With Steven Gerrard’s footsteps barely disappearing through the exit door, Aston Villa’s new manager/coach Unai Emery roared with delight as his first game in charge saw his new players punish Manchester United 3-1. How did he do it? Emery took last week to analyse what had gone wrong under Gerrard. He watched videos of all Villa’s games this season. He is known for his careful meticulous planning and punishing workload in training. Under Gerrard sessions were quite short and players were then released to go home. Emery operates completely differently. He holds long regular sessions, players often have to watch videos analysing their movements for up to two hours and he patrols each training session with clip board in hand whereas Gerrard left much of the work to his assistants. Villa fans gave Emery a loud welcome and their expectations were high however even the most passionate supporters could not have predicted Villa going two goals up after only eleven minutes. Emery was his usual high energy, jumping, punching the air and screaming at players and when Villa scored he high-fived all the backroom staff. Emery said it was his dream day and he had apparently dreamed of winning the match the night before. Emery’s secret: to play possession football, press high and use Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey to shoot for goal. Villa went 4-4-2 when out of possession which is an Emery trademark and in possession they cleverly moved forward and switched to 4-2-2-2. However, from what I have observed I think he will go with a basic 4-2-3-1 formation and an organised defence setting up counter-attacking football. After the win against United the players loved Emery, the fans loved the players and Emery loved everyone. A dream start as Villa moved up to 13th place in the table.
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FSG issues carefully worded statement on Liverpool sale
If one of the crown jewels came up for sale there would be a long queue to make the purchase of a lifetime. When a football club with the history and status of Liverpool comes on to the market you can bet the queue won’t be as long because of the wealth needed but Liverpool FC is one of the most important and respected jewels in world football. Therefore, I am sceptical that the Liverpool owners, Fenway Sports Group are serious in putting up for sale the former Premier League title winners and Champions League Cup holders. I was also intrigued when Fenway issued a statement which said, “FSG has frequently received expressions of interest from third parties seeking to become shareholders in Liverpool. FSG has said before that under the right terms and conditions we would consider new shareholders….FSG remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool.” That looks to me like, yes we will sell a few shares and make a huge profit but not the entire club. Everyone at Liverpool remains in the dark as to owner John Henry’s overall intentions. What is happening at Liverpool is far too long a story for me to write in this column but there is a long way to go before the real situation reveals itself.
Inside Manchester United’s training session this week
Eric Ten Hag’s Carrington Road training session revealed much about his thoughts on players and it is obvious that everyone in the first team squad will be given a chance to play. Ten Hag divided the session into two groups…those who played at the weekend were given a light session whilst those who did not play had a high energy workout. Ten Hag’s assistants set up a rondo – where a group of players have possession of the ball and a smaller group has to try and gain possession. Those in the rondo included Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Fred and Martial. Anthony Martial was moving about much more easily than of late and clearly profited from his second half appearance against Aston Villa at the weekend despite the loss to Unai Emery’s team. Ten Hag stood close to the group and was involved several times when he broke into the group and gave instructions. Despite the loss to Villa team spirit remains high for a tricky trip to in-form Fulham on Sunday.
More responsibility for Van Dijk
I have spent much of the week talking with colleagues and players about what has gone so wrong at Liverpool this season. Statistics show that last season the Reds were Europe’s most pressing team. They are now ranked eleventh. Much of the problem revealed in those stats is the loss of Sadio Mane. He was the focal point, the workaholic and the energy cracker box who created chances and scored goals. Liverpool have not replaced him and now much of their hard work has to be created from around their own penalty box. That brings more pressure on Virgil Van Dijk. Liverpool are now tending to go along with the current coaching favourite of playing out from the back and using defenders to make incisive passes into midfield. Van Dijk is very good at that and he passes with accuracy and joins in for corners and can score goals. However, at the back and without the midfield doing as much defending he is brought into play more often and that is where he has been found lacking. As opponents approach he tends to stand his ground instead of moving quickly into position to take on attackers. He often stands completely still waiting for the ball to come his way. Jurgen Klopp has recognised that and is spending time on the training field with his assistants in order to improve his movement off the ball.
Almiron embarrassing Grealish
Always be careful what you say as your words might come back to haunt you. Manchester City’s Jack Grealish found out the hard way. He accused his City colleague Riyad Mahrez of playing like Newcastle’s Miguel Almiron – running around and achieving nothing. Since new manager Eddie Howe arrived at Newcastle he has transformed Almiron into the league’s current most lethal striker. Now things are different and Grealish can only dream of playing like Almiron. Grealish has scored seven goals in 53 matches since his £100million move to City whereas Almiron has scored the same amount since the start of October!
Can Palace hold on to Zaha?
It is a constant battle for Crystal Palace to keep Wilfried Zaha at the club. Every transfer period sees Premier League clubs circle around the mercurial winger. Palace are now working behind the scenes to improve his £130k a week salary with a new offer. Executives at the London club have discovered that Barcelona and Juventus are keeping a close watch on Zaha’s new contract negotiations as the Ivory Coast international has yet to commit his next few years to Palace. Officials at Barca think Wilfried’s skilful direct running and goal scoring potential is the right mix for their club. Zaha has not decided what to do but Barca in particular want to sign him on a free when his contract runs out in June next year and will divert money saved on a zero transfer fee into giving him a big pay rise. As he turned 30 years-of-age this week he has to decide whether to permanently cement his legacy as a Palace legend or move on to achieve his long-term ambition and perform on the European stage.
