Emery must drop Aston Villa flop who lost the ball every 4 touches

It’s still all to play for in the Europa League, with Aston Villa falling to a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie.

In all honesty, Unai Emery would have fled the City Ground with the view that his team had punched below their weight, that they had fallen to defeat without mustering all of their quality.

They can put that right next week, but Chris Wood’s 71st-minute penalty was the decisive moment in this tie, with the Villans huffing and puffing across the evening but unable to produce that moment of magic to serve as a platform for the return fixture at Villa Park.

Instead, Aston Villa will have to claw back, and Emery will surely drop Lucas Digne after the veteran left-back’s blunder.

Lucas Digne’s night to forget in Nottingham

Digne, 32, has been something of a stalwart for Aston Villa over the past several years, but he blundered for the game’s only goal on Thursday evening. That aside, it would be hard to argue that the Frenchman covered himself in glory,

Still, this was an unexplainable moment of madness. Digne flung his arms into the air when contesting for a loose ball with Omari Hutchinson. Was it a tie-defining moment? The ultimate juncture that led Villa away from glory?

It’s far too early to say, and in fairness, Villa Park will be rocking in seven day’s time. However, Emery must put everything in place for a comeback to be staged, and for that to happen, Digne needs to be dropped for Ian Maatsen – along with another first-teamer who flattered to deceive against the Tricky Trees.

Not just Digne: Emery must drop ineffective Aston Villa man

Emery rightly lambasted a few of the decisions that went against Aston Villa on Thursday evening, but he probably didn’t set his team up in the perfect fashion, and may be kicking himself for starting the ineffective Emi Buendia.

Buendia has ebbed and flowed through his career with Aston Villa, and while he has enjoyed some high points this season, this was a poor performance on the big stage that Emery loves so much. His passes were wayward, opportunities snatched at like greey children in a sweet shop.

This was always going to be an attritional encounter, but Aston Villa need their playmakers to step up and provide more than we saw against Vitor Pereira’s Forest.

Next week, the creators will be tasked with producing more coherent and sharper attacking results, but there’s little evidence at the moment than the Argentinian Buendia is going to be the man to produce the magic.

Not only did the 29-year-old fail to create a single chance, but he also blew both of his attempted dribbles and fashioned few openings of any description. He also had fewer touches (42) than Martinez in goal (45).

Buendia is a naturally gifted playmaker, but he often struggles to direct his quality and make things happen. This was evidenced against Forest, for sure.

In the closing stages, Jadon Sancho emerged as one of Aston Villa’s brightest attacking outlets. He was not perfect, but he impressed, sought to make something happen for Emery’s trailing outfit. He drove the ball into the danger area and fired a shot at Matz Sels in the closing moments.

Are Aston Villa in the tie? Absolutely. In fact, some neutrals might expect them to turn things around next week. They certainly have it within them, but Buendia needs to return to the bench, for Emery cannot afford another slow and laboured start.