The Villans appear to be running out of steam after a superb start to the season, with a pivotal clash against the resurgent Red Devils up next
“To be honest with you, I watched Aston Villa and I can’t believe the scoreline. Honestly Aston Villa played fantastic football and just lost to bad goals,” legendary former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said to NBC Sports after seeing Newcastle thrash Villa 5-1 at St James’ Park on the opening weekend of the season. “It’s a surprising game, football. You can play teams off the pitch and not score – that’s what Aston Villa did.”
There are very few figures in football with sharper powers of judgment than Ferguson. Newcastle rightfully earned all the headlines after their statement victory, but the Scot shrewdly observed the potential of Unai Emery’s swashbuckling side, and they’ve since unlocked it to overtake the Magpies in the Champions League qualification reckoning.
Villa sat fourth in the Premier League table after 23 games, 13 points clear of Newcastle and eight ahead of United, who are set to visit Villa Park on Sunday. There’s no question that Villa has enjoyed a fantastic season so far and Emery is exceeded expectations. However, recent signs suggest they may not be able to stay the course.
Villa have won just three of their last nine games across all competitions, with their latest setbacks coming in the form of a 3-1 loss at home to Chelsea in an FA Cup fourth-round replay. “We lost more balls than normal. In our medium block, we were not being strong and they were being a threat in behind,” Emery admitted in his post-match press conference. “Of course, sometimes the performances of the players could be better.”
That lack of intensity is becoming a worrying theme for Villa, and Emery must bring the collective standards in his squad back up quickly, or else all the work put in up to this point will be for nothing.
Villa Park was a fortress in the first half of the season, and Emery’s side went into their fixture against rock-bottom Sheffield United on December 22 knowing a win would take them top of the Premier League. Villa had picked up a club-record 15 progressive victories on home soil, and were overwhelming favorites to extend that run, but the Blades didn’t read the pre-match script.
Sheffield United silenced the crowd in the 87th minute when Cameron Archer scored from close range, after spending the majority of the game camped in their own half. With just seconds remaining in stoppage-time, Nicolas Zaniolo grabbed an equalizer to spare Villa’s blushes, but it was still a huge missed opportunity.
Four days later, Villa went to Old Trafford aiming to bounce back, and raced into a two-goal lead inside 30 minutes, only to capitulate in the second half as United completed a thrilling 3-2 comeback win. Complacency set in and the Red Devils ended up bulldozing Villa, who were fortunate the scoreline wasn’t a lot wider in the end.
It was a similar story in the 3-1 reversal against Newcastle at the end of January, as Villa lost their unbeaten home record after another uninspired display in attack and defence. Emery’s men looked tired, flat-footed, and devoid of the adventurous spirit that had underpinned their brilliant start to the season.