11 March 2024 , 20:55
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Jamie Carragher has warned Aston Villa that Unai Emery's tinkering could cost them a place in the top four.
Villa have been one of the Premier League's surprise packages in Emery's first full season in charge at the Birmingham club. They currently sit fourth, with a two point lead over Tottenham, who are in fifth.
But Spurs smashed Villa 4-0 on Sunday after Emery switched to a back five at home for the first time this season. As they hold a game in hand, it is Ange Postecoglou's men who are now in control of the race for fourth place.
While there is plenty of time for Villa to get back on track, Carragher is concerned. The Liverpool legend pointed to Emery's first year at Arsenal boss, when the Gunners lost out on the top four and were defeated in the Europa League final, as the reason for his worries.
"Yes, and the reason I say that, because we have loved them this season, but it takes me a little bit back to Arsenal during his first full season," Carragher told Sky Sports when asked if he is concerned.
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"He gets a lot of criticism for that season, but actually for a lot of it, he was doing well. But towards the end of the season, because they were in the Europa League, they were in a great position in terms of the top four.
"We can see that with seven games of the season to go, and they got into the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and then the final of the Europa League. And they just miss out because Unai Emery started changing his team with personnel, change in formation.
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Emery saw his Villa side get thrashed by Tottenham on Sunday (Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)"He did a lot of back threes and back fours at Arsenal, and in the end he ended up with nothing. They missed out on the Champions League and they lost the final to Chelsea. He’s got to be really careful.
"I hope for Aston Villa’s sake, it’s a one-off in doing something different because of Tottenham and the teams who were playing Tottenham, and get back to being what Aston Villa have been about this season."
Emery defended his decision to change tactics for Sunday's match, insisting it was only two mistakes that let Villa down. And the Villa boss is remaining calm as he highlighted there is a long way to go in the season.
“We will analyse this match and we will be disappointed, but we have to understand the Premier League is 38 matches and we are on game 28 and we are fourth. The first half was the plan we had," Emery said.
"We tried to keep it for 90 minutes but we conceded two goals in the second half from two mistakes. It was difficult, even more after the red card. We have to try to understand we’ve played 28 matches and we’re fourth. We need to move on.”
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