Aston Villa open talks with Arsenal over a deal for Nuno Tavares after the Portuguese star saw his Nottingham Forest move collapse… as Nice make an offer for left-back Lucas Digne
Aston Villa are in talks with Arsenal over a deal for full-back Nuno Tavares as Unai Emery eyes more defensive reinforcements.
Villa secured their first three points of the new Premier League season in a 4-0 thrashing over Everton on Sunday and Tavares could be making his way to the Midlands-based club.
Tavares was targeting a potential move to Nottingham Forest before that fell through with Villa now discussing a deal with Arsenal for the 23-year-old.
Meanwhile, Villa are also interested in Sevilla defender Marcos Acuna as Emery looks to LaLiga in an attempt to bolster his squad.
The Argentinian started Sevilla’s UEFA Supercup defeat against Manchester City in Athens on Wednesday and is the subject of talks between Aston Villa and the Spanish side.
“I think Sean Dyche has seen that and tried to adopt it into a more pragmatic approach and you can see that they allow Villa to advance a little bit. [James] Garner is patrolling and keeping an eye on McGinn and Diaby for a potential pass, Onana is latching onto Kamara the number six.
“Soon as that ball goes to Pau Torres, that’s when [Abdoulaye] Doucoure goes and they all go with him and make Aston Villa kick it long. But then there were two quick fire goals and all of a sudden, they’re 2-0 down and all of a sudden they need to come out a bit more. Doucoure has to go up front to engage higher up the pitch, Garner has to come from his slot and mark one of the sixes, and Onana on Douglas Luiz.
“[Nathan] Patterson he knows McGinn’s in a position, that’s not being picked up, while [James] Tarkowski is the same, he is also being dragged into a position that no centre-half wants to be in midfield with a quick number 10/winger. They get away with it on one occasion then a few minutes later, again, the same, and they don’t get away with it. The ball goes into one number 10 McGinn, and then they get out and Keane has to pull Watkins down.”
Martin Keown, meanwhile, highlighted the Toffees’ individual errors. He said: “[Everton] were miles off. The thing is basic defending, can talk about tactics but I didn’t think they were right tactically. Digne got 10 crosses in – a ball coming into the box, Tarkowski has to talk to Keane to help him mark Digne. And in the end, he should score, Torres and that’s a real let off for them.
open talks with Arsenal over a deal for Nuno Tavares after the Portuguese star saw his Nottingham Forest move collapse… as Nice make an offer for left-back Lucas Digne
Aston Villa are in talks with Arsenal over a deal for full-back Nuno Tavares as Unai Emery eyes more defensive reinforcements.
Villa secured their first three points of the new Premier League season in a 4-0 thrashing over Everton on Sunday and Tavares could be making his way to the Midlands-based club.
Tavares was targeting a potential move to Nottingham Forest before that fell through with Villa now discussing a deal with Arsenal for the 23-year-old.
Meanwhile, Villa are also interested in Sevilla defender Marcos Acuna as Emery looks to LaLiga in an attempt to bolster his squad.
The Argentinian started Sevilla’s UEFA Supercup defeat against Manchester City in Athens on Wednesday and is the subject of talks between Aston Villa and the Spanish side.
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Match of the Day pundits Ashley Williams, Andros Townsend and Martin Keown were full of praise for Aston Villa following their 4-0 win over Everton at Villa Park.
Captain John McGinn scored the opening goal before Douglas Luiz doubled the lead from the spot. Leon Bailey then added his name on the scoresheet shortly after the break, while Jhon Duran had an instant impact from the bench.
The Colombia international netted his first goal for Unai Emery’s side following his arrival in January. The result sees Villa pick up their first points of the campaign.
Villa showed a totally different side to the one that was defeated 5-1 at Newcastle the previous weekend. With that in mind, here’s what the pundits made of the game…
While analysing the game, Williams said on BBC Match of the Day 2: “He [John McGinn] had a great game with his midfield partner, [Moussa] Diaby. They was just really clever, the way that Unai Emery set them up.
“Just playing in that gap between centre-backs and midfield and it caused Everton problems all day. You have to have a little bit of patience in that position and we see the ball going into McGinn and the link up between them was great.
“They were seen getting into that position, being patient and waiting. Diaby got on the ball, he drives it and this turns out to be the goal. McGinn runs in there, he’s three yards out and he gets his goal which is deserved. I have highlighted both as it’s so important to everything that Aston Villa did well.
“Great little bit of skill from McGinn, great cross from [Lucas] Digne, Diaby on his weaker foot [takes a shot], what a strike that is but equally, as good a save from Jordan Pickford. Especially in the first half, Villa were clever and caused Everton so many problems. In that [midfield] gap there, you can see Diaby is away and Michael Keane has to bring down [Ollie] Watkins.
“It’s another chance they’ve got through being patient. [On a different occasion], he’s [Diaby] checked his shoulder and that’s when [Amadou] Onana is holding for Everton but you can’t do both. I just think tactically, Unai Emery had done a job really on Everton, just with those two number 10s that played in
there. McGinn had a great afternoon and pleasing to see him, he pulled the strings and got his goal.”
Williams added: “With the flexibility they are playing with, they’re pushing Digne high sometimes, McGinn’s coming inside, it might be [Matty] Cash going high with Digne, but I think that style suits McGinn because he can roam a little bit and he doesn’t have to do so much defensive work, he can wait for the ball to arrive to him in a better position.”
Andros Townsend continued: “Surprisingly I actually thought Everton were set up quite well from the start. Yes it was 4-0 but I think goals change football matches. Everton would have watched this Newcastle game, you can see here, Douglas Luiz had come up and [Boubacar] Kamara circled, they’re the two number sixes.
“And the two number 10s, McGinn and Diaby. Newcastle were very aggressive, they didn’t allow them any time on the ball. Newcastle defended with their three forward and their three midfielders as well. Their trigger is right from the start, as soon as the goalkeeper plays, that’s Newcastle trigger to then go
and press.
“I think Sean Dyche has seen that and tried to adopt it into a more pragmatic approach and you can see that they allow Villa to advance a little bit. [James] Garner is patrolling and keeping an eye on McGinn and Diaby for a potential pass, Onana is latching onto Kamara the number six.
“Soon as that ball goes to Pau Torres, that’s when [Abdoulaye] Doucoure goes and they all go with him and make Aston Villa kick it long. But then there were two quick fire goals and all of a sudden, they’re 2-0 down and all of a sudden they need to come out a bit more. Doucoure has to go up front to engage higher up the pitch, Garner has to come from his slot and mark one of the sixes, and Onana on Douglas Luiz.
“[Nathan] Patterson he knows McGinn’s in a position, that’s not being picked up, while [James] Tarkowski is the same, he is also being dragged into a position that no centre-half wants to be in midfield with a quick number 10/winger. They get away with it on one occasion then a few minutes later, again, the same, and they don’t get away with it. The ball goes into one number 10 McGinn, and then they get out and Keane has to pull Watkins down.”
Martin Keown, meanwhile, highlighted the Toffees’ individual errors. He said: “[Everton] were miles off. The thing is basic defending, can talk about tactics but I didn’t think they were right tactically. Digne got 10 crosses in – a ball coming into the box, Tarkowski has to talk to Keane to help him mark Digne. And in the end, he should score, Torres and that’s a real let off for them.
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