Are Aston Villa’s Lack of Match Day Squad Options a Concern?

Aston Villa Suffer United Blow Before Business End of Season

Without the benefit of any returning injured players to his squad, Unai Emery’s task to get something at Old Trafford was always going to be a tough task. An unchanged team for a fourth successive game has its pro’s, but at the same time, when there are no real alternatives, it provides an air of predictability for the opposition manager to exploit. In many ways that’s how it played out at Old Trafford. Watkins was isolated and shackled, without more unpredictable attacking threats like Leon Bailey and Philippe Coutinho alongside him, who have both troubled United in recent games.

Emery’s use of a defensive highline against Marcus Rashford was akin to walking a tightrope, and in the slippery conditions, was a little bit too Russian Roulette for comfort. Still, Villa were always in the game and despite their single shot on target, always carried a threat, when they broke.

Villa’s Key Injured Quartet

The question is though, unless Boubacar Kamara, Leon Bailey, Matty Cash and Philippe Coutinho show their faces for at least some of the remaining games, will Villa’s chances of Europa League qualification be compromised? Or, is there nothing to be worried about? After all, Villa were unbeaten in their previous 10 games (winning eight of them) and their opponents hadn’t lost a home games since the opening day of the season.

The trip to Molineux will no doubt answer many concerns and provide a chance to fire Villa back up for three matches against their direct opposition for the Europa League spots.

Episode 238

In the latest My Old Man Said podcast, we look back at all these issues and provide the context as Villa enter the business end of their season.

We also catch up on all the Villa news, the Three Points and Media Muppets and Nuggets.

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Credits:

David Michael – @oldmansaid 

Chris Budd – @BUDD_music

Phillip Shaw – @prsgame

My Old Man Said – https://myoldmansaid.com

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