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‘No matter what’: Merson slams Aston Villa boss Dean Smith’s second-half decision vs Arsenal
Paul Merson has had a go at Aston Villa boss Dean Smith for subbing off his best players in the second half against Arsenal last week.
Villa were really poor against the Gunners at the Emirates. They barely got on the ball in the first half and they were arguably lucky to only lose by a two-goal margin.
Smith, sadly, got his tactics all wrong. His men were overrun in midfield and failed to hold on to possession when they had it. That made life easy for Arsenal, who deservedly won the game.
Smith had to change something in the second half. He brought off Danny Ings, Emiliano Buendia and Axel Tuanzebe, and that hasn’t gone down well with Merson, who believes that the Villa boss should never even have considered that.
Paul Merson criticises Dean Smith’s substitutions vs Arsenal
He wrote in his column on ahead of Aston Villa’s game against West Ham United in the Premier League this weekend: “Aston Villa have been very hit-and-miss this month.
“They were really disappointing against Arsenal, and they ended up bringing off all the players they bought in the second half. They’re your best players – keep them on, no matter what happens!
“I’m going to go with a West Ham victory this weekend. Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 West Ham United.”
TBR View:
Villa started with a three-man defence and were 2-0 down at the break. Smith had to change his system to salvage the game, which is why he replaced Tuanzebe with Leon Bailey.
Arsenal quickly went 3-0 up and the game was done at that point. Buendia didn’t have a great game and Ings couldn’t do much either. Smith decided to withdraw the pair for Jacob Ramsey and Anwar El Ghazi.
Ramsey scored a brilliant goal to make the scoreline look slightly better. In a way, you can say that Smith’s substitutions worked, but the game was done before the 50th minute, and not much would’ve changed if he had kept his star players on the pitch.
