View: Three things learned from Manchester United 4 – 2 win v Aston Villa
Unai Emery suffered his first defeat as Aston Villa manager after falling to a 4-2 defeat at Old Trafford in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Ollie Watkins and a Diego Dalot own goal saw Villa take the lead twice in the second half, after a goalless opening 45, before a number of self-inflicted errors allowed United a path back into the game.
Equalising goals from Antony Martial, Marcus Rashford, and a further two from Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay eventually secured United’s spot in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Although Villa performed admirably, a lack of game management was their undoing, as United’s quality forwards struck with deadly accuracy.
Here Villa News looks at three things we learnt from their loss to the Red Devils.
Douglas Luiz fast becoming first name on team sheet
The fact that Luiz couldn’t nail down a starting spot under the Steven Gerrard regime is becoming more absurd by the match. Sitting alongside Boubacar Kamara at the base of Villa’s four-man midfield, the Brazilian was happy to pick up the ball in dangerous positions and progress play with alarming ease all night.
His balance and composure on the ball will be key to Emery’s plans to play out from the back in the coming months, while his ability over a dead ball makes him instrumental to this Villa side. Having already scored twice directly from corners this season and coming close again in the first half, Luiz could fast become Emery’s first name on the team sheet.
Growing pains
On Sunday afternoon Emery caught everyone off guard with his unexpected 4-2-2-2 formation. The Villa players took it on board and delivered the game plan to perfection.
However on Thursday night, many aspects of Emery’s gameplan – which was largely similar – did not quite work as planned. John McGinn often looked confused and isolated in his newfound position on the left side of a midfield four, while Danny Ings failed to make the impact Leon Bailey did as a split striker on Sunday.
Emery’s insistence to pass out from the back also brought trouble onto his side all night, with Olsen giving the ball away countless times in his own third of the pitch. If the Spaniard is to continue with this bold style of play, he may need to make some changes in personnel who can deliver it to his standards.
Emery will be fuming
The lack of game management was always a problem under both Dean Smith and Gerrard and once again it reared its head in full force tonight for Aston Villa.
After Ollie Watkins broke the deadlock in the 48th minute, a lead that Villa were forced to work hard for, it took Emery’s side just under 90 seconds to throw it away again with some sleepy defending.
Even after regaining the lead through Dalot’s unfortunate own goal, Villa continually took unnecessary risks when playing out from the back and looked like a side lacking leadership and calm at times.
This was typified by Olsen – who struggled with the ball at his feet all night – who passed the ball directly to Fernandes when under no pressure whatsoever, who subsequently netted the decisive goal third goal.
In other Aston Villa news, The Villans paid a seven-figure compensation fee for Steven Gerrard from Rangers