Steven Gerrard’s reign at Aston Villa was a nightmare.
That’s proven by the fact that Unai Emery replaced the Englishman and, within 18 months, he had Aston Villa playing Champions League football.
Yes, here and there, Emery brought in his own players from Pau Torres to the now-departed Moussa Diaby.
But, for the most part, he worked with the same squad that Gerrard had at his disposal, yet the difference in quality and performance has been frightening.
That’s why Aston Villa fans have no time for Gerrard, who was brutally hounded out when he was sacked by the club in October 2022.
But there is one thing he did right and that’s sign a player, who isn’t just singing in Claret & Blue colours, but also on the international stage right now.
Aston Villa told Lucas Digne ‘on fire’ for France
Lucas Digne was one of Gerrard’s first signings and now he is one of Villa’s most consistent performers.
Yes, Gerrard did well to bring him in, but Emery deserves the plaudits for taking his game to another level because he is playing the best football of his career.
Digne shone for France against Italy, as they claimed a 3-1 win in the San Siro in the UEFA Nations League, with the left-back producing two assists and also scoring a wicked free-kick that was cruelly deemed an own goal.
Former World Cup winner Frank Leboeuf loved what he saw from the team and stated that Digne was ‘on fire’, as he told ESPN.
And European football expert Julien Laurens added how France have struggled from dead-ball situations, but Villa’s man on the left has changed all of that.
“A completely different mood, a completely different winningness,” said Leboeuf about France’s performance in Italy compared to their last display.
“They did what they had to do. They reacted very well. Don’t forget that they lost at home to Italy in the first game. They proved all of us wrong. We maybe thought that the team was in transition. They aren’t. When they want to play. When they want to give a good level. They produce. It was a great game to watch. I am not a big fan of the National League, but the level was high. Coming from Italy or France. That was a great game of football. Lots of chances. Qualities on both sides. We had Digne and Rabiot on fire on the left side. And everybody does their job. What I love is they are united. The players showed, working hard and coming back.”
French journalist Julien Laurens added: “I like a lot of things. The three goals are all on set pieces. During the game, with the ball, we didn’t create too much. But it had been a long time since we scored on set-pieces anyway. Full stop. Outside of penalties. The quality from Digne, both on the two corners and the free-kick.”
Digne’s stats as France beat Italy in UEFA Nations League
Theo Hernandez is a top performer for AC Milan and has a different style of play than Digne, with his speed in transition.
But even though Hernandez has held that spot in recent times, it’s fair to say that Digne is now pushing to be number one because this isn’t the first time he has performed so well.
He provided crucial assists in his last international outing and is proving to be more efficient than Hernandez.
Against Italy, WhoScored rated Digne at a pretty incredible 8.42 for his performance.
| Key Passes | Crosses | Passes | PA% | Aerials won | Total tackles | Clear | Touches | Ratings |
| 2 | 5 | 46 | 91.3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 67 | 8.42 |
