Aston Villa are now three games without a win in all competitions, with their most recent 4-1 loss away at Tottenham Hotspur definitely hurting Unai Emery’s men the most.
The away masses in North London must have been hoping that Villa had turned a corner after their side had drawn to AFC Bournemouth and lost to Crystal Palace in quick succession in league and Cup, dreaming of a win on the road when Morgan Rogers’ first-half strike meant the West Midlands side were 1-0 up at the half-time interval.
But, it would end up being a crushing defeat for the visitors as Ange Postecoglou’s men carved open the away side at will in an action-packed second half.
Whilst the Villa defence clearly let themselves down in the four goal collapse, Ollie Watkins won’t be exempt from critics too, after his quiet showing versus Spurs didn’t exactly enable his team to get on the front foot.
Ollie Watkins' performance vs Spurs
The 28-year-old is going through an unusual dry patch in front of goal currently, having failed to find the back of the net during his side’s last three games in all competitions.
Before that, Watkins had notched up an impressive goal tally of five strikes in Premier League action but routinely fluffed his lines against Postecoglou’s ruthless hosts when a rare opportunity opened up for him.
The usually potent attacker missed two big chances in the 4-1 loss that could well have changed the complexion of the game, whilst also only managing to amass 25 touches of the ball away from his wastefulness in front of goal, as Spurs defensive titan Cristian Romero dealt with him well.
Also squandering possession 12 times, alongside only registering seven accurate passes, Watkins will just want to put this down as a bad day at the office, with a chance to immediately make amends for his dire display by potentially terrorising Club Brugge in the Champions League this coming mid-week.
Whilst it’s likely that Emery will persist with his star man for this tie in Belgium, the Spaniard might not be so accommodating to another underperformer, who really struggled in the second half as Spurs sensed blood.
Villa underperformer must now be dropped
Postecoglou’s men do have the ability in their ranks to just turn it on in attack when they want to, with 22 goals now scored in the league this season off the back of their devastating second-half show.
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Whilst Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson were loving life as their side rampaged forward with lots of pace to burn, Villa’s defensive frailties were there for all to see, especially in the performance of Pau Torres who simply couldn’t keep up with the likes of Solanke and Co going all guns blazing for the win.
Of course, he didn’t exactly help himself with shoddy passes like the one above when playing out from the back, as Pape Sarr for the hosts gleefully intercepted his wayward ball, before playing in Richarlison who then laid it on a plate as Solanke fired home a game-clinching third strike.
Arguably at fault for not picking up Brennan Johnson quicker for the equaliser too, whilst also jogging back with no real determination when the ex-Bournemouth man got his first of the game for 2-1, Torres could be given the night off now when Villa travel to Brugge on Wednesday.
Games played
10
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Clean sheets
1
Interceptions*
0.4
Tackles*
0.8
Ball recoveries*
2.8
Clearances*
2.3
Total duels won*
2.8
After the game, it wasn’t a shock to see Birmingham Live journalist John Townley dish out a low 4/10 rating to the ex-Villarreal defender, labelling it bluntly as a ‘difficult afternoon’ for the 27-year-old.
With two quickfire fixtures facing Emery’s men, with a tough game away at Liverpool back in the league following the trip to Brugge, the time could be right for the Villa boss to change up his side in the centre-back spots with Torres a likely casualty.
Not blowing anyone away with his defensive numbers either by collecting just one clean sheet from ten Premier League games, Torres could find he’s dropped very soon, as Villa aim to find their mojo again after this mini stumble.
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