Douglas axe was tactical, reveals Smith
DEAN Smith has explained that his decision to leave Douglas Luiz out of Villa’s squad at Arsenal was purely tactical.
Eyebrows were raised when Sunday’s team-sheet was released and the midfielder, a summer signing from Manchester City, was nowhere to be seen.
The 21-year-old has already made five Premier League appearances for Villa, including a cameo as a late substitute in the 0-0 draw against West Ham last week.
But with Smith bringing Trezeguet back into the side for Jota, the head coach felt he needed the right balance on the bench with Douglas consequently left out.
“I had a decision to make,” he explained.
“Trezeguet came back and I’ve got Conor (Hourihane), Henri (Lansbury) and Douglas.
“I was pleased with Marvelous’ (Nakamba) performance against West Ham United and I just felt I didn’t need three midfielders on the bench, I needed Keinan Davis and Jota on there as well. Two defenders, two midfielders and two forwards.”
John McGinn revealed Villa’s players held a post-match inquiry in the dressing room after throwing away their opportunity to pull off a shock.
“That is two weeks in a row that teams down to 10 men have affected us badly,’’ he said.
“We have addressed it in the dressing room.
“I don’t know if it is a lack of belief or tiredness, which it shouldn’t be.
“We should be creating the chances but we weren’t.
“We showed we are dangerous and scored a good goal, concede one and then show it again.
“But we got deeper and deeper and you can’t do that.
“It is game management. It has cost us dearly this season.
“When you force pressure on yourself you get punished.
“We need to capitalise when things go for us in the game.”
Villa were aggrieved when they were denied what looked to be a blatant penalty in the closing stages.
Hourihane’s shot clearly struck Sokratis Papastathopoulos on the arm but referee Jon Moss waved away the protests and a VAR check upheld his decision.
“We are yet to get a VAR decision go our way,” added McGinn.