Aston Villa Manager Emery Faces Selection Crisis After 4-0 Defeat to Brighton
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Unai Emery did nothing to deny that Ollie Watkins had refused to play for Aston Villa in their sobering 4-0 defeat by Brighton at the Amex on Sunday. The head coach had a selection crisis up front with Brian Madjo and Tammy Abraham injured. However, he did not include Watkins in the matchday squad as the England striker considers a move to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
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Sky SportsUnai Emery's side, who were without a recognised centre forward with Ollie Watkins left out of the squad amid interest from Saudi club Al Hilal, conceded FOUR goals in an extraordinary 31 minutes of football before Joao Gomes capped a nightmare Villa league debut after being shown a straight red card just before the interval.
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Emery was asked why he had not picked Watkins against Brighton. “This question is for him,” he said. “I can answer only with my silence.” Emery was then asked if Watkins had refused to play, to which he said: “I think you can call him and you can call his agent and he can respond.”
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Sky SportsThat followed a pre-match interview, where Emery was asked about Watkins and, after a long pause, simply said: "Silence".
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This content is not available in your location. There was an error Aston Villa manager Unai Emery reacts to a difficult opening day after a thrashing at the hands of Brighton, having conceding four goals in the first half. MATCH REPORT: Brighton 4-0 Aston Villa
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Sky SportsReport and free match highlights as Brighton hammered Aston Villa at the Amex Stadium; Villa crumbled in the first half as Brighton ran riot with FOUR goals in 31 minutes; Villa's first half got worse as Joao Gomes was sent off to cap a nightmare debut
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Villa's first-half collapse was complete five minutes before the break as new signing Gomes, who had already been booked, was sent off after a VAR review for a kick out at Rutter.
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The Guardian SportThe symbol of Villa’s wretchedness was the new signing, João Gomes, who was passed fit after an injury concern but proceeded to get himself sent off for violent conduct in the 40th minute at 4-0. The debutant aimed a high boot at the Brighton striker, Georginio Rutter. Gomes might have been dismissed before that. He was horribly off the pace. Then again, he was not alone in Villa colours.
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Villa’s problems have been similar, if a little better documented. The sales of Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Youri Tielemans. The ongoing uncertainty over Ollie Watkins, who is the subject of interest from Al Hilal and seemingly ready to leave. He was not a part of the match-day squad and with Brian Madjo and Tammy Abraham injured, Unai Emery had no available centre-forward; he pressed Emiliano Buendía into emergency service in the position. Emiliano Martínez is also set to leave. The marquee signing, Johan Manzambi, is still not fit.
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Sky SportsBut after a turbulent summer at Villa Park, which has seen key players Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne leave the club, this is a damaging opening defeat for Villa, leaving plenty of questions for Emery to answer with just over a week left of the summer transfer window.
3 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Sky Sports The striker did not travel to the Amex amid transfer interest from Al Hilal. Watkins is keen on the move to Saudi Arabia and Al Hilal have seen at least one bid rejected.
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02 BBC Sport This content is not available in your location. There was an error Match of the Day's Danny Murphy, Gabby Logan and Joe Hart analyse Aston Villa's "woeful" performance against Brighton, which saw them lose 4-0.
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03 The Guardian Sport Emery talked up the resistance of his players in the second-half against Brighton and said he was optimistic about finding solutions for the season ahead. But he returned to the difficult preparations for the opening fixture, noting that: “Two strikers are injured and another striker gives his answer.”
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Sources (3)
- guardian-sport
- bbc-sport
- skysports