Aston Villa are in a very difficult period.
Not since when Unai Emery first took charge have Aston Villa been in such a situation where their form is out of the window and nearly everyone is struggling.
That was proven during Villa’s 1-0 Champions League defeat to Club Brugge on Wednesday evening.
The game was overshadowed by Tyrone Mings giving away a bizarre penalty after a handball and that spot-kick proved to be the difference in the game.
Yes, everyone will look towards Mings’ handball blunder, but the bigger picture also needs to be looked at and that’s the team’s overall performance.
Aston Villa were pretty poor for the majority of the game, and in truth, didn’t deserve much from it and walked away empty-handed.
Emery did ring the changes from Villa conceding four to Tottenham over the weekend, but it didn’t get the reaction that he wanted in Belgium.
Leon Bailey and Morgan Rogers slammed for not wanting to ‘track back’ for Aston Villa against Club Brugge
With and without the ball, Villa have lost that spark, mojo, life and speed to their game.
It then doesn’t help matters when your attacking players are being accused of not wanting to defend without the ball.
Stephen Warnock stated that Leon Bailey and Morgan Rogers just ‘didn’t want to track back’ during the game, as he told BBC Sport.
The former left-back was also confused about why captain John McGinn was playing behind Ollie Watkins because he felt it was a tactic that just wasn’t working, as he added on BBC Sport.
“There is lots of space out wide for Brugge because Aston Villa’s two wide attacking players, in their 4-2-3-1 shape, Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey, don’t want to track back,” said Warnock.
“At the moment, I am wondering why Villa have gone with John McGinn in the hole behind Ollie Watkins instead of Morgan Rogers. It might be to get his intensity in the middle, but they don’t have that usual connection with Watkins.
“If Villa are going to stick with their current two wide players, Rogers and Leon Bailey, then they need to find a way of getting them in one-on-one situations with the Brugge full-backs in the second half. That has not happened enough either.”
Why Tyrone Mings picked the ball up during Villa’s defeat to Brugge
Mings has been out of action for 14 months and then when he makes his Champions League debut, it’s one he wants to well and truly forget.
As soon as that incident happened, many pointed towards Arsenal and Gabriel doing the same last season, yet nothing was given.
But Warnock stated on BBC Sport that Mings picked up the ball because ‘he didn’t look at Emi Martinez at all’, so he didn’t know the goal kick had been taken.
“Arsenal got away with doing the same thing against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last season,” said Warnock. “Maybe this time the referee has seen that the Brugge players are closing Mings down?
“I want to look at it again but I don’t think Tyrone Mings has looked at Emi Martinez at all when he took the goal-kick, which is why he thinks he can pick it up because he does not know it has been taken.”
