Former Aston Villa man, Jermaine Jenas and Danny Murphy have suggested that the Villans need to improve defensively away from home moving forward.
Against Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa secured their first away win since September, coming back from behind to win 2-1.
Under Unai Emery, the Villans have won a club record 22 games in the calendar year of 2023 such has been the Spaniard’s impact.
With that being said, there has been criticism, especially this season, of Villa’s form away from home. At Villa Park, the Villa faithful haven’t witnessed a defeat since February and have won every game so far this campaign. On the flip side, there have been three losses and a draw away from home which has had its drawbacks.
Although this may be the case, the Villans still find themselves fighting at the very top end of the Premier League. They currently sit in fourth place and are just two points behind Arsenal at the summit. There have still been some reservations from pundits despite the high level.
What have Danny Murphy and Jermaine Jenas said?
It is safe to say that the game at Tottenham Hotspur stadium was an entertaining one for the neutral. This saw it featured as the first game on Match of the Day 2. With that, this saw pundits, Jermaine Jenas and Danny Murphy give their opinions on the Villans’ win.
The latter opened up about Villa’s away form first: “I think away from home, they need to tighten up a little bit. They were exposed a lot today and he’d be looking at that a little bit disappointed.
With that being said, the former Liverpool midfielder saw some good things that Emery and Co can take away. On that, he added: “So many positives. So many good attacking players and so many positive things for him to look at.”
Former Spurs and Villa midfielder, Jenas did have some reservations and positive aspects to take, of his own. Discussing the Villans’ defence, he said: “I think away from the moment they looked a little bit vulnerable today.”
There have been some concerns when it comes to Emery’s side away from home. With just three wins combined with three losses, a draw and 11 goals conceded, that is their Achilles heel right now.
Although that may be the case, Jenas saw many positives for the future. He said: “I think with what they have on the bench with his experience of how to tweak it at the right moment, I think Villa will get it right and if there are five positions available for the Champions League, they’ll be in and amongst them.”
More pundits who see positives to take for the Villans move forward. The away form could definitely improve and if it does, Villa will establish themselves as true contenders moving forward.
