Joy. One word to explain my emotional state after witnessing Emery’s Villans’ beat Brighton 6-1.
Beating the Premier League’s current highest-scoring team, a team who under De Zerbi continues to surpass expectations with their free-flowing football is no easy feet. Beating an opposing side is one thing, but comparing today’s result to Villa’s 1-0 victory against Chelsea last week, those in attendance at Villa Park saw a Villa side that looked completely reenergised.
With a star performance from Ollie Watkins, the return of the Jedi in Jacob Ramsey, the Villa faithful will have many talking points from today’s emphatic victory.
Ollie Watkins hat-trick hero
Well that was some performance wasn’t it? Watkins was immense today, a forward who is oozing confidence right now with 4 goals in his last 2 Premier League fixtures.
Surely, especially with the England manager in attendance, Gareth Southgate has to be considering Watkins for a call-up during the next international break? After struggling to add his name to the scoresheet at the beginning of this season, it seems Villa’s number 11 is back to his best at the heart of Emery’s attack.
Watkins is a complete striker. With experience out wide during his time playing for Brentford, his dribbling is exceptional, his positioning is consistently top class and now we are seeing the complete version of Watkins with his clinical finishing.
Equally, what I admire about Watkins in addition to his all-round playing style is simply his passion for the club. After all three of his goals against Brighton, you can see the emotion in his celebrations. Not only is he a brilliant player but a brilliant professional and I’m proud to have Watkins lead the line for Aston Villa. May today be the catalyst for another high scoring season for him.
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Return of the Jacob Ramsey
Excitingly, in the second half we saw the return of Aston Villa’s very own Jedi, Jacob Ramsey. After suffering a foot injury, Ramsey returned to Emery’s side with a cameo in a 3-2 loss to Legia Warsaw last week.
The Villans in attendance at Villa Park today cheered on one of their own as Ramsey made another cameo from the bench, not only impacting the game in the final third but ultimately scoring at the famous Holte end.
Those who have witnessed the rise of Jacob Ramsey at Aston Villa know his capabilities on the pitch. Ramsey easily has the potential to blow any opposition out of the water with his skill and Villa fans are craving to see the Englishman playing in the first team set up once again.
With only 33 minutes played, 1 goal, 100% passing accuracy, Ramsey’s introduction to the game was certainly an effective move by Emery.
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Unai Emery’s tactical Masterclass
The Spaniard was spot on once again with his approach tactically against Brighton.
Looking at West Ham’s victory over Brighton earlier this season, Moyes’ Hammers exploited the Seagulls on the counter attack consequently winning 3-1.
From the front with Diaby and Watkins, Villa were relentless with their pressure on Brighton’s defence with Jason Steele having a horrid time in the opposition net. After a few goal kicks from Steele, immediately I noticed Aston Villa’s frontline press Brighton in their own penalty area, with Emery recognising Steele’s weakness in distribution.
With Aston Villa having 38% possession, Emery intricately planned his tactical approach to the game with his side meticulous in using the counter attack. The Spaniard is by far the most talented coach I have seen at Aston Villa and despite the inconsistencies in performances against Legia Warsaw and Everton in the Carabao Cup, I’m confident and proud to have a manager like Emery. I’m confident in his ability to react to games in an intellectual manner, exploring every weakness and strengths of performances in order to explore how his side can simply improve game by game.
After Villa’s 6-1 victory against Brighton, John McGinn explained how detailed of a coach Unai Emery is.
“This season we haven’t played that well but everything clicked today. When we had the tactics meeting this morning I thought it’d either be 6-1 to us or 6-1 to them. Thankfully it was 6-1 to us”.
John McGinn
“We watched West Ham [punish Brighton on the counter-attack]. You have to respect Brighton, they’re one of the best teams in the league. They’re amazing on the ball; they’ll be fighting for top four, definitely. We played to our strengths, with Moussa and Ollie up front. They can have the ball but as long as we win it back and use it well, it doesnae really matter. The manager is really keen that, we win it back, we tried and get in behind the opposition”.
[On working with Unai Emery] “For someone like me, who’s never experienced that level of detail – where your body shape is, your positioning, are you offside or onside – it’s amazing. He doesn’t miss a trick. He’s obsessed with football and he wants us to be as well. Sometimes you need a wee break. Thankfully I’ve got a couple of days off now! He’s transformed this place and it’s a pleasure to work under him”.
“We were unhappy with our start to the season, more the way we played than the results. Today showed we had plenty more gears to go up.”
With another midweek fixture against Zrinjski to come in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, Villa will continue to have a congested fixture schedule. Ultimately, with Emery at the helm, the club have the right man to help the team transition into European powerhouses. There will be mistakes made along the way but in Emery, we have a manager who strives for excellence and will do anything to make sure Aston Villa succeed on the pitch.
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