Unai Emery must explain what has happened at Aston Villa recently
Unai Emery has some explaining to do at Aston Villa over their dip in form, Ian Darke has said.
The TV commentator accepts there is the "emotional hindrance" Villa have to contend with given they are mixing Premier League and Champions League duties this season.
A 3-0 reverse at Chelsea on Sunday (1 December) means Villa have now failed to win their past eight games across all competitions, a scenario Darke said is not nearly good enough.
The club are looking to establish themselves at the top table in both England and Europe and looked excellent in the first third of the season, but have been sluggish for some time.
That balancing act has come to the fore for Darke, who admitted Emery has to make a statement with how his side performs on the pitch moving forward.
"They've fallen away badly and Unai Emery does have some explaining for some of the performances," TV commentator Darke exclusively told Villa News.
"Some teams have patches like that when you press the button and nothing happens.
"It's almost a cliche to say the Champions League involvement is an emotional hindrance, but it's probably true."
Aston Villa have huge December to put it right
There remain another seven games before the turn of the year in which Emery can mastermind a revival in Aston Villa's form and European push, before an intriguing January transfer window opens.
The return to Villa Park on Wednesday night [4 December] against Brentford signifies a potential turnaround after a tough away trip to Chelsea, in which the side largely sat back and only offered a threat when the hosts slipped up.
Following the two successive home games against the Bees and bottom-placed Southampton comes a return to Champions League action, away at RB Leipzig [10 December].
The Villans could see last season's top-four finish difficult to repeat, but despite their position in the bottom half still remain just four points adrift of fourth place.
In other Aston Villa news, a potential move on the cards for an English defender in Europe.