Paul Merson says his opinion on Aston Villa hasn’t changed, makes Man City comparison

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Paul Merson has told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports (07/11/20 at 2:20 pm) that he is still worried about Aston Villa because they are ‘too open’.

After winning four games on the bounce and keeping the same number of clean sheets, Dean Smith’s men have suffered back-to-back defeats and have also conceded seven goals to boot.

In the Villa camp, things are still calm because of how well they have performed since the restart and there isn’t a worry that last season’s defensive problems are creeping back into their game.

But for Merson, he thinks the style in which Villa play is still a problem, as he compared the Midlands side to Manchester City.

“A lot easier [to play when you are 4-0 down],” said Merson. “The shackles are off, you just go out to play and there is no crowd there.

“I still worry about Aston Villa. I said about four weeks ago, they will finish about 15th and I don’t think anything has changed. They are just too open.

“You have got Barkley, McGinn, Grealish and Watkins. You have got players who all want to go forward. Bang, bang, bang! They are not blessed at the back with top draw defenders. We even say about Man City with the way they play gung-ho. They are one of the top teams, who can pay £80 or 90 million for defenders. And they still find it hard.

“I still think it’s a long season for Aston Villa. I still think they are miles too open. For the last two games now they are 4-0 down with no time left and then 3-0 by Leeds.”

Whilst Villa’s last two games are being analysed on their own, it needs to be remembered that since football returned to our screens, it has been quite a defensive transformation from a team that was conceding goals for fun during large parts of the last campaign.

If this trend continues at Arsenal today then Villa fans, and Merson’s worries above, maybe heard louder.

But, at this moment in time, Villa need to keep their feet on the ground and be that side that has recently become very difficult to break down and beat.