Aston Villa fell to a 1-0 defeat to Brentford in the Premier League this weekend in a bitterly disappointing early setback in our season.
After a goalless draw with Newcastle United last time out, it had been hoped that we could get our campaign up and running with three points in west London.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Brentford: Dire performance ends in disappointing defeat
Unfortunately, that didn’t prove to be the case as Dango Ouattara’s early goal was enough for the hosts to seal the win, leaving Villa with a point from our opening two games and without having scored a goal as of yet.
Pressure will be building ahead of our clash with Crystal Palace at Villa Park next Sunday night, as Unai Emery has a lot to think about in order to see improvement in our performances.
Mings, Pau partnership proves to be problematic
It raised an eyebrow or two when the line-up was announced, while some have been waiting a long time to see this centre-half partnership in action believing that it could work.
Granted, it’s a small sample size, but the concerns over our balance at the back with two left-footed centre-halves were justified as it looked awkward and vulnerable on a number of occasions.
Neither did well enough to deal with the long ball that led to the only goal of the game, and while it’s a crucial boost that Ezri Konsa is back next weekend, we’re unlikely to see this duo partner up again any time soon.
More energy needed in full-back positions
While both Matty Cash and Lucas Digne give us defensive resilience and solidity, there isn’t enough energy or attacking quality coming from either flank to add a pivotal dynamic to our build-up play.
Digne perhaps gets into better advanced areas than Cash, but it’s very much a case of stand and deliver from the Frenchman into a crowded box with a limited success rate and options in the box, whereas Ian Maatsen has the pace and energy to get in behind to the byline or burst past a player on the overlap to open things up a bit more.
As for Cash, it’s likely to be down to the conservative role he’s asked to play, but there isn’t enough positivity in his runs going forward, and without enough width on both wings, it all becomes congested in the middle for Villa and we struggle to break teams down.
No more Tielemans as the No.10
I didn’t like Youri Tielemans in a more advanced No.10 role against Newcastle, and I didn’t see anything this weekend that changed my mind.
The Belgian midfielder is our metronome in the deeper role in our pivot, as that position allows him to dictate and control tempo and possession to give us rhythm and a fundamental link in our build-up play.
It’s hoped that this is the last time for a while we see him further up the pitch, as we need his intelligence and quality in front of the defence to help us dissect and carve through stubborn defensive shapes and systems.
Rogers must improve
No-one on the pitch this weekend did enough, but for a player with such a critical role in the side, Morgan Rogers has to improve as he has been off the pace in the opening two games.
His injury at the end of pre-season perhaps explains it to an extent as he missed our final two friendlies and that arguably has derailed his preparations and so he isn’t entirely fit as of yet.
However, his wastefulness and sloppy play on the ball coupled with a lack of sharpness and cutting edge when he’s in threatening positions is hurting us, and as a key figure in the side from a creative and goal threat perspective, we need him to step up.
More positive intent, pace and width needed from Villa
Everything about our first two performances has been quite predictable, slow and methodical. We’ve created some chances, but we haven’t really looked like scoring or capable of building sustained pressure in front of goal.
Coupled with personnel changes to inject some energy, pace and width into the side, namely through the likes of Maatsen, Donyell Malen and Evann Guessand, we’ve got to create a more dynamic attacking strategy and get on the front foot more rather than playing it too safe.
It’s been difficult to watch us try to break Newcastle and Brentford down over the past two games, and so Emery has a task on his hands this week to formulate a game-plan which adds creativity to our performance and find effective ways to expose and exploit any defensive weaknesses that Palace have.
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