THE NOTEBOOK: Plenty for England boss Gareth Southgate to smile about
THE NOTEBOOK: Plenty for England boss Gareth Southgate to smile about as Ollie Watkins turns on the style, Alex Moreno is proving a bargain buy… and Unai Emery is feeling the love at Aston Villa
- Watkins’ hot streak continued as Aston Villa beat Newcastle 3-0 at Villa Park
- He added Villa’s second with a sharp strike on the turn from point-blank range
- Villa are sixth in the table on 50 points, three behind fifth-placed Tottenham
Ollie Watkins’ hot streak continued as Aston Villa strengthened their European aspirations with a dominant 3-0 win over Newcastle at Villa Park.
Ramsey ran on to Watkins’ cushioned header to give Villa the lead with an emphatic side-footed finish in the 11th minute, after an excellent cross by John McGinn.
Watkins added Villa’s second with a sharp strike on the turn from point-blank range in the 64th minute and grabbed his 11th goal in his last 12 matches six minutes from time with a simple finish at the back post.
Villa are sixth in the table on 50 points, three behind fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and six adrift of Manchester United in fourth and Newcastle in third.
Sportsmail‘s Graham Thomas was at Villa Park to cast his eye over some of the things you may have missed.
Ollie Watkins’ hot streak continued as Aston Villa beat Newcastle United 3-0 win at Villa Park
England manager Gareth Southgate was beaming after the centre-forward scored his second
What does it take to make Gareth Southgate smile these days?
Sometimes, the England manager can look as if he has a world of pressure on his shoulders when he attends a Premier League game.
But Southgate was beaming at Villa Park after Ollie Watkins scored his second against Newcastle and with good reason.
If Watkins is Southgate’s fourth best option as England’s centre-forward – after Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney – then the manager has a pretty strong hand.
Watkins now has 10 goals in his last 12 games, not quite Erling Haaland proportions (Haaland has 14) but as a back-up to a back-up to a back-up, he’s not bad.
Villa fans have a genuine affection for Unai Emery
When Unai Emery was Arsenal manager there was often less of a focus on what he said than how he said it.
Derided by some for his lack of fluency in English – or, worse still, for his Spanish accent – the little Englanders fed on the fact that he appeared small stature in comparison to Arsene Wenger.
But Villa fans have a genuine affection for Emery who has transformed their fortunes and never misses an opportunity to return their love.
As he walked down the touchline yesterday, he didn’t milk the applause, but modestly acknowledged it and pointed to the players behind him before heading down the tunnel.
Aston Villa fans have a genuine affection for Unai Emery who has transformed their fortunes
Nick Pope – ‘the best keeper in the world right now’?
Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope has been in eye-catching form this season, underlined a week ago when he did something no other keeper in the Premier League had managed – denying Brentford’s Ivan Toney from the penalty spot.
Teammate Bruno Guimaraes recently went as far as to call Pope ‘the best keeper in the world right now’ but that won’t cut the mustard as far as England manager Gareth Southgate in concerned. At least, not according to Sky pundit Mark Schwarzer.
Southgate was at Villa Park, but Aussie Schwarzer reckons the England boss will continue to stick with Jordan Pickford as his number one No.1, with Pope still having to fight things out with Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale for the back-up spot.
‘I think all three of them have performed very well, but I think Pickford is probably getting back to his best form,’ said Schwarzer.
‘The fact that he goes into an England side and never makes a mistake is enough for Southgate and he is prepared to stick by that.
‘Pope played just before the World Cup and didn’t have his best performance and that was a missed opportunity for him.’
Alex Moreno has more than justified his manager’s enthusiasm
There were eyebrows raised outside of Aston Villa when Unai Emery decided his first major signing in the January transfer window was going to be £13m spent on a 29-year-old left back who had never won an international cap.
But Alex Moreno has more than justified his manager’s enthusiasm to persuade the left back to leave Real Betis for Birmingham.
Moreno has been a beacon of quality and assurance down the left-hand for Villa in his 13 appearances for the club under Emery. He was at it again against Newcastle, bursting beyond the opposition defence to create opportunities including one for Ollie Watkins’ first goal.
Alex Moreno has been a beacon of quality and assurance down the left-hand for Aston Villa
The manager recognised that a player who had spent a decade playing in Spain might take time to adapt, but felt the adjustment time would be brief. As it happened, Emery believes it took one game – an iffy debut in a 2-1 win over Leeds.
‘The first characteristic I want to see with the players that we have to add and sign is to be hungry to adapt,’ said Emery.
‘He is doing it. He started the first match with Leeds struggling. The rhythm was wow! The first impact was that it wasn’t easy.
‘I spoke with him because I know him of course and the adaptation needs time. Sometimes more, sometimes less. His adaptation is progressively going very well.’
‘Newcastle are masters of the “dark arts”‘
Masters of the ‘dark arts’ was how Brentford manager Thomas Frank described Newcastle after the Bees lost 2-1 to Eddie Howe’s side last week.
Frank claimed Howe’s assistant Jason Tindall bends the ear of the fourth official.
If that’s a dark art, then it’s not particularly well-hidden.
Yesterday, Tindall hardly seemed to give the touchline official the time of day, seemingly more concerned with shouting at his under-pressure defenders.
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