accustomed to seeing their club competing at a very high level, and understandably they'll want that to continue. If the club have decided that the best way forward is to recruit younger players, develop them and build something over a longer period, that's absolutely fine, but it does potentially mean accepting a different sort of season to the ones supporters might have been anticipating.

I don't think Newcastle have stumbled into this approach. It looks quite deliberate to me, and there are players they've signed who could turn out to be excellent additions, but I do wonder whether the expectations surrounding the club are entirely aligned with the reality of what they're trying to do.

Villa have obviously had to get younger as well, and there are similarities in the profile of some of the players we've brought in, but I think there's been a slightly different emphasis in our recruitment. We've signed players who have got plenty of development left in them, but we've also brought in footballers who are perhaps a little bit more ready to contribute immediately, and I think that could be quite important over the course of this season.

Nicolas Jackson is an obvious example, because whatever anybody thought about his arrival, he came to Villa with Premier League experience and an understanding of what it takes to perform at this level. He's already scored five goals, and while I don't think even his biggest supporters would necessarily have expected that sort of return so quickly, it's made a massive difference during a period when the team has been trying to establish itself.

João Gomes is another player who knows the league, and when you put those sorts of signings alongside younger players like Johan Manzambi and Ibrahim Mbaye, I think Villa have managed to find a balance between planning for the future and giving Emery players who can help him win football matches now.

That doesn't mean everything has gone perfectly, because it clearly hasn't. We've only got five points in the Premier League, Newcastle have eight, and Villa's opening weeks have been frustrating at times. But I think there's a difference between looking at where the two teams are in the table and looking at where you think they're heading, and that's where I'm probably more encouraged by what I've seen from Villa.

Wednesday's performance against Fenerbahce has obviously had an influence on that, because I'm still absolutely buzzing from watching Villa score six goals in the Champions League, but even before that I was excited about the players we'd brought in and what they might eventually look like together.

There have been encouraging individual performances throughout the opening weeks, but Wednesday was the first time I thought we really saw a number of those qualities come together in one performance. The pace, the movement, the understanding between the attacking players and the way Villa were able to hurt Fenerbahce gave us a glimpse of what this team could become once everybody has had a little bit more time working together.

I don't think that means Villa have suddenly clicked or that we're going to go to Newcastle and produce exactly the same performance, because there are still things that need improving. We've got issues at left-back, Emery is still working out the best combinations in midfield and there will undoubtedly be games where the team struggles as the new players continue adapting.

However, the biggest difference between Villa and Newcastle for me is that we've got Unai Emery, and I don't think you can underestimate how important that is when you're going through a summer of such significant change.

We know what Emery is about, we know what he wants from his players and, most importantly, we've seen him rebuild and adapt this Villa team before. He's already got proof of concept at the club, and even when things haven't gone particularly well, I've always felt that at some point his teams will find a way to put a run of results together and get themselves somewhere near where they need to be.

Newcastle are in a different position because they're trying to integrate a lot of new players while also adjusting to a new manager, and that's an awful lot of change to manage at once. I actually quite like their new manager, and I can understand why Newcastle supporters were excited about the appointment, but he's still got to establish his methods and work out exactly what he's got available to him in a league where there's very little room for error.

That's why, despite Villa being three points behind Newcastle, I actually feel like we're probably in a happier place as a football club at the moment. There's a stability to Villa under Emery that gives me confidence about what happens next, whereas I look at Newcastle and wonder whether this might be a season where they win one week, draw the next and lose the one after that while everything settles down.

That's not to say Newcastle won't eventually get it right, because they might have recruited some outstanding players who go on to become hugely important for them. I just think the nature of what they've done means it could take longer to come together, whereas Villa have brought in a few more players who are ready to make an impact straight away.

Saturday will be a good test of that, particularly because St James' Park has historically been a difficult place for Villa to visit. We did win there last season, of course, with Emi Buendia and Ollie Watkins scoring, and I'd like to think we can go there again with the confidence that Wednesday's performance has given us.

I wouldn't want to make any sweeping judgements about either club's recruitment based on one game, and I don't think the result on Saturday will necessarily tell us which side has handled the summer better. These are decisions that will be judged over a much longer period, and there are good reasons why both clubs have taken the approaches they have.

But I do think Villa have managed to bring in a group of players who are a little bit further along in their development, and when you combine that with the stability of having Emery in charge, I feel more confident about our ability to get things moving in the right direction.

The league table might suggest Newcastle have made the better start, and in terms of results they obviously have, but I'm not convinced that tells the whole story. I look at the two clubs, the changes they've made and the managers they've got, and I think Villa are better placed to find that consistency sooner.

Hopefully Saturday gives us another indication that we're heading in the right direction.