‘It’s Not A Punishment’ Emery Explains Decision To Sub Ex Chelsea Player Early Against City

Aston Villa picked up a massive win over Manchester City at the weekend, shutting out Pep Guardiola’s men to earn a 1-0 victory at Villa Park. However, it wasn’t all smiles around the dressing room – one player in particular appears to be unhappy with the way he way treated during the game.

Jadon Sancho was brought on as a first-half substitute when Emi Buendia suffered an injury – only to be brought off in the second half, much to his chagrin.

Despite this, Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has explained his actions, noting that the original plan was to give Sancho ’30 minutes’ on the pitch against City. Of course, upon Buendia’s injury, plans changed.

What did Unai Emery say?

Speaking in his post match interview, Emery said: “Yes, sure he’s [Sancho] not happy but I did it before with Morgan Rogers, with Emiliano Buendia, with Leon Bailey, and he played 60 minutes on Thursday,” Emery said.

“Today when he [Buendia] was injured, my plan was maybe in case he [Sancho] was going to play 30 minutes, but I decided to play more and he played 45 minutes.

“But my plan was when he was swapped with Emiliano Buendia, the idea was maybe not playing all the minutes until the last moment.

“And I told him as well, he can feel it, it’s embarrassing. Before Morgan, Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey, they felt the same when I subbed them, but it was not a punishment. And now it’s not a punishment.

“He played 45 minutes, I am so happy because his impact was good, his electricity, his skill, but then to play more than now he’s not ready fit to play 90 minutes, 45 minutes is not easy enough for him and I am happy and of course, progressively he’s coming better and better.”

Is Jadon Sancho flopping at Aston Villa?

To call Sancho an Aston Villa flop at this stage would be very pre-emptive – he has barely had an opportunity to showcase himself at Villa Park.

Sancho has made five appearances for Aston Villa this season – two in the Premier League, two in the Europa League and one in the League Cup. He has only played one full game for the Villans, during their defeat on penalties against Brentford in the League Cup.

Emery seems keen for Sancho to gain fitness before he becomes a regular first-team starter as he did at Chelsea last term, but this will do little for the Manchester United man’s confidence. He has played for several Premier League clubs now and has failed to make an impression at any of them.

Despite this, Emery knows how to get the most out of technical, creative wingers such as Sancho. One only needs to look at how Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers have thrived under his stewardship for proof of this, but Sancho needs a confidence boost before he can truly hit the ground running.

It may take a while for this to happen – Sancho is a player who needs to feel comfortable before he can start performing at the peak of abilities.