Alan Shearer shared some interesting views on Unai Emery’s squad at Aston Villa when talking about the Premier League title race.
It’s all well and good claiming that Aston Villa might now drop off and the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal will be the only ones fighting for the main crown in May.
Fair enough!
But you have to make your comments with some logical reasoning rather than the usual tripe in which the media like to play out.
Alan Shearer mentioned how Aston Villa have ’surprised us all’, but he thinks that the size of the club’s squad means that ‘they haven’t been able to switch their team around a lot’, as he told BBC Sport.
That is just pure nonsense from the former striker because the Midlands outfit have one of the strongest squads in the division.
The fact of the matter is that Unai Emery has been rotating from game one when he lost four first-team players to long-term injuries – Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia, Jacob Ramsey and Alex Moreno.
The latter two returned to action in December. But during that period, Villa have competed at the top, including progressing in Europe, and now the likes of Matty Cash, Moussa Diaby, Lucas Digne, Jhon Duran and Youri Tielemans find themselves on the bench.
If that’s not being able to rotate, then I don’t what is!
Aston Villa’s squad
“Then you have got Aston Villa, who have surprised us all,” said Shearer.
“They have dropped a few points in the past few weeks but they are still at the top end of the table.
“The size of their squad compared to the other teams up there means they have not been able to switch their team around a lot, but they have stayed in touch and to be where they are at this stage is a brilliant achievement.
“As things stand, the top five are only separated by five points but my feeling is that we will be down to two teams in the running by the time the title is decided.”
Aston Villa return from winter break
The Villa players returned to Bodymoor Heath on Monday to now prepare for the most important part of the season.
The team has done remarkably well for over a year now, but this is where it matters most.
Trophies are on the line, especially the Europa Conference League, whilst this is also the best chance to secure Champions League football than ever before.
If Emery can get these next few months right, then it will set up the team very well for the final hurdles of the season.
