Aston Villa suffered a 1-0 defeat at Man Utd on Sunday in a blow to our hopes of securing European football for next season.
In a poor first-half performance from us, Bruno Fernandes broke the deadlock just before half-time, and although Villa improved and pushed for an equaliser after the break, we couldn’t find a way through.
READ MORE: What Unai Emery said in reaction to Villa defeat to Man Utd
Combined with results elsewhere over the weekend, we’ve dropped down to seventh place in the Premier League table with four more games to play, albeit some of our rivals have games in hand too.
Our focus though switches to Wolves this weekend, as Unai Emery will be looking for a positive response from his players to ensure we bounce back immediately.
Villa suffer setback but race for Europe still on
There’s no getting away from the fact that it was disappointing to suffer our first defeat in 11 league games, and at a crucial period in the campaign, we can ill-afford to drop points if we want to seal a return to Europe.
While we sit in seventh place, level on points with Tottenham, Liverpool have moved two points clear and have a game in hand, while Brighton sit two points adrift of us but have three games in hand.
As has been the message from Emery and the players throughout, we can only focus on ourselves and finishing with four wins to end the season, and it’s pivotal that we brush this disappointment off and focus again as we’re still very much in the hunt, particularly given we’ve still to play those three sides.
Emery looking to re-establish identity and style
A key aspect of our performances in our last three games is that we haven’t shown the same level of control and incisiveness as we had been up until the win over Newcastle Utd.
Particularly in the first half at Old Trafford, we weren’t able to dominate possession the way we want and to control the tempo in midfield as we were far too sloppy, and while that was partly because it’s still an ongoing learning process for us especially against the top sides, Utd made it difficult for us too.
Emery will be striving to see that return against Wolves, as the Villa boss conceded himself that we didn’t show our “usual personality” in the opening 45 minutes, and it’s important we get that confidence and efficiency back.
Fresh legs needed as we await injury boosts
In his post-match interview after our win over Fulham last week, Emery conceded that there was a bit of tiredness creeping in, and he urged caution with the likes of Jacob Ramsey and Ollie Watkins prior to that too as he stated that we need to be careful managing their workload.
What became even more apparent against Man Utd was that although there are benefits and strengths to naming an unchanged side for four consecutive games, it’s also asking a lot of the players physically and mentally, and we look tired.
There wasn’t the same intensity or urgency about our play, either on or off the ball, and while we were able to manage the game well against Fulham to pick up three points, we need to somehow find some energy in this last stretch to play our best football and getting back Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Leon Bailey and Philippe Coutinho from injury to give Emery options will be a huge help.
Midfield core need to find second wind
While Emiliano Buendia struggled at Old Trafford, Jacob Ramsey was limited to glimpses of his attacking threat while Douglas Luiz and Leander Dendoncker weren’t able to dictate the way we want them to.
That backbone or core to the side need to find their second wind and go again in these last four games, as they are integral to the way in which we want to play over 90 minutes.
Again, there is an element of fatigue involved as well as the quality of the opposition getting the better of us, and they have to step it up a level again this weekend if we are to match Wolves for energy and fight and allow our quality to shine through.
Rediscover service for Watkins to thrive
Ollie Watkins was unplayable at times against Newcastle, but that’s now three games without a goal as the sides we have faced have evidently studied that game and made tweaks to nullify his threat.
Part of the issue is the service into the Villa striker, as we need to find him quicker and get the ball into his feet with better accuracy, as he’s making runs but being left frustrated.
Watkins himself needs to step up too as he has been wasteful in certain situations, but this is a test of his ability to respond now during a quiet spell after putting together a brilliant run of form prior to that.