Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has heaped praise on Aston Villa for their win over Newcastle United. Ferdinand says the Magpies had no answer for Unai Emery's gameplan, and it's difficult to argue otherwise.
The Toon were limited to very little in front of goal and were all over the place at back. It was a rare off day for the Magpies who could drop down to fourth if Manchester United win at Nottingham Forest tomorrow.
When asked about the job Emery had done at Villa Park, Ferdinand told BT Sport: "It’s a remarkable job. He’s turned around the form of a lot of these players. This place is now bouncing, I’ve been here a few times and it’s not had this energy for a while.
READ MORE: Aston Villa 3-0 Newcastle United recap and reaction
"You need players like Ollie Watkins to perform but the manager, the way he set his team up today, Newcastle had no answer - whether it was tactically or in terms of the effort or intensity.
"This Newcastle team have been praised for their effort and the way they have approached games, and rightly so, but today they had an off day, they had no answer to anything that Aston Villa threw at them."
Newcastle were second best from the opening whistle and could have been 1-0 down after just 30 seconds with Ollie Watkins hitting the post. Jacob Ramsey opened the scoring minutes later before hitting the crossbar not long after.
The Magpies were thankful for Nick Pope who produced a number of big saves to keep the scoreline down, but Ferdinand believes 3-0 still flattered the visitors.
"I think it did," Ferdinand said when asked if the scoreline flattered Newcastle. "I think they were bullied in all departments today.
"Eddie Howe will be disappointed by that, he has some things that are part of the DNA he’s trying to build within Newcastle that just wasn’t there today - the intensity, that high press, the energy, the aggressive behaviour in high areas of the pitch - it all wasn’t there today.
"Aston Villa brought that to the game today and Newcastle just couldn’t match them. It wasn’t just the physicality, but also tactically I think Aston Villa and Unai Emery got it spot on today."
READ NEXT
- Dan Burn's dressing room insight on 'top keeper' Nick Pope
- Almiron shares positive injury update as Newcastle star granted emotional return
- Saint-Maximin allays serious injury fears as Howe gives blessing to France trip
- Eddie Howe eyes 'elite' signings at Newcastle amid Declan Rice transfer link
- Newcastle training ground 'changing' as Eddie Howe admits it's 'really exciting'
