Aston Villa winger Jota had an afternoon to forget today, being substituted at half-time after a 45-minute display which saw him come in for heavy criticism from plenty of the club’s supporters on Twitter.
With the Villans trailing 1-o to Watford at half-time, manager Dean Smith did not stand on ceremony with his decision to substitute the 28-year-old at the interval, making the call to introduce Anwar El Ghazi in his place.
Jota had just 13 touches during his time on the pitch at Vicarage Road in his team’s 3-0 defeat – only 72nd-minute substitute Jonathan Kodjia had fewer (eight) for the away side, while he made a mere nine passes (completing seven), which again was superior only to Kodjia of the 14 Villa players to feature against the Hornets. [via WhoScored]
Today’s disappointing display continued a frustrating season for the Spaniard, who was making only his fourth league start of the campaign and his first since the 0-0 draw against West Ham in mid-September. [via TransferMarkt]
On a sobering day for him and their team, these Aston Villa fans on Twitter tore into Jota:
Jota is looking lost in the game I think
— JOSH (@Josh_lester1) December 28, 2019
Also Jota is absolutely woeful, so one footed it's unbelievable! #AVFC
— Tom Salt 🍺 (@tomsalt2802) December 28, 2019
Absolutely shocking by villa jota playing like an under 5 player no words anymore
— Andy Turner (@mrtbigman) December 28, 2019
Jota is awful
— Tony (@tbass_utv) December 28, 2019
Not really sure what El Ghazi is gonna bring to the game but he cant be any worse than Jota was #AVFC
— Comrade (@Stokesey84) December 28, 2019
Jota shoudnt play again in my opinion. Shocking player. Can’t see any good attribute
— Dan Cook (@Dancook9) December 28, 2019
Terminate jotas contract pls xx
— Ravagez 190K (@ravagezonyt) December 28, 2019
There’s six players on the @AVFCOfficial bench that would be better equipped than Jota. The other is a goalkeeper.
— Lance Jenkinson (@westsport) December 28, 2019
Do you think Jota’s half-time withdrawal was harsh or merited? Comment below with your views!
