Aston Villa suffered a 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest and fans have questioned Nicolo Zaniolo and his performance as he was taken off at half time.
For just the third time in the Premier League this season, Aston Villa fell to defeat as Nottingham Forest secured a 2-0 win.
This came despite Unai Emery’s men having 74% possession and creating nearly three times as many chances as Forest.
Goals from Ola Aina and Orel Mangala were enough to stop Villa from moving up to the Champions League places.
Loanee, Nicolo Zaniolo was taken off at halftime once again after another lacklustre performance.
How did Nicolo Zaniolo play?
With just 22 touches of the ball, it is hard to pick out anything that the Italian really did.
This is ultimately the problem with Zaniolo right now is that he isn’t contributing enough. In the last two games, he has almost just made up the numbers.
Considering the form Leon Bailey has been in and Jacob Ramsey to come back in, he really needs to be better.
According to SofaScore, he had fewer touches than Emiliano Martinez and made nearly 20 passes less from midfield.
These kind of stats need to be taken with a pinch of salt. This is as he came off at half time but he was poor in that first 45.
He had a chance early on to level the scores, he took an extra touch and fluffed his lines. It is safe to say he is low on confidence.
At the moment, he needs a break. With him being involved in the Sandro Tonali controversy over the international break and coming straight back into Villa, it must be hard.
With Fulham at home next, Bailey needs to start. Zaniolo needs a rest and a go at some tired legs.
There is a player in there, everyone can see it. He just needs to find his feet and that swagger he had at Burnley away.
