Aston Villa were brought back down to earth on Sunday as Nottingham Forest beat them 2-0, now Unai Emery is drawing criticism.
At the City Ground on Sunday, Aston Villa‘s good run of form came to an abrupt end. Steve Cooper and his Forest side got the best of Unai Emery‘s Villa.
However, it could be perceived that Villa created all their own problems, playing a high line against Forest’s rapid frontline would never end well.
This is exactly the feelings of BBC pundit, Dion Dublin who has slammed Emery following the loss.
Dublin slams Emery
Speaking on Sunday’s Match of the Day 2, Dublin ripped into Emery.
“Villa’s high line, for me, is absolutely ridiculous.” He declared about Emery’s side.
“They have been brilliant of late, let’s get it right – one of the form teams and Unai Emery has done great – however, when you play a high line one yard away from the halfway line, you’re going to be in trouble more often than not.
“They got away with it on two or three occasions. You are taught as a very young footballer to stay with your man if there’s no pressure. Forest just didn’t get it right. If they had a third man running, or they got that ball right and the pass was right, they would have been in.
“What you don’t want to be doing as a defender is be running towards your goal all the time, you lose your bearings and your positional play.”
The loss will hurt Villa, however, still remain in the Champions League race and stands a good chance of achieving qualification.
Villa struggled defensively
While the high line against Forest was incredibly naive given that Forest’s main strength is probably pace on the break, Villa also just weren’t good enough across the pitch.
Villa were poor defensively, only attempting 10 tackles and winning five, their third and second lowest in the stat this season according to FBRef which demonstrates the difference in performance from their usual.
This was half or less than half the number they made in huge wins over Brighton and West Ham. This could represent a lethargic performance in which Emery will be desperate and won’t become a regularity.
Next up for Villa, they face AZ Alkmaar at Villa Park on Thursday, just weeks after the 4-1 thrashing in Holland.
