Nigel Reo-Coker tells Unai Emery what Aston Villa need to do in transfer market after latest defeat

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Aston Villa head into the latest international break deflated, morale on the floor and with another defeat to their name.

Unai Emery has done a tremendous job since replacing Steven Gerrard, but it’s fair to say that he faces his toughest test right now.

Aston Villa have lost four games on the bounce in all competitions, including to Liverpool at the weekend and against Club Brugge in the Champions League in midweek.

According to Nigel Reo-Coker, ‘the performances are still good’, you could make that argument for the Liverpool game, but not the others.

Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup, Tottenham in the Premier League and then the trip to Belgium, you can’t complain too much about the defeats because the performance just weren’t there. 

The one worry about this Aston Villa side is that it has lost its spark in the attacking third, even though Emery has so many top-quality players to pick from. 

But Reo-Coker feels there are bigger issues that need to be dealt with and he pointed towards the January transfer window.

Aston Villa need to address ‘very vulnerable’ centre-back situation

You sense that everyone agrees that Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne are the starting players for the backline.

It’s just a case of who else plays and where Konsa plays because Emery has chopped and changed him too much from right-back to centre-back.

Diego Carlos and Tyrone Mings have come into the XI in recent weeks, but they haven’t impressed and it has all resulted in only one clean sheet being recorded in the Premier League.

Reo-Coker has told Villa to address the centre-back situation and how it worries him, as he told the Premier League Review. 

“The performances are still good,” said Reo-Coker about Villa’s form despite the loss to Liverpool. “I am not worried.

“I think what I see in what Villa will be looking at and need to think to strengthen and get to that next level again is that they probably have to get some new faces in the door. I am looking more so worried about the centre-back position.

“I think centre-back wise Villa are still very vulnerable. I think everywhere else they have great balance and good numbers. I do worry and look at vulnerabilities in that centre-back position. It’s not just because of what Tyrone Mings did the other day with the handball and stuff. Centre-back wise I still think it’s a bit of a problem and a weakness for Villa.”

Tyrone Mings and Diego Carlos’ futures

The issue is that both players are over 30, one has come back from a horrific 14-month injury lay-off, and the other is inconsistent and error-prone.

That leaves Villa light at the back and in need of refreshment because it is costing them right now.

Villa have conceded 17 goals after just 11 matches, only teams in the Premier League’s bottom half have conceded more.

There was talk of Carlos leaving in the summer, but nothing materialised, with the 31-year-old playing 863 minutes of football so far this season.