Aston Villa fell to a frustrating 3-1 defeat at home to Newcastle Utd on Tuesday night, as our disappointing form continued in midweek.
It’s now just one win in our last four games across all competitions, and one in five in the Premier League, as we’ve struggled to rediscover the form we showed in December to solidify our position in the top four.
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The visitors deservedly led at half-time as Villa were well off our usual standards in the opening 45 minutes, and when we needed a quick response to start the second half, it didn’t come.
Ollie Watkins scored what turned out to be nothing more than a consolation goal, and so our focus now switches to Sheffield Utd on Saturday evening, as we look to produce a response and get back to winning ways.
Emery strikes right tone as he keeps Villa calm, positive
From Emery’s perspective, he is making a clear effort to stay positive and calm as we deal with our first real slump since he took charge, and that’s important to avoid this becoming a bigger concern.
While he tried to stay upbeat when speaking to the media after the game, there’s no doubt that he is hugely frustrated and obsessed with finding solutions behind the scenes, and so it’s vital that the Villa boss, his coaching staff and the players produce a reaction this weekend.
There was always going to be a sticky patch at some point as our form under him over the last 14 months or so wasn’t sustainable forever. Given standards have been raised so high, the disappointment of these performances and results is heightened, but it’s hoped we see an emphatic response to adversity next time out.
Time to show more adaptability
A trend has emerged over our last four games, as it’s been a real struggle for us to play through the middle, which has been such an effective method previously.
Teams have seemingly ‘figured us out’ a little bit and are blocking our passing lanes, as well as pressing high and man-marking the likes of Douglas Luiz to prevent him from turning into space and dictating our play.
Villa haven’t been effective enough in playing with width and stretching the pitch, and so that has to be a point of emphasis ahead of Saturday. Further, we’re lacking a sharpness and intensity about our play now, and so the priority has to be getting that tenacity and energy back to build on.
Diaby struggles continue, key players falling short
It may well be time for Moussa Diaby to have a stint out of the starting XI, and hopefully make an impression as an impact substitute as he looks to find some form.
The Frenchman has been largely ineffective for some time now, and his confidence is clearly low as when presented with a chance to have a shot on goal in the first half, he looked to square it back instead and the move ended with a whimper.
More is needed from several others too as it was all too pedestrian and lethargic on Tuesday night, and so if we want to get back to winning ways, we need to step up and deliver in adversity through our key players leading the way and getting after the opposition to make life equally as difficult for them.
Absence of Pau a real problem
This has been apparent through the last four games or so now, as Pau Torres is clearly a significant absence for us in how we build our play out from the back and beat the opposition’s high press.
Clement Lenglet is a solid back-up option, but he can’t do the same role as effectively, and so getting the Spaniard back is going to be such a huge boost for Emery.
His composure, ability to receive the ball under pressure and play around the press to set us on our way by breaking the lines is a fundamental feature of how we want to play, and it’s hoped he’s able to recover from his ankle injury to feature this weekend.
Level has dropped, response needed vs Sheffield Utd
As noted above, and despite Leon Bailey insisting in his post-match interview that the level hasn’t dropped and it’s part of football that we don’t always get the desired result, it’s clear we aren’t playing at the same level as before.
Albeit it’s still frustrating, you can forgive our struggles to break teams down if we keep things tight, adjust, and eventually find a breakthrough.
What you can’t accept though is a lack of movement, intensity, urgency and quality in how we approach that challenge. Perhaps they were following clear instructions from Emery and didn’t want to deviate from the game-plan, but there wasn’t enough effort to detach ourselves from Newcastle’s pressure and find ways to play around them, and that comes back to being adaptable.
Sheffield Utd have already frustrated us once this season and they’ll try to do the same again. Emery and the players must find the solutions to counter that and secure all three points to show our resolve and character.
YOU ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT THE OPPOSITION KNOWING HOW WE PLAY NOW.ITS ALSO LOOKS LIKE WE ARE AFRAID TO SHOOT FROM DISTANCE TOO.PLAY LIKE THAT AGAIN AND SHEFFIELD UTD WILL WIN,THEY NEED THE POINTS BADLY.THEN THEIR IS THE REPLAY AGAINST CHELSEA TOO.BAILEY DEFINETLY NEEDS TO START MORE OFTEN ASWELL.IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT UNAI IS THE BEST MANAGER WE HAVE HAD FOR A LONG TIME,WHAT HE HAS DONE IN JUST OVER A YEAR IS INCREDIBLE,I HOPE THE VILLA CROWD STAY WITH HIM.I HAVE SUPPORTED VILLA FOR NEARLY 60 YEARS NOW,ALWAYS WILL.UTV!!!