Aston Villa 3 Wolves 1 - Liam Keen, Matt Maher and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judah. I'm here with Aston Villa reporter Mr. Matt Mayer and Wolves reporter
00:14Mr. Liam Keenel. Matt, we'll come to you first. Aston Villa 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1. Do
00:19you feel that the right side got three points today?
00:22Yes, I do. Despite the fact that for the first hour Wolves were the better team, I
00:29think Villa just overpowered them in the end. They didn't have a chance on target until
00:36the 68th minute but after that it was circle the wagons and as soon as Ollie Watkins scored
00:41and got it back to 1-1, there was only going to be one winner. I think what you've seen
00:49today is a team that is brewing with confidence, that has come back from two goals down last
00:55week and really feel that they can win from anywhere against a team that looks... There's
01:05a lot going right with Wolves but mentally they look quite brilliant. I think that's
01:11what you probably saw, I thought they were. As much as Villa have clearly got better quality
01:17and depth, as that showed with the changes for both teams were key, at the minute you
01:24worry about Wolves' mentality. You saw two very different mentalities, albeit Wolves
01:33for the first hour had everything spot on. Unai Emery said it's the worst Villa have
01:37played in 45 minutes since he's been here, which considering they lost to Stevenage is
01:43some common. It's difficult from the Wolves' perspective because you think there's a lot
01:49to like but ultimately they're not winning games.
01:53It's difficult and I guess Emery can say that, it's the worst he's seen them play. I think
01:56Wolves had a lot to do with that and despite two midweek games, Wolves going to Brighton
02:01and Young Boys for Aston Villa. Liam, do you agree with Matt that Wolves deserved to lose
02:08that game today?
02:09I felt a draw was probably a fair reflection of the game, so I do slightly disagree. I
02:13do agree that Wolves were probably an hour, 65 minutes or so the better side, albeit in
02:18that second half with very little attacking threat, if we're being really honest. Wolves
02:22were defending resolutely, relatively well, but without really offering a lot going forward.
02:28It looked like a game that without that momentum shift, the Wolves might be able to drag through
02:34possibly three points. Villa get very fortuitous with the way the ball breaks for the first
02:39goal and then it does take a deflection. But from that moment on, I'm going to bat at Wolves.
02:45They dominated the game. Wolves, the brittle I think is the right word Matt used, I completely
02:49agree with that. Wolves looked a void of confidence. They allowed, obviously the crowd gets on
02:54top of you, things like that are going to happen, but Wolves have to stand a bit firmer
02:58in the face of adversity and the defending for the second and third goals I think is
03:02incredibly poor from a Wolves point of view. Both of them back-post errors. There are errors
03:06that lead to that as well, but particularly Lamino the back-post for Konza and Aignori
03:11the back-post for Duran. I just think they have to do a hell of a lot better.
03:14Do you feel that Emery made the right changes today? Do you think that the substitutes played
03:19a massive part in the game, not just for Aston Villa, but also with a terrible injury to
03:22Yosemite and what led to that and then Bueno coming on and obviously them conceding two?
03:27No, absolutely. I think Villa, they did it last week and they have done it in previous
03:32games as well. The subs have made an impact. I think before today you had more substitutes
03:39with goal involvements than any other team in the league. Duran has got four off the
03:43bench. Martson was very good today, Barkley I thought was excellent. He has probably changed
03:50the game for the second week running. The flip side of that is you want to be good from
03:55the start, don't you? It's two weeks running and they have had to come back and they can't
03:59keep giving teams head starts. What I would say about from the Wolves' perspective is
04:03yes, they did get a bit of luck with the equaliser but that goal was coming for a good 10-15
04:08minutes. You could feel Wolves just couldn't get out and the thing is if you are going
04:12to sit back, Wolves didn't do that in the first half. They had an out, they didn't have
04:18that in the second half and the pressure was always going to tell against this Villa team
04:24because they have just got so many match winners. Nobody probably expected it to be Ezra Konza.
04:29It's probably Ezra Konza, he has got the rebound against Wolves.
04:32Yes, he has. I think Villa's strength in depth, look, we are still so early in the season
04:40aren't we? Like I said, Villa are going to play tougher opposition. We have got Bayern
04:48Munich and then Man Utd up next and if they give Bayern Munich a certain goal head start
04:52then there probably won't be any coming back from that. Off the bench, the question I suppose
04:59is at what point do those finishers become the starters because Martin and Buckley in
05:05particular, Durant obviously, are really pushing to get more time.
05:10It is early in the season but Liam, from a Wolves' point of view, one point from the
05:14first five games, you have got Liverpool and Manchester City, back-to-back at Molineux
05:17coming up next. The fans aren't happy, Gary Neal is obviously very frustrated in there.
05:22How much of the blame does he need to take for the start of the season and how much for
05:26the players? That first 45 minutes was probably the best 45 minutes we have seen this season
05:32but to succumb to that in the manner they did second half is extremely worrying.
05:36Yes, that Brentford away game lodged in between Liverpool and City feels like a massive game
05:41now, doesn't it? All of a sudden. Look, one point from five games is nowhere near good
05:45enough from a Wolves' point of view. I do feel that in contrasting to how Villa and
05:50how Matt described the impact from substitutes, which I think was spot on, Wolves' impact
05:55from substitutes for quite a few games now, quite a while this season, has been pretty
05:59poor. We have got players like Geddes, who has done very well in cup games, not making
06:04much of an impact. Rodrigo Gomez, quite when he comes on. Bueno and Doyle, it is difficult
06:10in the circumstances but again, we are not having a lot of added impetus from a squad
06:13that is a lot actually deeper than it has been in previous years. So, to not take advantage
06:18of that, I think is partly on the management of the game. I do think that Gary has been
06:24a little bit reactive with a lot of his substitutions rather than proactive and trying to take the
06:30game to an opposition. Now obviously, fixtures are going to have an impact. Wolves' fixtures
06:34have been brutal. Coming here is always going to be tough. Wolves are not going to be favourites
06:37to win this game. But to be 1-0 up, to be relatively comfortable for 60 odd minutes
06:43and to have lost it 3-1 and then you go back to those games, Chelsea 2-2 at half-time,
06:50Newcastle 1-0 up at half-time and to have lost all of these games in the manner they have is
06:55the most concerning thing. What I will add to that is obviously we have got slightly different
06:58opinions on the outcome or who should have got points from the game but we have all agreed
07:03that Wolves played pretty well for 60 odd minutes in slightly contrasting ways in the first and
07:08second half but they did. So for any supporters that are obviously angry, obviously frustrated,
07:15if anyone is sitting there suggesting that Wolves put in a poor performance today, regardless of the
07:19final result, I think is not looking at the game objectively. It is disingenuous to how Wolves
07:26performed because they did perform well. However, and there is always a however when you lose a
07:31game, you defend like that, for those particular moments you are going to concede goals and against
07:36a team of this quality you will concede. Gary O'Neill was one of the new contracts, just as
07:42you come into the season, a lot of people are calling for him to go. You have got to be realistic
07:45with social media. If you take social media here and put it to the side, you have got a lot of
07:52fans out there singing his name, 1-1-0 up. So you have got to have a little bit of balance.
07:57At the same time, people will look at the table. I am sure from the betting point of view, he will
08:01be one of the favourites to be first out the door. Do you feel that his position is under any threat?
08:07Or do you think that the next two or three games are important? Or is it just completely ridiculous
08:12to even state that there is pressure on Gary O'Neill at this moment in time? No, I don't think
08:15he is under any pressure right now from the hires up. He got smacked if it was anything but. I think
08:20he has earned a lot of credit in the bank for what he has done. Wolves, the fixture list will play a
08:24massive part in that. Yes, obviously, losing games is not. It is frustrating. Losing to a rival is
08:32frustrating. We are five games into a season. For me, I think it is silly to suggest that his time
08:43is up. Now, a few games from now, if Wolves are losing games in the manner in which they are
08:49currently and they start to look like a genuine relegation threat, then that becomes a conversation.
08:56But it becomes a conversation, not a guarantee that he walks out the door. I think Gary O'Neill
09:01is safe right now with the fixtures coming up. He will be safe for a little while yet.
09:05And I think he should be, based on what we have seen. I don't think there should be any discussion
09:08over his future. I think it is more of a case of, yes, I don't think Liam could have put it any
09:12better really. We are five games in. He has earned a lot of credit. It is going back to, it has not
09:18been a great run. They have got to find a way to stop conceding goals. It is 18 matches, 17
09:24Premier League matches now without a clean sheet. That is a big issue. But it has been a tough start
09:30to the season with the fixtures. And last season, they were in a similar position, weren't they?
09:35And beat Man City and it sparked. I just feel they need that. They need that spark. They need
09:40that result. They need to see a game through. They need to put together a complete performance.
09:44For an hour today, you thought, well, this could be the day. And then it didn't happen. But I think,
09:50as Liam said, five or six games at a time, if the same thing is still happening, then
09:54it becomes a slightly different conversation. But it is five games in with the teams they have
09:59supplied. I guess the problem is that last season you were five games in, but you have got your
10:03club captain in Max Killman, you have got Pedro Neto there, you have got Huang Yichang who scored
10:07ten goals before the turn of the year. So there is a lot of players who have either left or are
10:10devoid of confidence. Huang Yichang didn't even get on today. I am right to say, by the way,
10:16absolutely. So there are issues there and they have got to sort them out very quickly because
10:19you can quickly go and play poorly or play pretty well. We can play well against Liverpool
10:24and Manchester City and still get pounded by three or four. So it is going to be very,
10:27very difficult now for them to pick themselves up going forward. In terms of Aston Villa,
10:31though, Matt, if we bring them onto the table...
10:32I was just saying, it is not Gary O'Neill's problem that they didn't replace Max Killman.
10:35That was always a big issue.
10:36And he has alluded to that in the press conference and there are quite a few
10:39answers there. We are saying, look, we have lost Jose Mosquero now, who they have obviously had
10:44as their main man. He has played every single Premier League game. He looks like he is going
10:46to be out for quite some time now. Hopefully it is better news than not. So they have lost him.
10:50They didn't get a centre-back when they needed it, on top of when Jose Mosquero was fit. So
10:55you are looking at Santiago Bueno here, you are looking at Totti Gomez, who didn't make the
11:00match to his squad. He was injured. They have got a lot of issues there. They have let Hugo
11:04Bueno go on loan. So they have only got one. Totti Gomez can cover a left-back. It is difficult.
11:09It is frustrating. And I just wonder whether the fans will direct their anger at Gary O'Neill when,
11:15potentially, it might go further up in the situation because they didn't get that centre-back
11:21in and they were desperate to get that one in. It is frustrating.
11:25Yes. You don't replace a player of that importance, you are going to struggle. And then you get these
11:31kind of injuries. And the Hugo Bueno one, we have said it all along, for the players, it is a
11:35fantastic move for Wolves. Not bringing a player on that left side, it seems crazy.
11:40Matt, in terms of Aston Villa, happy days, right?
11:43It is, yes. It is the best start to a season since 1998, when they went unbeaten for the first 12
11:49games. The one thing you would say about Villa is, I think it is now 10 league games they have
11:56gone without keeping a clean sheet. If they keep giving the teams chances, keep falling behind,
12:07they are going to become a cropper at some stage. The one concern you saw today with the right-sided
12:11defence, it was Diego Carlos. The cons are out to right-back. Diego Carlos made the mistake.
12:16Matty Cash is going to be fit again soon. Of course, the one down today, perhaps John McGinn,
12:22getting injured. But then they brought Brinkley on, Bailey on. At the minute,
12:26they have got injuries, but they have got more than enough depth to cope with it.
12:29And yes, they have just got to keep riding the wave, haven't they? But for both teams,
12:36it is still in the days. But yes, it has been a pretty good start.
12:39Right, getting kicked out, so we had better go and read our notifications on Twitter,
12:44so that will be fun. Aston Villa 3, Wolves 1 for the post-match reaction,
12:47make sure you log on to expressandstar.com.