Gabriel Agbonlahor slams ‘dreadful’ Aston Villa loss v Newcastle United, makes Steven Gerrard comparison
Gabriel Agbonlahor didn’t hold back on his former side after Aston Villa suffered a 4-0 defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
In Aston Villa’s first game since the appointment of Unai Emery, the Villans were humiliated at St James Park by Newcastle United.
Aaron Danks’ side didn’t even muster a shot on target against the Magpies, as Joelinton, Miguel Almiron and a Callum Wilson brace inflicted the damage.
With the 4-0 loss coming just a week after Villa’s remarkable 4-0 win over Brentford, Agbonlahor was shocked by what he saw from his former team.
“Today looked like an Aston Villa side that we saw this under Steven Gerrard, they play Chelsea and deserved to win that game with the chances they had,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT (29 October), as quoted by Birmingham Mail.
“Then they play the next game and are dreadful.
Then they win 4-0 against Brentford, and then today, it’s like poor Aston Villa again. Where was that energy from last week? That commitment?
“They looked like a team that really needs a new manager to come in now, and really sort out these players and pick which players he’s going to want to keep and which players he’s going to want to move on because that was a battering today.”
Stay realistic
After an extremely joyous last week, Aston Villa were brought back down to earth by Newcastle on Saturday.
The 4-0 win over Brentford and the appointment of Emery had fans dreaming of a huge charge up the table, but perhaps the Newcastle result has reminded Villa fans to stay realistic – at least for this season, anyway.
The squad is still low on confidence and playing without any real style or identity. Emery has been brought in to change that, but it will require time and investment.
This season has to be focused on laying down foundations and implementing Emery’s style while gradually climbing the table.
Fans will have to remain patient with the process as there are bound to be big peaks of joy and also some humiliating lows along the way.
For now, Emery needs backing by the board, players and fans and hopefully the team respond against Manchester United next week.
In other Aston Villa news, Kris Boyd slams the Aston Villa medical staff for not taking Emiliano Martinez off the pitch