Speaking on a recent episode of The Phil Hay Show, the journalist discussed Leeds United’s victory over Aston Villa back in October, and in particular, the performance of Villa forward Ollie Watkins.
Prior to Leeds’ fixture against Villa, the Birmingham-based side was in extremely fine form, having won all four of their opening Premier League matches of the season, which included a rather remarkable 7-2 thrashing of reigning champions Liverpool.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side had also impressed upon their return to the Premier League, beating Fulham and Sheffield United, drawing admirably with Manchester City, and narrowly losing out to Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
However, it would be Leeds who would leave Villa Park with all three points, as a marvellous second-half hat-trick from Patrick Bamford ensured that Villa’s perfect start to the Premier League season would not be continuing any further.
Leeds’ clash with Villa was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of The Phil Hay Show, in which the journalist praised Bielsa’s side for their performance in the match, while also criticising Villa’s.
He said: “[Leeds] play in a way that stands them out as looking virtually as good as any other team in the Premier League. I’m not suggesting that they will have the legs to run with Liverpool and Manchester City, necessarily, through the course of the season.
“But the second half, in particular, got to the point where at 2-0, Villa just seemed to disappear completely. I was watching Ollie Watkins for a while in that second half, and it was like a £28 million shadow at one end of the pitch.
“He wasn’t seeing anything of the ball, all the football was being played at Villa’s end of the pitch and around their box.”
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TIF Thoughts on Phil Hay’s comments regarding Leeds United’s performance against Aston Villa…
From Hay’s comments, it is clear that the journalist was impressed with Leeds’ performance against Villa, as well as singling out Villa’s lack of ability to find their £27.72 million summer signing, Ollie Watkins, in the match.
Considering Leeds had 59% of possession of the ball in the fixture, as well as having a total of 27 shots in comparison to Villa’s 12, it must be said that Bielsa’s side did indeed appear to have the better of the match, which is all the more impressive considering their opponent’s impressive start to the campaign, in addition to the fact that Leeds were playing away from home.