Emery needs to press the reset button
UNAI EMERY says he has not come to Aston Villa “to mess around”.
Anyone who has witnessed the staggering revival of the club under his leadership will attest to the fact that the Spaniard is a man in a hurry.
In the 15 months since Manchester United last travelled to Villa Park – his first game in charge – Emery has turbo-charged Villa, to the point where he is now billing games against the Red Devils as “six-pointers” for Champions League qualification.
But rarely has his adoring claret and blue flock seen him as animated as he was on the touchline yesterday.
It betrayed his true emotions over the importance of this fixture.
Emery (above) waved his arms in the air, paying no heed to the demarcation on his technical area, standing with his hands in his pockets one minute, geeing up an expectant Villa Park crowd the next.
There can be no doubt that it has transmitted itself to both his players and the fans in the stands.
When Villa Park is engaged – and it was – it almost seemed like Emery was playing the part of the conductor.
His players have fed off that energy since the first day of his appointment.
Andre Onana was pressed into service far more than Erik ten Hag would have liked and the equaliser when it came, was no more than Villa deserved for their relentless push towards Manchester United’s goal.
But no matter how tactically astute, passionate or driven, there is nothing any manager can do if his main starting XI is disrupted.
Villa’s success has been based upon a select group and Emery has had to patch up his rearguard from day one.
Tyrone Mings’ absence with a knee ligament damage has been followed by significant injuries to defensive mainstays Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa.
In the end, that counted. Diogo Dalot’s cross was met by Scott Mctominay and the gap between the two was slashed to five points.
And after this, a third successive defeat on their own soil, including an FA Cup exit, the cracks are now beginning to appear. They have conceded eight during that time. That is too many for Villa to be successful.
Emery needs to reset his rearguard – and quickly – or else a season of immense promise will disappear.
THERE have been times in the past when Andy Farrell has made changes and not been happy with the results.
It’s fair to say that wasn’t one of them.
The head man was pleased his team – with six personnel changes, one positional switch and a new captain from the Marseille massacre of nine days before – scored six tries and secured the try bonus point that keeps them at the head of affairs in the Six Nations table.
Jack Crowley grabbed his first Test try to open the scoring and his Munster team-mate Calvin Nash dived over for his second in two Six Nations starts. In between, this
Dan Sheehan crossed for a brace and was just denied a hat-trick, Joe Mccarthy and Ryan Baird ripped up trees in defence and the set-piece was very effective again.
And, in shutting Italy out at the Aviva Stadium, Ireland nilled a team for the first time since the 17-0 defeat of England in the 1987
Five Nations.
Farrell said on TV afterwards that this performance was
“clunky” in parts – and so it was.
But still it was much better than listless outings such as Italy in Rome last year and the November night in 2022 against Fiji when he was unhappy that fringe men didn’t take their chance.
“I’m probably harsh enough there but that’s how
I want to be,” Farrell said. “I think sometimes that when you get your nose in front and then you make a few changes the balance of the team has a little bit different feel.
“Sometimes you get a little bit too desperate. But the pleasing thing – and it’s pleasing for quite some time now – is we get over those types of setbacks and get on with the job in hand.” For example, he was particularly pleased with how Robbie Henshaw (left) and Stuart Mccloskey performed at centre.
“He’s found his mojo, hasn’t he?” said Farrell of Henshaw. “He’s back. He’s on fire at the minute, playing really well.
“His confidence is right up, he’s his old self and he’s bouncing around the place. We spoke during the week about his combination with Stu, the last time they played together in Biarritz against Samoa wasn’t what it should have been.
“They both worked really hard to make the team feel right and Robbie was at the heart of that.”
Mccloskey remembers the chat he had with head coach.
“He mentioned to me personally and I think he mentioned something to Robbie personally as well,” said the Ulster star.
“I think he knows me well enough by now. I’m pretty chilled about most things. I think he’s probably trying to get me fired up more than anything.
“It worked well with me. I don’t know what he said to
Robbie but Robbie’s come back with the same sort of feedback.
“We just sort of worked hard from Wednesday onwards. You’re thinking different things, ‘What did he say? Does he think I’m not working hard enough?’.
“But then you get over that. I think Andy always just wants the guys to be at their best – and for all of us to be at our best, we probably need to get over bits and pieces, how well we work together as a team.
“It’s just everything, how we run off each other and everything. It seemed to work well today any way.”
Caelan Doris, who led the team out for the first time, described it was a “special” day.
“And knowing the group