Aston Villa suffered a bitterly disappointing 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday as we produced another abject performance in our poor start to the season.
The visitors were deserved winners as they continue to have the better of us under Oliver Glasner, with goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Marc Guehi and Ismaila Sarr sealing all three points for them.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Crystal Palace: Abject display ends in disappointing defeat
From a Villa perspective, that’s now three consecutive woeful displays to start the Premier League season, leaving us with just one point and no goals scored, and we head into the international break with real concerns and question marks.
The transfer deadline will come as a relief in some ways as it will offer clarity over who will still be at the club this season, but there are serious doubts over whether or not we can do enough on the last day to sort this situation out, as the solutions will have to come from within the current group and Unai Emery.
Disappointment in Emi Martinez
Whether or not Emiliano Martinez is still a Villa player after 7pm on Monday night is irrelevant. The Argentine goalkeeper had a choice this weekend, much like Alexander Isak and Guehi have had so far this season amid ongoing speculation over their respective futures.
While one of them has gone on an effective strike to force through a move away, the other has continued to be a consummate professional, captain his side, lead by example and play a decisive role in securing three crucial points for his club, in what might prove to be his last game for them.
Martinez seemingly chose to go down the Isak route with Emery insisting that he wasn’t 100 percent focused on this game and was therefore left out entirely, letting his teammates and the supporters down after such a brilliant stint together to this point. If a player wants to leave, no problem, off you go. However, you still owe it to the club to be a professional up until that point of leaving.
Alarming lack of movement and desire
Once again there was a glaring lack of ideas, creativity, tempo and rhythm in our performance, and it all looks very disjointed and lacking our usual identity that we’ve developed under Emery.
While things can break down in that sense, what can’t be excused or forgiven is the lack of energy, desire and willingness to move and provide an option for a teammate, and for most of this game, we saw that unfold.
Countless times we saw either Tyrone Mings or Youri Tielemans look for a progressive pass forward but instead exasperatedly throw their hands up in the air with no one available or Ezri Konsa implore Matty Cash to push up only for it to fall on deaf ears. Of course, there is a tactical element to that as well with Palace becoming the latest side to shut us down, but the players are underperforming badly too when it comes to the basics.
Buendia shining light
Whatever your opinion is on Emiliano Buendia as to whether he’s good enough for us or not, there is no way of denying that he was perhaps the only player who looked up for it on Sunday night.
Immediately after coming on at half-time, he found pockets of space in the final third, showed for the ball to support his teammates and in turn was able to more effectively link our play together and give us some rhythm to create openings.
He may well leave on Monday and many will get their wish, but when there are times this season we need someone to show character and courage to try things in the attacking third, he certainly never shies away from that.
Defensive mistakes punished
Whether it was playing Daichi Kamada onside in the lead up to the penalty or cheaply surrendering possession in the build-up to the second goal, Cash made two major errors in this game and it cost us.
Konsa’s weak clearance before Guehi’s strike was also a glaring mistake, and at this level, we’re going to get punished if we can’t cut those out.
It was Mings and Pau Torres at Brentford with their inability to clear danger, and if we can’t stop conceding poor goals, as Mings himself conceded in his post-match interview, we’re going to make life even more difficult for ourselves.
Concerning signs, Villa must find answers after the break
Ultimately, there are now two paths that this could go down. The hope is that the squad and Emery are able to regroup over the international break, evolve, improve and find solutions to get back to winning ways and start to build some momentum and positivity at the club after a difficult summer and start to the campaign.
Conversely, this could be the start of a very difficult period for us, as at the risk of sounding too dramatic or negative, we’ve seen enough football to know when there’s something not right and there’s a disconnect with the players, combined with the uncertainty and frustration off the pitch from a financial perspective.
That in turn raises the question as to whether we’ll buy enough time through this season to rebuild if our restraints are loosened next year to allow us to strengthen the squad and make significant changes. Hopefully, we still do that but from a much stronger position than the one we find ourselves in right now.
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