Unai Emery ‘irate’ with Aston Villa player after what he did vs Arsenal
Pau Torres has sparked fury in the opening half of Aston Villa’s clash with Arsenal.
So far, so good for the Villans, who have been able to keep Arsenal at shoulder-length away for the most part in the opening 45 minutes, and take the lead through Matty Cash.
However, there have been a handful of shaky moments from the hosts, including one from their usually reliable centre back, Torres.
The Spaniard got away with it, but an incident in the first half left Unai Emery raging on the touchline at Villa Park.
Pau Torres guilty of overplaying vs Arsenal
Any side that have faced off against Arsenal this season will be able to tell you this, but any errors at the back are usually capitalised on by the Gunners.
On this occasion, it wasn’t, but a repeat of this could lead to danger as the game goes on.
When in possession of the ball, Torres was far too casual, as many Villans defenders have been in the frist 45, and instead of taking the simple option of giving it back to Emi Martinez, he opted to overplay, and it left Emery furious.
Via talkSPORT, Stuart Pearce said: “There’s an irate, Alan Partridge-type manager down there who’s frustrated Pau Torres didn’t just play it back to his goalkeeper rather than dawdle on the ball as he did.”
Arsenal are looking vulnerable at times at Villa Park, but Emery’s side cannot afford to let the 1-0 lead that they have slip away from them as a result of an error at the back.
Pau Torres needs to sharpen up
Overall, it hasn’t been a bad first-half display from Torres, but, according to FotMob, he has completed just 17 of his 23 attempted passes against the Gunners.
A 74 per cent pass accuracy is far from ideal against a side that loves to capitalise on errors, and those misplaced passes could prove costly if in the wrong areas.
His long passing has been impressive, with three completed out of four attempted.
The Spaniard has won just 33 per cent of his ground duels so far, though, with Mikel Merino doing plenty to unsettle Villa’s backline.
Torres has usually been reliable for Aston Villa, but these silly little lapses of concentration could change the result come the end of the game.
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