Aston Villa suffered a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, with Unai Emery making some questionable decisions during the contest.
After only breaking their impeccable home record last month, Aston Villa have now lost three consecutive home games, as last night’s defeat to Manchester United represented the Villans’ sixth loss of the Premier League campaign.
January’s defeat to Newcastle United seems to have triggered a chain reaction at Villa Park, with a loss to Chelsea in the FA Cup and yesterday afternoon’s defeat marking their second blow of the week.
Sitting just one point outside of the top four means it isn’t all doom and gloom for Unai Emery, although the manager could be held accountable for some of the contributing factors to his side’s loss to United.
Here are three things that Emery got wrong against the Red Devils…
Matty Cash must improve to stay in Aston Villa XI
Matty Cash received harsh criticism following his performance against United, primarily for his lack of speed in getting back to mark Scott McTominay to prevent the visitor’s late winner.
The 26-year-old was selected to start following the absence of Ezri Konsa, who has excelled at right-back in recent weeks, keeping the Poland international away from the starting XI.
Konsa’s injury was disappointing news for the squad, although the opportunity for Cash to claim back his place was there, a chance he hasn’t taken so far.
The problem that the manager now faces is the potential of another slack performance from the full-back, with limited options in the position available.
Questions could be asked as to whether the manager should have made rotations during the game, as Cash appeared to struggle throughout.
Diego Carlos’ days are numbered with Pau Torres nearing Aston Villa return
The lack of form on the right side of defence wasn’t eased with the central defensive pivot of Clement Lenglet and Diego Carlos, who had shaky moments against United.
The Brazilian joined Cash in being far too slow to react to the movement of McTominay in the box, leaving question marks over his suitability to start in the back line in what was his second frail showing in the week.
With the return of Pau Torres now imminent, Emery will surely look to rotate to accommodate the Spaniard, who arguably could have been more use to Villa against United as opposed to being an unused substitute.
Leon Bailey substitution was detrimental to Aston Villa
On the subject of substitutes, the boss was quizzed over his decision to withdraw Leon Bailey from the contest on Sunday afternoon.
Despite causing havoc on the right side, the manager deemed it necessary to hook the Jamaican shortly after Villa levelled the score, a choice that was not well-received given the direction of play.
Speaking after the game, Emery explained that his decision was “tactical” due to the injury of Boubacar Kamara in midfield, although when Bailey left the pitch, Villa’s threat was almost immediately quietened.
