It wasn’t too much of a surprise considering the opposition, but Dean Smith will still be disappointed with the way his Aston Villa team played on Sunday.
The Villans were beaten 4-1 by Leicester City, who are second in the Premier League, but it could have been an awful lot more. The Foxes had 23 shots overall, of which eight were on target, with Jamie Vardy bagging a brace. The Midlands outfit are now 17th in the table, and only didn’t go into the relegation zone due to Newcastle coming from behind to beat Southampton.
There were several players who disappointed for the newly-promoted side, one of which was Marvelous Nakamba. The Zimbabwe international picked up an abysmal SofaScore rating of just 5.9. Such was his display, he was hooked off after just 59 minutes, being replaced by Egypt international Mohamed Trezeguet.
The Villa fans clearly weren’t happy with his showing, and they made their feelings known.
Nakamba isn’t good enough.14:38 PM – Dec 8, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Up The Villa’s other Tweets
What does Nakamba do? Doesn’t provide defensive cover and doesn’t provide any attacking threat. I don’t get him#AVFC164:54 PM – Dec 8, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee James’s other Tweets
It clearly wasn’t the 25-year-old’s best display since signing from Club Brugge for £11m in the summer, but he has still been a regular for the Villans, starting 10 matches in the league so far. He hasn’t always been as disappointing, so there will be hope that this was just a one-off.
There was one aspect of his play that particularly annoyed the club’s supporters.
Ant@ThatAnt_Replying to @AshSlater_
Well McGinns burnt out and been dreadful the last few games. He needs a rest
Nakamba cannot pass wind
Dunno if you noticed but Mings is injured so he won’t be playing…5:52 PM – Dec 8, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Ant’s other Tweets
Matt Phillips@MPhill90Replying to @AVFCchats
Nakamba has been shocking, yeah he breaks down play sometimes, but he cannot hold or pass the ball4:52 PM – Dec 8, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Matt Phillips’s other Tweets
nakamba sucks with the ball, just let him play for whatever team doesn’t have possession14:18 PM – Dec 8, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee E ☭’s other Tweets
That seems a bit harsh on Nakamba, considering he had a pass accuracy of 90.5%. Only two starters for Smith’s team managed to register a higher number.
The defensive midfielder started in his favourite position against Brendan Rodgers’ team, with Douglas Luiz and John McGinn in front of him. There were a number of fans who believed this combination in the middle of the park to be one of their main problems.
Aston Villa Updates@AstonVilla_info
McGinn been awful for the last 6 games now! Why is Elmo playing over Guilbert? Stop playing Luiz and Nakamba in same midfield! Play Trez and all Ghazi on wings! Drops Wes for Kodjia Play Grealish in 8 Role! Heaton our best signing by a mile! #avfc46:00 PM – Dec 8, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Aston Villa Updates’s other Tweets
Can we let this be the end of this awful midfield three combination now, please?
Could be wrong, but I think we’ve played McGinn, Luiz and Nakamba together 4 times now and lost every single one of those times (if this stays as it is). #AVFC4:47 PM – Dec 8, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Dan Williams’s other Tweets
Don’t think the three of Luiz, Nakamba and McGinn are working. For whatever reason there’s no control there. Trez on, and get Grealish back in the middle to keep the ball better.24:35 PM – Dec 8, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Cian Carroll’s other Tweets
With Luiz and the Scotland international picking up ratings of 6.2 and 6.8 respectively, it certainly wasn’t a good day at the office for the trio.
After a difficult run of matches, Villa will now play four of the bottom 10 in their next five games. They will be hoping they can put some good form together and climb up the table.
Footballfancast