00:00Charlie, looking at Aston Villa and that sort of display in the FA Cup against Spurs sort
00:08of highlighted the key partnerships they have across the pitch. Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rodgers
00:14have really made a huge impact this season. They've been given a lot of freedom by Unai
00:20Emery this term and it's clearly worked, obviously. The early goals in the Champions League as
00:25well was quite interesting against Celtic. They've clearly been given a licence to roam,
00:31a licence to go out and express themselves and this partnership is really looking good.
00:35What sort of Unai Emery's thoughts and Villa fans' thoughts on how good they've been this
00:40season?
00:41It's definitely a partnership that's flourishing, Ramsey and Rodgers. I'd be interested to see
00:45what the introductions of Rashford and Asensio will do to that. But the form that they're
00:49in at the moment, could they even be a way into starting 11 for the new signings? I'm
00:53not too sure, to be honest. Just the confidence that Ramsey's got. He's had so many injury
00:57problems over the last few years, recurring injury problems, but he seems to be back up
01:02to speed touch wood and he's playing so, so well alongside Rodgers. We might even be able
01:06to see them both in an England set up together at some stage. They just have that connection
01:10that some players just seem to get effortlessly. 1-2s in behind defences, knowing where each
01:15other are going to be. They've got the same kind of pace and physicality to turn away
01:19from defenders and create moves in an instance. So, so exciting for Villa fans. It's the kind
01:24of players that get fans off of their seats and that's what you need at every kind of
01:28football club. Rodgers in particular, though, so, so impressive. The fact he's starting
01:32week in and week out, having signed only 12 or 13 months ago from Middlesbrough for £8
01:38million plus £7 million in add-ons. That looks like an absolute bargain now. So yeah,
01:42those two in particular, really flourishing in their partnership.
01:47The new signings, they're obviously going to try and make it a bit of a partnership
01:50going as well, Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio. I mean, they looked fantastic in their FA Cup
01:56debuts for Villa against Spurs. I mean, what does that sort of do for Villa's confidence
02:02now in this run-in? They've obviously had a few inconsistent results at times. Players
02:07of that quality, players of that ilk, who've got so much experience at the top level, they're
02:12looking to just get Villa over the line. That top four race is incredibly tough to
02:18break into at the moment, but they need to make sure that they're all they're about and
02:22these signings could have a huge impact on that.
02:25Absolutely. The inconsistency, as you mentioned, I think a lot of that is down to tired legs
02:30at times. Emery likes to have the same system, same structure wherever possible. Before,
02:35he didn't have the depth to swap out players and keep that structure necessarily. We saw
02:38when John Duran came in alongside Watkins up top, it didn't quite work. Little turns
02:42here and there, nutmegs, one-twos outside the boot passes. It's the kind of flair that
02:47you want to see off the bench, but into the starting 11, I think that can work as well
02:51and it can fit into the same structure that Emery wants, direct on the turn, getting Villa
02:56quick and forward as quickly as possible on the transition.
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