Unai Emery lifts lid on 'struggling' £13m Aston Villa ace after 3/10 Wolves 'shocker'

Unai Emery assessed Alex Moreno's performance after the Aston Villa left-back was hooked during the 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday evening.

Unable to make his mark on attacks despite playing in an advanced role and increasingly shaky in the defensive third, Moreno was allotted a 3/10 in Birmingham World's player ratings. The score may seem harsh but the Spaniard was noticeably poor, especially with his decision-making and deliveries into the opposition penalty area.

Emery managed to find some positives but agreed Moreno, taken off in the 63rd minute, lacked quality. “He played today higher than normal because I think we could exploit him attacking," the Villa boss told Birmingham World.

"He got in the opponent box many times but the crosses he did weren’t finding the good solutions for our strikers. He wasn’t clinical crossing. But I like and appreciate a lot today how he played higher and tried to get again his performances like he had before. 

“Of course, defensively as well, with more on the left side we were struggling a bit because Sarabia and Semedo had good movement. It’s true that when we changed with Lucas [Digne] and [Nicolo] Zaniolo, one reason from me was for it [the struggle] and we did better," Emery continued.

Many will be calling for Lucas Digne to come into the starting lineup when Villa head to Manchester City on midweek and that would indeed be a sensible decision. Moreno, signed last winter for £13 million, definitely has quality but is lacking in confidence. It would be risky to play him at the Etihad Stadium.