Aston Villa loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League leaves Unai Emery still searching for a first win in his career against Oliver Glasner in eight attempts. More concerning than that though is that Villa currently sit one off the bottom of the Premier League table, without a win to their name.
While it’s not panic stations yet considering the extent of Villa’s summer rebuild, Emery’s patient approach of slowly drip-feeding new signings into his system will come under increasing pressure the longer Villa remain winless in the league. The focus will certainly magnify after the international break, but hopefully that three-week period – which is essentially a necessary additional preseason for Emery – can help Villa push on during the autumn period and beyond.
This post-mortem show of the My Old Man Said podcast starts with the moment that shaped the whole second half: Nicolas Jackson hooked off at half-time as a yellow-card precaution, with Alysson brought on ahead of Alejandro Garnacho and Johan Manzambi — a change that left John McGinn shunted out to the left and the team’s shape compromised before Forest had even sensed the opportunity.
There’s a look at exactly how Forest bullied their way through Villa’s midfield and defence in the second half, and why Villa’s longstanding reluctance to match physicality is a structural and an attitude issue rather than bad luck on the day.
Elsewhere, this week’s Speed Demon stats reveal some surprises. There’s also a frank discussion about what this heavily rebuilt squad can realistically be judged on at the moment. Gomes’ return remains the only genuinely positive development heading into the Coventry City cup game and the trip to Spurs in the final league game before the international break.
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Credits:
David Michael – @myoldmansaid
Chris Budd – @BUDD_music
Phillip Shaw – @prsgame
I am reluctant in saying this but Team selection is a massive problem and Emerie continues to get it all wrong he’s starting the wrong players while we have undoubted attacking talent on the bench and if and when they do come on it’s miles too late to have the necessary impact. We have to hope this improves or we’re heading for big trouble and I’m not sure how long our owners are going to continue to put up with these obvious mistakes