Aston Villa: Can Villains sustain high standards through testing period?

Transcript

00:00 We move to Aston Villa, a fantastic win they had at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

00:06 Of course, they went behind in the first half, then had a goal ruled out. Spurs, of course,

00:12 had their own goals ruled out in that game as well. But Villa, Ollie Watkins and Pau

00:17 Torres, would you describe that as a smash and grab?

00:20 Maybe not quite a smash and grab. I do think they showed a lot of promise in the second

00:26 half. First half, if you're based off just that, it was a smash and grab half-time 1-1.

00:31 No one was thinking at half-time it would be that scoreline. Maybe even 3-0 or 4-0 to

00:35 Spurs, they were that dominant. But they got that goal just on the stroke of half-time.

00:39 A great cross from Douglas Luiz and a free kick. A cracking header as well from Pau Torres,

00:44 making up for a miss earlier in that first half. When you're in a 1-1 at half-time, anything

00:48 can happen and they proved that. They were a bit more on the front foot in the second

00:51 half. Tactical changes as well. Moussa Diaby coming off was a bit brave, but Yuri Tieleman

00:56 did a fantastic job at just shoring things up a bit. They looked more of a threat in

01:00 the transition and that's what they got. A goal from Ollie Watkins, playing in with Tieleman

01:04 to 1-2 in behind. That's a goal. Three disallowed for Son, so on another day it really could

01:11 have been different. But it's that offside trap working well. It's not Spurs being unlucky

01:15 or having a bad decision against them. They were all genuine offsides. I think it just

01:19 shows that the highline can work if it's played effectively.

01:22 Villa have a trip in Europe and then at the weekend they face Bournemouth in the Premier

01:28 League on Sunday. Do you think this Thursday-Sunday schedule that Villa have might come back to

01:35 hurt them eventually if injuries do mount up? Certainly at the moment they're coping

01:38 with it very well and they're doing very well in the league and in Europe as well. What

01:43 does Villa need to do to sustain this form?

01:47 They've been very consistent actually. They do seem to rotate a little bit and they've

01:51 got that squad depth to be able to do that. Newcastle we've seen recently of their injuries,

01:55 they simply can't do that. Brighton as well in a very similar situation. Villa have got

02:00 a few problems but not as much for quantity. It's more just the severity and the key players

02:04 that they're missing. So the fact they've still got a fair amount of quantity there

02:08 means they can utilise the rotation and it has worked for them. There is the occasional

02:12 lapse of results and concentration. Everton in the Caribou Cup, Nottingham Forest away

02:18 from home, Walsall away as well in the first game in the European group stages. They've

02:23 got Walsall again this time around. They want to get revenge and if they win they can effectively

02:29 qualify and finish top in their group. It's a bit different in the European Conference

02:33 League with a play-off if you finish second but they could pretty much secure top place

02:38 if they win this one.