Five Reasons to be Cheerful After Beating Spurs Ahead of the International Break
Away wins in Europe and the Carabao Cup had hinted that Unai Emery’s rebuild was on the right track, even if only a small quota of new signings were actually starting in the team, due to injuries and disrupted preseasons. Against Tottenham though, Emery got to start six of his new chargers.
Victory at Spurs finally gave Villa the league win they had been searching for and, with more of the summer arrivals beginning to make their mark, the pieces of Emery’s latest rebuild are slowly coming together. As Villa head into the extended international break, here are the latest Five Reasons to Be Cheerful as Villans.
Villa’s Emperor
While some of Villa’s more attacking new signings stole the show later on in the game, it was Zion Suzuki who laid the foundations in the first half for Villa’s win with a series of saves.
We all know Suzuki can pass a ball, and Emery explained after the match that his distribution was a key reason he was brought in due to how the modern game has recently evolved.
“He has qualities in build-up like we want – playing in combination short and because he has a very long ball when they opponent are coming to us in a high press, man to man. Now there are a lot of teams doing it.
“We must adapt quickly to how football is evolving, and one clear evolution is how the teams are facing man-to-man all over the pitch.”
But Suzuki demonstrated sharp reflexes and pulled off a series of early first half saves that kept Spurs scoreless, before Johan Manzambi’s opener turned the direction of the game.
Suzuki seems to have replaced Emi Martinez in the aggregate instantly, and probably Youri Tielemans as well.
The Manzambi and Jackson Combo
Eagled-eyed Villans would have spotted Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson in constant dialogue in the warm-up and going in for the half-time discussing movement. It seemed that they were still doing their Emery University homework during the game. This was the first game they have started together and you could see instantly, that this combo will present Villa’s main attacking threat. The upwardly mobile Manzambi as a 10 buzzing off and around Jackson, as the Villa forward acts as the willing runner too, to open up space. There’s a great combination of unselfish running, sharp minds and goal threat, with both grabbing a goal in the game, and the duo especially combining well for Villa’s second.
A Win is a Win
It wasn’t always pretty in the end, as Spurs pulled two goals back. Emery’s subs perhaps didn’t help Villa keep control of the closing stages, but after a difficult opening few weeks, the manner of victory mattered considerably less than the result. At least Emery can address what happened at the end, with the lesson not costing Villa any points.
The extended pre-season is over. Villa are finally off the mark and it’s time to start looking up the table rather than nervously over our shoulders.
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Time to Take a Break
The extended international break has arrived at a particularly useful time for Villa. For starters, it gives Alysson, Marco Bizot, Leon Goretzka, Ian Maatsen, Big Brian Madjo and Pau Torres valuable time to recover, or at the very least, it means fewer fixtures are played without them. That makes this week’s double over Coventry and Spurs all the more encouraging, with Villa’s heavily depleted squad offering an early demonstration of the depth added during the summer overhaul.
Just as importantly, a sizeable chunk of Emery’s first team won’t be disappearing on international duty. After a frantic summer and little time to bed in so many new faces, the manager finally has an extended spell on the training ground to drill his ideas into them. Plus, he’ll have a behind-closed-doors game against Southampton and a friendly against Sevilla to help too.
For once, an international break feels less like an interruption and more like exactly what Villa need.
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Priceless?
With Fenerbahçe, Viking, PSG and Borussia Dortmund all heading to Villa Park, the club has generously ensured supporters won’t have to worry about what to do with their disposable income over the coming months.
Once four sets of Champions League tickets, travel, food, and the obligatory pre-match pint have been paid for, frivolous luxuries such as holidays, meals out, and heating the house can finally be put to one side.
And with Christmas appearing on the horizon, you still have plenty of time to help your kids manage their expectations.
Every cloud.
UTV
Additional writing David Michael
Follow Armen on Twitter/X here – @VillanArmen
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