Aston Villa’s high defensive line has been much discussed since Unai Emery took charge, as it has been a key principle in the way he wants us to play.
For the most part, it seems to be highlighted by media outlets when it doesn’t work and we’re caught out, but ultimately both the numbers and video analysis back the argument that it has proven to be a successful strategy much more often than it fails.
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Not only does it push us up the field and force our opposition back to squeeze the pitch and give us control in games, but it’s a clear philosophy to catch attackers out and nullify their threat further away from goal.
As seen in the video below, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher offered in-depth analysis of the Villa high line, using clips to illustrate not only why it’s so effective, but how brilliantly executed it is by the players off the back of relentless work in training to perfect it.
Villa have caught our opposition out offside 165 times in the Premier League since November 2022, the most of any club, with Liverpool next on the list with 93.
That in turn shows how effective it is and how well we’ve managed to implement it since Emery arrived, and that’s continued despite the blow of losing Tyrone Mings this season given how important he was to our organisation and discipline.
It was a well-balanced analysis piece from Carragher in that he also offered examples of when it doesn’t work and how our opposition might find ways to unlock the trap we set, and so it will be interesting to see how opposing sides adapt and try to find solutions moving forward.
Naturally, there will be games in which we don’t get it right, and we’ve seen that particularly away from home, where we do perhaps need to be a bit more pragmatic and drop back a little deeper to avoid being caught out consistently.
That said, especially at home, it’s a principle that Emery will stick by and continue to implement, and it serves a fundamental purpose in what we’re trying to do in both phases of the game to dominate and control games week in and week out.
Judging from the results since the Spanish tactician took charge, it seems to be serving him pretty well thus far, and so a great deal of credit should go to him, his coaching staff and the defenders in the squad to implement it so effectively.
"It's about being ready to run" ⚡@Carra23 analyses the pros and cons of Aston Villa's high line pic.twitter.com/gRMXYVtjgc
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 27, 2023
