• Emery said it was his dream day and he had apparently dreamed of winning the match the night before.
• I am sceptical that the Liverpool owners, Fenway Sports Group are serious in putting the former Premier League title winners and Champions League Cup holders up for sale.
Image: HANDOUT
With Steven Gerrard’s footsteps barely disappearing through the exit door, Aston Villa’s new manager Unai Emery roared with delight as his first game in charge saw his new players punish Manchester United 3-1.
How did he do it? Emery took last week to analyse what had gone wrong under Gerrard. He watched videos of all Villa’s games this season. He is known for his careful meticulous planning and punishing workload in training.
Under Gerrard, sessions were quite short and players were then released to go home. Emery operates completely differently. He holds long regular sessions, players often have to watch videos analysing their movements for up to two hours and he patrols each training session with clip board in hand whereas Gerrard left much of the work to his assistants.
Villa fans gave Emery a loud welcome and their expectations were high. However, even the most passionate supporters could not have predicted Villa going two goals up after only minutes against United. Emery was his usual high energy, jumping, punching the air and screaming at players and when Villa scored, he high-fived all the backroom staff.
Emery said it was his dream day and he had apparently dreamed of winning the match the night before. Emery’s secret: to play possession football, press high and use Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey to shoot at goal.
Villa went 4-4-2 when out of possession which is an Emery trademark and in possession, they cleverly moved forward and switched to 4-2-2-2. However, from what I have observed, I think he will go with a basic 4-2-3-1 formation and an organised defence — setting up counter-attacking football.
After the win against United, the players loved Emery, the fans loved the players and Emery loved everyone. A dream start as Villa moved up to 13th in the table.
FSG issues carefully worded statement on Liverpool sale
If one of the crown jewels came up for sale there would be a long queue to make the purchase of a lifetime.
When a football club with the history and status of Liverpool comes on to the market, you can bet the queue won’t be as long because of the wealth needed but Liverpool FC is one of the most important but respected jewels in world football. Therefore, I am sceptical that the Liverpool owners, Fenway Sports Group are serious in putting the former Premier League title winners and Champions League Cup holders up for sale.
I was also intrigued when Fenway issued a statement which said: “FSG has frequently received expressions of interest from third parties seeking to become shareholders in Liverpool. FSG has said before that under the right terms and conditions we would consider new shareholders. FSG remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool.”
That looks to me like, yes we will sell a few shares and make a huge profit but not the entire club. Everyone at Liverpool remains in the dark as to owner John Henry’s overall intentions. What is happening at Liverpool is far too long a story for me to write in this column but there is a long way to go before the real situation reveals itself.
Inside Manchester United’s training session this week
Eric Ten Hag’s Carrington Road training session revealed much about his thoughts on players and it is obvious that everyone in the first-team squad will be given a chance to play.
Ten Hag divided the session into two groups…those who played at the weekend were given a light session while those who did not have a high-energy workout.
Ten Hag’s assistants set up a rondo — where a group of players have possession of the ball and a smaller group has to try and gain possession. Those in the rondo included Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Fred and Anthony Martial.
Martial was moving about much more easily than of late and clearly profited from his second-half appearance against Aston Villa at the weekend despite the loss to Unai Emery’s team.
Ten Hag stood close to the group and was involved several times when he broke into the group and gave instructions. Despite the loss to Villa team spirit remains high for a tricky trip to in-form Fulham on Sunday.
More responsibility for Van Dijk
I have spent much of the week talking with colleagues and players about what has gone so wrong at Liverpool this season. Statistics show that last season the Reds were Europe’s most pressing team.
They are now ranked eleventh. Much of the problem revealed in those stats is the loss of Sadio Mane. He was the focal point, the workaholic and the energy cracker box who created chances and scored goals. Liverpool have not replaced him and now much of their hard work has to be created from around their own penalty box.
That brings more pressure on Virgil Van Dijk. Liverpool are now tending to go along with the current coaching favourite of playing out from the back and using defenders to make incisive passes into midfield. Van Dijk is very good at that and he passes with accuracy and joins in for corners and can score goals.
However, at the back and without the midfield doing as much defending, he is brought into play more often and that is where he has been found lacking. As opponents approach, he tends to stand his ground instead of moving quickly into position to take on attackers.
He often stands completely still waiting for the ball to come his way. Jurgen Klopp has recognised that and is spending time on the training field with his assistants in order to improve his movement off the ball.
Chelsea head for the Middle East
Chelsea coach Graham Potter has organised a warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi for players not involved in the World Cup.
They will fly out in December and while Potter concentrates on teaching his way of playing, there will also be a friendly match arranged although when I spoke with Chelsea this week, the choice of opponents has yet to be decided.
Potter points out that players involved in the World Cup can make the short journey from Qatar to Abu Dhabi when their teams are knocked out of the competition. Other Premier League teams who have made similar arrangements are Liverpool, who will play AC Milan, and Arsenal, who will engage both Milan and French club Lyon.
Can Palace hold on to Zaha?
It is a constant battle for Crystal Palace to keep Wilfried Zaha at the club. Every transfer period sees Premier League clubs circle around the mercurial winger. Palace are now working behind the scenes to improve his £130k-a-week salary with a new offer.
Executives at the London club have discovered that Barcelona and Juventus are keeping a close watch on Zaha’s new contract negotiations as the Ivory Coast international is yet to commit his next few years to Palace. Officials at Barca think Wilfried’s skillful direct running and goal-scoring potential is the right mix for their club.
Zaha has not decided what to do but Barca, in particular, want to sign him on a free when his contract runs out in June next year and will divert the money saved on a zero transfer fee into giving him a big pay rise. As he turned 30 this week, he has to decide whether to permanently cement his legacy as a Palace legend or move on to achieve his long-term ambition and perform on the European stage.
Reiss impressing Arteta
Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson is determined to earn a new contract when his current deal expires at the end of the season. Last season, he was so out of favour with Mikel Arteta that he was loaned out to Dutch club Feyenoord and was tipped to leave the Emirates.
However, a new chance given against Nottingham Forest resulted in two well-taken goals and Reiss is fully confident he can win Arteta’s confidence.
He said this week: “I have never doubted myself at this football club. Arsenal is a team that I’ve been part of since I was eight years old and I have a very strong bond and love for the club. There have been times when I’ve felt down because I haven’t played or been on the bench but my plan has never been for me to leave the club or say that I have no future here."
"I will do everything possible to stay here. I have spoken to the boss and he has seen an improvement in my game and my attitude and just my whole profile as a player which he really likes. He wants to bring me back into the team.”
Almiron embarrassing Grealish
Always be careful what you say as your words might come back to haunt you. Manchester City’s Jack Grealish found out the hard way. He accused his City colleague Riyad Mahrez of playing like Newcastle’s Miguel Almiron — running around and achieving nothing.
Since new manager Eddie Howe arrived at Newcastle, he has transformed Almiron into the league’s current most lethal striker. Now things are different and Grealish can only dream of playing like Almiron. Grealish has scored seven goals in 53 matches since his £100million move to City whereas Almiron has scored the same amount since the start of October!
Julen Lopetegui arrives at Wolves
Wolverhampton Wanderers have finally hired the coach they have wanted for six long years. Julen Lopetegui arrived at Molineux this week and takes charge of a team sitting 19th in the table. The plan is for him to sit down with interim coach Steve Davis, who will remain in his position for the next two games before the World Cup.
Lopetegui’s first task is to stop the defence from letting in soft goals which has become a problem since the club allowed England defender Conor Coady to leave along with Willy Boly and Romain Saiss. When at Real Madrid, Lopetegui favoured a slow careful build up towards goal but after taking over at Sevilla, he used a more direct approach going high up the middle and directly into opponent’s goal area.
He is flexible and is lucky that most of his players are not involved in the World Cup so he has the opportunity of spending quality time with the squad.