Aston Villa’s squad have shown an incredible level of quality over the last two seasons. With a massive amount of time away from the group for former mainstay Tyrone Mings, he’s nearing a return to the starting side. So, what does this mean and who else is preparing to rejoin Unai Emery’s team?
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00:00Charlie, Aston Villa's star man Oli Watkins obviously had an incredible season by numbers
00:08last year. Maybe it was a case of the neutrals who weren't watching him every week, didn't
00:13really understand how good of a player he was and then come the end of the season the
00:17amount of goals and most notably the amount of assists as well, winning the most in the
00:21Premier League last season. It was quite unbelievable. Then they go to the Euros and he's sort of
00:27left out and then he has that magical moment in the semi-final. Just your thoughts on him
00:32being ignored from England's start? Obviously we've had a few caps now and how sort of impressive
00:39with him have you been with his impressive start to the season?
00:42Yeah, I think it's shocking really against Greece. England's first defeat against Greece
00:48at Wembley ever. It's a weird team selection from Lee Carsley, the interim manager, not
00:52starting any recognised striker when Harry Kane was injured. Going for Jude Bellingham
00:55as a false nine. Some people saying it's ballsy, it's intelligent to be trying to
01:00rotate and experiment in the Nations League, not the biggest competition, not the most
01:04prioritised competition. But when you've got Oli Watkins and Dominic Solanke sat on the
01:08bench, that's just inexcusable in my opinion, especially with Watkins with, as you said,
01:13his scoring output last season, his creative output as well. As we saw at the Euros, his
01:18ability to get in behind offer a different dimension for England and he's not starting.
01:22I thought the problem might have been solved with Carsley in the first game or two as he
01:26was picking players based off form, but I've lost faith in him based on those two team
01:30selections against Greece and then against Finland as well. Obviously Harry Kane back
01:34into the fold against Finland was a bit different of a scenario. You would expect Watkins and
01:38Solanke to be on the bench in that scenario, but the Greece one, I just can't get over
01:42the fact he didn't play. Favilla, he's been in fantastic form. He did start the season
01:47a little bit slowly, maybe with a bit of a knock after the Euros, not quite as sharp
01:51as usual, but even then still registering goals and assists and getting involved and
01:54playing 60, 70 minutes before that man John Duran comes off the bench for Favilla. So,
01:59yeah, a big shock for me that Watkins hasn't been involved for England as much as he should be.
02:04And Tyra Mings, obviously a player who was involved in England as well, then got that
02:08horrific injury and Boubacar Kamara as well, nearing returns for Aston Villa. Firstly,
02:14when can they be expected back? And secondly, what sort of boost do they bring to Unai Emery's side?
02:21Yeah, it's been massive having Mings on the sidelines for 14 months now,
02:25suffered that ACL injury against Newcastle United last season in that 5-1 defeat. That
02:29feels like a long time ago. Favilla have obviously come a long way since that day at St James' Park.
02:34And then, of course, Boubacar Kamara, the start of the year, suffering a similar injury,
02:38not quite as severe. And both players are expected back imminently. They've been in training,
02:43full training with the first team, a big boost for Villa, obviously Mings, a bit more rotation
02:48at the back in the Champions League, perhaps in the cup competitions with Paulo Torres.
02:52And then Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Ounana,
02:54they can share those minutes in the field as well. So, fantastic news.