Tim Sherwood has hailed Unai Emery’s Aston Villa after their 2-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday at Stamford Bridge and how players like Ollie Watkins are now being ‘coached’.
The former Aston Villa boss added that Ollie Watkins is now being ‘selfish’ in his play after scoring his tenth Premier League goal of the season and being told ‘when to run’.
Those three points also saw the Midlands side move into ninth in the Premier League table, with heavy-spending Chelsea dropping into the bottom half.
To nobody’s surprise, it has put serious pressure on Graham Potter’s shoulders, who hasn’t been able to make the impact Unai Emery has made at Villa Park.
Only Arsenal and Manchester City have picked up more points in the Premier League since the former Arsenal boss donned the colours of Claret and Blue.
Nonetheless, following Aston Villa’s win over Chelsea, Tim Sherwood was full of praise for the likes of Watkins and the job Emery is doing, as he told Premier League Productions (01/04/23 at 7:35 pm).
“He (Emery) has done a brilliant job,” said Sherwood. “When you watch them play, you can tell how organised they are. They are all enjoying it and they all know their jobs. He isn’t asking any player to do something which isn’t foreign to them. They are all comfortable.
“He is playing McGinn off one side and Ramsey, who is a central midfield player, but he knows they are going to make them very solid. Watkins just said there, he knows when to run. He has been a little bit more selfish with his running. He is doing the best for his side. But he has been told by Emery. He is being coached. He knows exactly what’s required of him.
“You can see a clear identity, in contrast to Chelsea, he has been there two months less than Graham Potter. If you’re a Villa fan, then you know exactly what you are getting next season.
“You have a manager and a group of players, with owners who have deep pockets will go again in the transfer market and they really could push for Europe next year. I am not ruling them out this season. I still think they have a chance.”
EMERY COOKING AT ASTON VILLA
It needs to be remembered that the Spaniard didn’t spend much or do much transfer business during the January transfer window.
Yet, he has Villa fans dreaming of a possible European finish this term, with many players, who were previously struggling, now cooking under Emery.
From the return in form of John McGinn, Douglas Luiz possibly heading towards being Villa’s Player of the Year, Watkins scoring for fun and Tyrone Mings going under the radar.
All these players struggled under a certain Steven Gerrard, yet they are bang in form, well, that tells you everything you need to know.
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