Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has conceded that his side must improve defensively amid our struggles so far this season to keep things tight at the back.
Villa have conceded nine goals in our opening six Premier League games of the campaign, while we haven’t kept a clean sheet in the league since our win over Arsenal at the Emirates in April.
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It’s a concerning trend that must be rectified if we are to compete at the top level for silverware this year, as we’re ultimately giving ourselves a bigger challenge by being unable to keep things tight at the back and putting additional pressure and strain on our attacking players to get us out of trouble.
Our comeback wins so far this season have been thoroughly enjoyable and thrilling to watch, but Emery knows that if we are to build on last season and become a side capable of challenging for major honours, we must have a solid foundation on which we can build and win games consistently with across multiple fronts.
“We are not defending like last year,” Emery told the media at his pre-match press conference ahead of our Champions League clash with Bayern Munich. “It’s not for the defenders, the goalkeeper, it’s for everyone. The first defenders are the strikers and the first attacking player is the goalkeeper. We have to improve because we cannot concede the goals we are conceding each match we are playing. I believe in our work but we are conceding more goals than normal.
“Football is mistakes, we have to accept we are making mistakes. I am trying to rectify my mistakes, tactically when I am analysing my decisions during the match and it’s my responsibility to correct those and not repeat them. For the players, it’s the same.
“I will never punish the players making a mistake for the next match and will work with the players on the pitch. On Sunday every mistake we made, we were working yesterday morning. I want to try to correct practising and hopefully tomorrow on the pitch.”
It certainly won’t be easy to start that process in midweek when Bayern visit Villa Park, as the Bundesliga giants will pose a very serious threat and challenge as we look to make it two wins in two to start our Champions League campaign.
Nevertheless, it’s a big test for the players to respond in and prove to Emery that they’re taking on his demands and tactical tweaks to fix our defensive issues, while the returns of key individuals such as Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara will hopefully help to address those concerns in the coming weeks when they’re back from their respective injury layoffs.
Villa’s defensive woes date back some time now, and although we’ve continued to pick up wins and travel on a brilliant upward trajectory under Emery, which has resulted in a place at Europe’s top table again, the Villa boss will be fully aware of the need to tighten things up at the back and be a formidable defensive outfit to sustain our success moving forward.
