Alan Shearer sheds light on Unai Emery's pep talk in Aston Villa's 'healthy' situation
Alan Shearer believes that the dynamic currently playing out at the front end of the pitch for Aston Villa is a 'really healthy situation' for the club and for boss Unai Emery. Shearer watched Villa beat Manchester City 2-1 on Saturday - their third straight Premier League home win - and leapfrogged their visitors in the process.
Jhon Duran scored his 12th goal of the season, his third in as many league games, despite only starting six times this season. Emery gave the nod to the Colombian to continue in the side at the expense of Ollie Watkins, who has otherwise spent his entire Villa career as the club's first choice centre forward - and has, for the most part, delivered the good when Villa have needed him to.
Duran opened the scoring early doors before Morgan Rogers doubled Villa's lead, which proved to be unassailable despite Phil Foden's late strike. For Villa, and Emery, they now find themselves in a encountering a near weekly scenario in which a decision must be made; Villa's style and set-up dictates that we won't see Watkins and Duran play together all too often, and as a result Emery must select one to start - Shearer sees no problem there, though.
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"I think it's a really healthy situation for him and for the football club," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. "He can use them against each other, and I would imagine he's saying to them 'you've got your opportunity, go out and show me that you deserve to stay in the team'. When you've got two really good centre forwards, I think you can use that situation, as a manager, to your benefit.
"I was in Leipzig doing the Aston Villa game when Duran came on at half time and Ollie Watkins came off, whether it was for an injury or not, but that worked for them. Ollie Watkins ran in behind and did what he had to do in that first half, and then Duran - he's a very different player, he's more direct and will certainly have more shots from distance. For Villa, I do think that's a really healthy situation."
