The Good, Bad and Ugly as Aston Villa Get Up and Running
After the early-season worries, Aston Villa have found their groove in a very short space of time. With the wounded Champions on the horizon, let’s look back on the latest batch of events.
The Good
The wins against Manchester City and Spurs showed what Emery’s Villa are best at. Systematically breaking down an opposition and making sure the game is won.
The Spurs away game could have gone a different way had they capitalised on their fast start, but as soon as Villa got their foot on the ball and achieved parity of possession, there was an air of inevitability that they would get the job done.
A rocket from Rogers and the picture book team goal from Buendia were doing that the hard way, but with players of that quality in the side you have to expect them to start performing, and finally this season they are.
The City game was very much as expected, barring the Buendia injury. The level of respect between the managers and the sides lends itself more to a fencing match. None of the unpredictability of games against mid to lower table sides or European unknowns to upset the Villa passages of play.
With the Villa train firmly back on the tracks, it has the potential to ram its way through the faltering Champions at Anfield, but we know things are never that simple.
Villan of the Week – Matty Cash
File under words that you didn’t expect to write at this point in the season.
It is to Cash’s immense credit that he has put in some stellar performances since the catastrophic end of last season and the shaky start to this one.
Now the Polish Cafu sits as Villa’s joint top scorer in the League and celebrates a new contract.
If he can keep this consistency, then the biannual cry of ‘sign a right back’ will be drowned out by more necessary upgrades.
All together now!
The Bad
While the two statement wins against Spurs and Manchester City showed everything good about Unai Emery’s three-year tenure at Villa, the loss to Go Ahead Eagles was the rancid, rotting meat sandwiched between delicious bread.
It was so unnecessary. After Guessand bundled in his first goal for Villa inside five minutes, there were multiple opportunities and clear-cut chances to put the game out of sight.
Instead, the lack of a killer instinct, which has plagued Villa when they are favourites, was on display again.
Olympiacos, Brugge and Monaco away, Stevenage, Manchester United in both games last season, and of course, Crystal Palace (all games against them) have all benefited to varying degrees from Villa flatlining for long periods of games.
No team has a divine right to win every game they should, but more often than not, Villa lose these games or make them more difficult than they need to be because of a lack of urgency.
It’s as if someone has pulled the plug on them, and they begin just going through the motions.
The Villa performance against Manchester City was a full 90 minutes of application.
Even half of this would have been enough to see off the Go Ahead Eagles, but instead it was another red warning flag against what Villa and Emery should be achieving.
The Ugly
The two headline deadline day signings of Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho made headlines for different reasons after the City game.
Sancho was unlucky to be victimised by the press and some ex-pros because he was subbed on and then off again by Unai Emery.
Just like Marcus Rashford last season, any excuse to kick the Manchester United loanee by a press conditioned to seeing the world through a Manchester United lens will be taken.
The truth is, Sancho would not have expected to be getting as many minutes as he did in the game, coming on for the stricken Buendia and being rushed on before his boots were tied. Evan Guessand looked to be the chosen one before Emery decided to trust Sancho in an important game.
Sancho, to his credit, performed at a high level until being subbed after playing 45 minutes across both halves and was probably Villa’s standout attacker.
Subbing the sub is nothing new to Emery as he has done it ten times in his three years with Morgan Rogers, Coutinho, Diaby, Bailey and Buendia among those who it has happened to.
The thing is they are all wingers/number 10s, so Sancho played his part and hopefully will get more minutes to impress against Liverpool.
Harvey Elliott is a different matter. You would have expected him to play more in Europe and his not being in the squad against Manchester City raised eyebrows, especially in the equally Liverpool-sighted press.
The truth about Elliott will become clearer depending on how long Buendia is injured. Elliott would seem to be the natural replacement, but if he still isn’t in the squad, then Emery must believe he isn’t up to his standards.
With the Spaniard celebrating three years in charge that have brought Villa to where they are today, who is anyone to argue over his judgment on players, even if it’s ultimately ugly for Elliott.
UTV
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