Talking Points of the Weekend

Are Aston Villa pushing for Europe?

Aston Villa's good run of form continued on Saturday with their 2-0 win at Chelsea which moved them to within 2 points of the European places. Are they now European contenders with the form they're in?

They were just a point above the relegation zone when Unai Emery took over with a mid-table finish being their most realistic target at the time. Six months later they find themselves in 9th and in contention for a place in Europe next season. It's about time we give Unai Emery a lot of credit for the job he's done.

They'll certainly believe that they can finish in those European spots because of the form they're in and the calibre of manager they have in Unai Emery. Both factors will definitely give them a lot of confidence heading into the rest of the season but they'll know that tough tests lie ahead.

Their next two games are winnable as they face Leicester and Nottingham Forest who are both in a relegation battle. But after that they have a tough run in where they'll be facing teams who are also fighting for those European spots and teams hoping to finish higher. Those games will certainly test their credentials and their mentality as they're not used to being in this sort of position. The points they get from those games will determine whether they'll be challenging or not.

Leicester sacking Rodgers not a surprise

Leicester sacked Brendan Rodgers on Sunday a day after their defeat at Crystal Palace which put them back in the bottom three. The decision itself wasn't at all surprising because of the form the Foxes are in and the fact that they're back in the bottom three at a crucial stage of the season. But I am surprised with the timing of the decision as I thought Rodgers might've gone at the end of the season.

Leicester's problems this season have been in defence as they've let in a lot of goals and Rodgers was unable to fix that. They did look much improved in that department heading into the World Cup but since the season resumed after the World Cup, the Foxes have been unable to keep a clean sheet. Their leaky defence was probably what cost Rodgers his job.

In all fairness to him though he wasn't backed in the summer to bring in new players to refresh his ageing squad. A squad refresh was needed in the summer because of most of their players being over the age of 30 and their failure to do so has cost them this season. Rodgers will take the blame for the Foxes' poor season but the board must also have a look at themselves for not backing him in the summer.

Chelsea job was too big for Potter

Many eyebrows were raised when Graham Potter took the Chelsea job in the first place with it being his first job at a big club and especially one like Chelsea. He was seen as a long term appointment when he first arrived but after 7 months in charge he's been shown the door. He won just 7 of his 22 league games in charge as Chelsea now find themselves in 11th which is a position they shouldn't be in. It looks like the job was too big for him in the first place.

The situation wasn't ideal for him as he had too many players to manage as a result of the busy January transfer window the club had and there were also a number of changes being made behind the scenes following the new takeover. This is not the kind of situation you want to walk into when arriving at a new club. Especially in your first one at a top club.

There is an argument that he should've been given time as he was seen as a long term appointment with a long term project. But Chelsea were making no progress under his management as they sank further down the table and further away from the top four.

Chelsea are a club who should be finishing in the top four and challenging for titles instead of languishing in mid-table because of the size of club they are and culture they have set for the last 20 years. Potter was unable to live up to that because of his lack of experience in managing big name players and managing a big club.

The influx of players that arrived in January didn't help as he couldn't keep all of them happy whilst trying to figure out his best team. But with all that money they spent none of it was spent on a striker. They've been lacking a clinical centre forward for a number of years now and their failure to get one has cost them heavily this season. That's the area that should've been addressed instead of the others where they had enough options.

They were in my opinion better off with Thomas Tuchel still in charge because they wouldn't have had this huge drop off in form had he still been in charge. They did have a mixed start to the season under Tuchel in winning 3 of their opening six games. But they still should've kept him as they would've been in a much better position had he still been in charge.