The Manchester United post-mortem usually involves burying Villa’s latest trauma and promising not to speak of it again until the next time. Not this time.

On this episode of My Old Man Said, Villa are resurrected. Unai Emery finally gets his second win over United, Christmas is officially saved, and Morgan Rogers announces himself properly with two moments that decide a game Villa did not fully control but absolutely deserved to win.

We break down the key moment that mattered, Watkins’ understated role in the winner, and why Rogers has crossed the line from “promising” to “decisive”. There’s an honest look at a midfield that got outworked, a defence that stood firm anyway, and why Villa’s ability to grind out one-goal wins is no accident.

We also ask the uncomfortable questions. Did United tactically get it right? Did Villa rely on magic rather than control? And why, despite the win, this still felt nervier than it needed to be.

Add in Martinez doing Martinez things, Emery losing his mind on the touchline, and the quiet reality that Villa are now ten points clear of United, and you have a night that finally feels like a line drawn under decades of nonsense.

The corpse stays buried. For now.

UTV

Get ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.

For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS Member

Join the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.

David Michael - @myoldmansaid

Chris Budd - @BUDD_music

Phillip Shaw - @prsgame

My Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.com

This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aston Villa arrive at Christmas in form, winning ugly, and climbing quietly. The league table looks healthy. The mood should be festive. And yet Manchester United turn up again, dragging decades of baggage with them.

On this week’s My Old Man Said, we ask the only question that matters. Is this finally an Emery Christmas, or are Villa about to be visited once more by the ghosts of United past?

We strip away the noise around title talk, dig into why Villa still cannot relax against United, and question whether this run of one-goal wins signals control or simply survival. There is Europa League progress, Basel reflections, United’s injuries and absences, and the uncomfortable truth that history keeps intruding no matter how poor they look on paper.

No hype. No festive false comfort. Just a clear-eyed look at where Villa really are and what beating United now would actually mean.

Also, we hear the first track on the Lovers Walk Unlimited Christmas EP

UTV

Get ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.

For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS Member

Join the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.

David Michael - @myoldmansaid

Chris Budd - @BUDD_music

Phillip Shaw - @prsgame

My Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.com

This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Villa go behind. Again. Villa wobble. Again. Villa win. Again.

This post-mortem from the London Stadium digs into a game that should have been a banana skin and nearly was. West Ham had momentum, Jarrod Bowen was running the show, Villa looked leggy after Europe and yet somehow, once noses were in front, the door slammed shut.

We get forensic on the turning point. Digne on, Bowen gone. Control reclaimed. Emery-ball reasserted.

There’s a brutal assessment of the first half, Watkins dithering when the game was there to be killed, and why Villa are still making life harder than it needs to be. We also take aim at the growing xG moral panic and the uncomfortable truth that winning efficiently is now being treated as a flaw.

Nine wins on the bounce. Three times conceding inside ten minutes. Still perfect after European Thursdays.

Villa are not clicking. That should worry everyone else.

UTV

RM26 now has Villa's updated squad to play with - can you get a tune out of Harvey Elliot and maybe win the Europa League?

Get ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.

For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS Member

Join the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.

David Michael - @myoldmansaid

Chris Budd - @BUDD_music

Phillip Shaw - @prsgame

My Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.com

This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.