Wolverhampton Wanderers manager, Gary O’Neill has been full of praise for Aston Villa’s forward line following the 4-1 win over West Ham United.
O’Neill’s Wolves side faced Aston Villa just over two weeks ago and despite some controversy, he still praised the Villains.
Following the full-time whistle at Molineux, Unai Emery was waiting to shake the Englishman’s hand. The Wolves boss was talking to the fourth official and the Spaniard wasn’t for waiting around.
This saw a bit of a spat form between the two but O’Neill referred to it as ‘a lot of nothing’.
Despite everything that happened or didn’t happen, the Wolves man was full of praise for his opposite numbers team.
So far this season, bar two blips against Newcastle and Liverpool, Villa have been on top of their game.
Despite plenty of injuries, the Villains have managed to find their feet and keep a great run of form going. This has seen them pick up huge victories over West Ham and Brighton in recent weeks.
What has Gary O’Neill said about Aston Villa?
The forward line has been heavily discussed recently. Plenty of praise has come in for Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby in particular.
Discussing the options Villa have going forward, O’Neill said: “They are difficult to stop. They entice defenders in on top of their box.
“[John] McGinn and [Nicolo] Zaniolo are in there and if you want to jump in with [Vladimir] Coufal like West Ham did, they just find a big space for [Ollie] Watkins to run down the side.”
Villa’s number 11 scored the third goal of the game this way. McGinn gets on the ball finds Watkins out wide who smashes it in from the angle.
The England international has been top-class for a while now and his goal record shows that.
On his form, O’Neill said: “We suffered it last year with Bournemouth. When we went to Villa and tried to go in on the box with full-backs, Watkins just killed us down the sides.
“Very difficult to stop because they will kill you by playing through and if you try to stop them playing through they have Moussa Diaby and Watkins who can just kill you in behind, so they are tough to stop.”
Villa have a raft of forward options now and the danger that each individual option provides their own unique threat.
Even options like Leon Bailey and Jhon Duran have had great seasons so far in spite of a lack of starting minutes.
Villa under Emery are in a great place going forward and at the back. Easily one of the most balanced sides in the Premier League right now.
