Aston Villa suffered a 2-0 defeat to Wolves at Molineux on Saturday evening, as our inconsistency in the Premier League this season continues.
It was a familiar story as our usual deficiencies were exposed, having conceded early and been unable to pick the lock to get back into the game thereafter.
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Further, our performance and ultimately the outcome did little to debunk the trend that we struggle after our Champions League exploits, as it was quite the drop-off following our win over Celtic in midweek.
Villa have a gap to close on our rivals at the top end of the Premier League table if we’re to secure European qualification for next season, and displays and results like this one will not get us there.
Priority for Emery to fix defensive issues
This is a broken record in terms of how many times we’ve had to say this so far this season, but Villa can’t stop conceding poor, soft goals. On top of that, it was another early setback as we conceded from the first shot on target we faced.
Conceding first is a big problem for this team too as when teams sit back and defend deeper in numbers, we struggle to break them down. In contrast, when we score the first goal, it opens up space and passing lanes for us to hurt teams in transition, and so it’s often a major factor in our results.
Whether it’s with reinforcements before the transfer deadline, getting injured players back or a combination of both to build a more robust and resilient defensive unit, Emery has to stop the leak in terms of goals conceded as we can’t keep doing this all season. There were mitigating circumstances in this one given our injury problems and Boubacar Kamara having to act as a makeshift centre-half again, but we have to be better.
Garcia makes Villa debut
It was a difficult first experience of English football for Andres Garcia, but it’s one that he will hopefully be able to use to help his adaptation and integration moving forward as we’ll need him with Matty Cash sidelined.
There were positive signs of his play going forward as he showed good intent and has technical ability, but there is still plenty of work to be done in terms of getting used to the tempo and intensity of the Premier League, while also shoring up his defensive work on that right side.
Cash is expected to miss our next two games at least, and so it remains to be seen if the Spaniard did enough to convince Emery that he should keep his place, as the Villa boss did opt to bring him off at half-time.
Bogarde is not a right-back option
Following on from the point above, Emery surely has to stop playing Lamare Bogarde at right-back. The talented youngster has useful versatility, but he continues to look uncomfortable and vulnerable in that position in particular, and it impacts our overall play and ability to build out from the back.
Bogarde has looked a lot more effective in midfield and can be used as a centre-half, but Villa need to go with a natural right-back even without Cash, and that ultimately leaves us with Garcia as Kosta Nedeljkovic is expected to depart on loan.
It continues to be a problematic role for us, but although patience will be needed with Garcia, it’s hoped we’ve got our solution and he’ll build on this first outing following his January arrival.
Watkins injury concern
Less than 24 hours after Jhon Duran’s exit was confirmed, Ollie Watkins appeared to pick up an injury in the first half and was subsequently replaced at the break.
While Emery allayed fears that it was anything serious, it remains a concern going forward given our lack of alternative options to lead the line as a natural No,9.
The expected arrival of Marcus Rashford will help, but Watkins is fundamental to how Emery wants us to play, and it’s hoped that he isn’t set for a spell on the sidelines.
Importance of less straining upcoming Villa schedule
Villa now have a week in between our next three games, with Tottenham in the FA Cup and Ipswich Town and Chelsea to follow in the Premier League.
That’s something that we’ve not had for quite a while, and aside from the obvious of having more time to rest and recover, it gives Emery extended time to devise a winning gameplan for those specific opponents.
We have to make the most of that as the schedule won’t stay this relaxed for long, but for now, it removes the excuse of fatigue and struggling with the quick turnarounds, and we have to be at it in all three games from the start as we’ve seen how devastating we can be when we play with high intensity, energy and tempo.