Insider lambasts Philippe Coutinho amid Aston Villa twist
A new head of fitness and conditioning will give Aston Villa a major boost.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Aston Villa confirmed last week (21 October) that the previous person in the role, Jordan Millsom, had left the club alongside Steven Gerrard.
Unai Emery has been appointed as his replacement but the club are yet to confirm who will be part of his coaching staff.
Birmingham Live reported on Friday (28 October) that Gerrard’s remaining coaches, Aaron Danks, Neil Cutler and Austin MacPhee are in the dark over their futures.
“In terms of the overall impact of out with the old, in with the new, you’ve got to hope it has a positive impact,” Dinnery told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“Unai Emery, in terms of those initial negotiations and returning to the Premier League, will probably want his team in and around him, those members of backroom staff he’s worked with previously and trusts.
“Steven Gerrard’s time within the club didn’t work and after a summer of reasonable spending, expectations rose and some of the performances of players that came in, like Philippe Coutinho, haven’t lived up to where you’d expect them to be.
“There are a lot of factors in that. When a player comes in on loan they will want to impress and those performance levels then dipped.
“Overall, you want a bounce and that will come from the manager and his new team. Rightly or wrongly, a new manager will always say ‘We want a team to work harder, be more intense, we want to change the philosophy’.
“There are reasons why the club are down the bottom. Unai Emery will have a certain way of playing his players and he needs the people in and around him to help deliver that game plan.
“Managers are judged on results and you need the people in and around you able to translate your methodologies to get the results because if you don’t your head will be on the chopping block.”
In other news, Kieran Maguire has issued a “£444million” reveal as Aston Villa are to back Emery to the hilt.