Aston Villa suffer from madness as international break comes at right point
Aston Villa headed into the November international break at the right time after “listless” performances, Ian Darke has said.
The TNT Sports commentator reacted after Unai Emery’s men made it four defeats in a row at Liverpool, hitting out at Tyrone Mings for his error against Club Brugge in the Champions League through that run.
Since losing to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup on 30 October, Villa have continued on their poor run and take on the Londoners again in the Premier League on 23 November.
“They’ve lost four on the spin, Aston Villa, they fell away badly in the second half at Tottenham and then the Brugge performance took some explaining – they looked listless,” Darke exclusively told Villa News.
“Obviously there was a bit of Mings madness, a brain fade. I don’t know if anyone can recall anything quite like it.
“Maybe it was the result of having not had too much action and switching off for a moment. He must have thought ‘what have I done here?’ – but overall, Villa deserved to lose that game. Then they lost at Liverpool – but maybe the international break has come at the right time.”
Aston Villa return with tough schedule
An indirect joyous moment for Aston Villa has occurred via England, with Morgan Rogers’ first senior cap coinciding with Ollie Watkins’ return to the scoresheet against Greece on 14 November.
The Villans take on Palace when the Premier League returns, before an eagerly anticipated visit of Juventus to Villa Park [27 November] is followed by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge [1 December].
Emery will not be worried about Mings’ error due to the England man’s pedigree and previously demonstrated mental strength, as other defenders have also faltered in recent matches.
One thing is clear though, a win is desperately needed.
In other Aston Villa news, Jude Bellingham has his say on Rogers after his first England appearance.
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