“Terrible Mistake” “Such Tosh” – BBC Pundit Slams Arsenal & Solskjaer After Thrilling Weekend Encounter

Ahhh…what a beautiful weekend it turned into for Aston Villa fans across the globe as we put 12 years of hurt (and cheating) behind us to take a fully justified victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The whole week feels a little bit brighter and everyone is relishing next weekend’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur given their form, but before we look too far ahead, there’s still plenty to enjoy when it came to Saturday’s action and it seems BBC pundit Garth Crooks was suitably entertained as he picked a Villa duo in his Team of the Week selection.

There were absolutely no surprises who he picked and both fully deserve their inclusions after that showing.

Emi Martinez

“When Arsenal let this goalkeeper slip through their fingers and go to Aston Villa I thought they had made a terrible mistake. I thought it then and I still think it now. Villa on the other hand have benefited tremendously from his outstanding performances. Against Manchester United the Argentine was at his best. I watched in amazement when United were awarded a penalty to see Martinez challenge Cristiano Ronaldo to a duel, daring him, almost taunting him to take the penalty. Fernandes is United’s official penalty taker and missed the spot-kick but the sheer audacity, not to mention the confidence, of Martinez impressed the hell out of me.”

Kortney Hause

“What a header. The ball was great but the movement by Hause, not to mention the finish, was sensational. If you insist on not putting a player on the near post when defending corners in the modern game then make sure you win your headers. Manchester United did neither against an Aston Villa side who look like they are coming to terms with the departure of Jack Grealish. I thought the penalty awarded against Hause for handball was harsh but that was the opinion of the referee Mike Dean. He’s not my favourite referee but it was at least his decision and not VAR’s. As for Solskjaer whinging about an infringement by Ollie Watkins on David de Gea for the goal, I have never heard such tosh.”

I certainly don’t always agree with Crook’s take on a round of fixtures, or some of the comments he makes in Villa’s general direction, but I’m struggling to think of anyone who could disagree with him here.

Onto Spurs!