Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery has confirmed that Nicolo Zaniolo was substituted for tactical reasons rather than injuries.
Against Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa fell to just their third defeat of the season as they lost 2-0 away from home.
It was clear that Unai Emery wasn’t best pleased with the performance on the day which saw him make a half-time change.
Looking at the individual performances on our player ratings, there were no standout players so anyone could have been swapped.
With that being said, the Spaniard opted to take off Nicolo Zaniolo at halftime, as he did against Luton Town.
What has Unai Emery said about Nicolo Zaniolo?
The defeat saw many unhappy Villa fans take to social media to voice their disappointment in the Villains’ performance.
With that being said, Emery wasn’t scathing towards his players or the team’s performance.
There were questions from Birmingham World over his decision to substitute on-loan star, Zaniolo, at the interval.
When asked about the rationale, he said: “It was tactical. “Zaniolo, his progression is going well.
“Of course, his individual circumstances [the gambling accusations] are maybe playing with him a little bit sometimes in his mind. But he has to try to be 100 per cent free to play well. At the moment, we are going well with him.”
With the controversy around Sandro Tonali, the Villa man seemingly got dragged into the discussion and may have lost focus.
Emery highlighted an issue around his position also: “We are using him in one position he can play. But not his best position. But he’s helping us and I want to increase his level with us.”
With Jacob Ramsey set to return from injury, it is likely that Zaniolo may find himself pushed further up the pitch.
This may be more natural to him and allow him to show the swagger he had on his debut against Burnley.
That is the player that all Villa fans want to see return to B6 and hopefully, the Italian will find his feet moving forward.
