Aston Villa have only suffered one defeat in all competitions and fans would have snapped your hand off for that at the start of the campaign.
But sometimes, your eyes tell a different story because whilst Villa fans revel over the win against Bayern Munich, the performances in the Premier League haven’t been up to scratch.
Against Arsenal, Everton, Wolves and Manchester United – all home games, the team has been starting slowly, and in most cases, getting away with three points or not losing.
In some cases, it’s just having to deal with the opposition team treating Villa very differently now and performing like it is their cup final, which is understandable.
But on other occasions, there have been mistakes in not refreshing the first XI enough, other than when the manager is forced to do so because of injuries.
The Aston Villa bench needs to be used more, not just the regular faces, but certain starters are lucky to still be on the pitch after poor performances.
Morgan Rogers had an off-game against Manchester United, yet he remained on the field for the entire match and he was probably lucky to do so.
Emi Buendia needs more minutes
Emi Buendia returned from a long-term injury this season and it was music to the ears of fans because of the important role he played when he was last fit.
The 27-year-old played every match when Emery first came in – after hardly being used by Steven Gerrard – and helped the team to Europe.
Buendia has this great ability to connect with his teammates on the pitch in small pockets, doing the simple stuff right, progressing the ball forward and playing one-twos.
But he has been sat on the bench for large parts, including only playing 13 minutes of Premier League football this term.
Buendia did start Villa’s League Cup win over Wycombe last month, he opened the scoring with a deft header and won Man of the Match.
Yet he has hardly been seen since then and this is where Rogers should have been taken off against Manchester United for the quick-thinking playmaker.
Morgan Rogers needs a kick up the backside
Rogers has rightfully got a lot of plaudits this season, but he needs a kick up the backside for some of his poorer performances.
The England hopeful’s end product has been lacking and he shouldn’t be playing 90 minutes every time because there needs to be consequences to when he isn’t performing.
That’s where Buendia comes in and needs to earn those starts to prove that he can add even more value to the team.
If that happens, then you have serious competition building within the squad, just like Villa have with left-backs Lucas Digne and Ian Maatsen.
