Unai Emery: Gary Neville is right, Aston Villa were too nice vs Man United and paid for it
Gary Neville believes Aston Villa were too nice in their 3-1 defeat by Manchester United.
Unai Emery‘s side were comfortably beaten at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, with the result leaving their Champions League hopes hanging in the balance.
The hosts had taken the lead through Casemiro’s header, but Ross Barkley smartly touched home an equaliser on his first Premier League start in 14 months after the hour mark.
However, goals from Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko condemned the Midlands outfit to another loss at an unhappy hunting ground and showcased glaring issues in B6.
Gary Neville unimpressed with soft-touch Aston Villa
While Villa delivered a fighting showing for large swathes of the match, they were punished for multiple sloppy mistakes, especially in and around their own half.
Delivering his verdict, Neville pointed to these risks as proof that the players are too soft.
“They didn’t play badly in the first half, but they were just playing what I call nice possession-based football,” he said on the Gary Neville podcast.
“They were actually taking more risks in their own defensive third and playing better football sometimes, coming out of their own box than they were in the final third.
“Too nice, lacking in belief and confidence.
“It’s natural having had the run that they’ve had and lacking punch and bite.”
The wheels haven’t quite fallen off, but a run of three wins from the past 12 top-flight matches – and a 12-point return from that run – will be of major concern to Emery.
Neville’s suggestion that Villa’s confidence is rock bottom looked to be on display at Old Trafford, especially after Cunha was played through to restore United’s advantage.
Villa held their own, it just wasn’t enough
According to the post-match statistics, Villa went toe-to-toe with United for much of the 90 minutes, but were ultimately undone by glaring errors at both ends of the pitch.
However, the visitors were also outmatched physically.
They won eight aerial duels compared to United’s 12, and committed just five fouls, allowing the hosts to hurt them on the counter.
Villa also covered a smaller distance than United, albeit narrowly, and made fewer tackles.
Well beaten again in the end, Villa find themselves in a campaign-defining period and urgently need to correct their course, with Champions League football slipping away.
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