Aston Villa fell to a 5-1 defeat to Newcastle Utd on Saturday, with an injury to Tyrone Mings souring the evening further on a disappointing opening weekend.
Given our form under Unai Emery last season coupled with some impressive displays over the summer, there was a lot of optimism and belief heading to St James’ Park that we could start the new campaign well, despite it being one of the toughest challenges on the schedule.
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However, things quickly deteriorated, as although we responded well to going behind early, our defensive performance was nowhere near good enough as we leaked poor and avoidable goals to eventually suffer a heavy defeat.
It’s a big week for the Villa squad ahead as we now prepare to host Everton next Sunday, and Emery will be working tirelessly to get a positive reaction out of the group despite another devastating injury blow too.
Defensive collapse after positive signs
In the attacking phase, we had our moments and showed quality at times. The biggest disappointment on Saturday was our defensive display, from the struggles with the high line to mistakes and a lack of concentration, we didn’t play to a high enough standard to get something from the game.
Whether it was Leon Bailey switching off for the cross for the first goal or Boubacar Kamara not tracking Sandro Tonali, Ezri Konsa’s mistake to gift Alexander Isak one of his goals or the inability to deal with Newcastle’s counter attacks in the latter stages. It wasn’t good enough at the back.
Perhaps this wasn’t the game to adopt such tactics in terms of pushing up or having both Matty Cash and Lucas Digne in the full-back roles. Emery will undoubtedly analyse and correct those mistakes with his players moving forward.
Mings injury another huge blow
It really is devastating to see another key player suffer what looks to be a serious injury. Mings’ reaction raised immediate concern as he looked in real pain the moment he hit the ground, and the defensive stalwart doesn’t usually stay down long.
The expectation is that he has sustained a significant setback having been stretchered off with a protective brace on, and coupled with Emiliano Buendia’s injury in midweek, it truly has been a horrible few days.
They are two fundamental players for Emery, and while we saw the players’ tribute to Buendia prior to kick-off, they will be rocked again by seeing another leading figure go down in such pain and now facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Bailey right choice in midfield?
Given the attacking threat that Newcastle had out wide, coupled with the difficulty of the atmosphere and how that builds the pressure in such a difficult test, did Emery get his team selection right?
Leon Bailey offered very little in the attacking phase and he didn’t provide enough support and protection from a defensive perspective. Further, it was felt that we lost an important balance and solidity in the side with John McGinn shifted over to the left to accommodate Bailey on the right.
With Jaden Philogene playing throughout pre-season and having impressed not only with his attacking play but with his defensive discipline and work ethic, should he have started? Emery absolutely knows best and will have closely assessed his players all week, but will he regret that decision?
Diaby impresses on Premier League debut
Perhaps the only positive to come from the game was Moussa Diaby’s performance as he scored on his league debut with a brilliant finish from an Ollie Watkins assist.
His movement, speed, ability to bring others into play and his partnership with Watkins all looked good, and he will undoubtedly be a huge player for us this season, particularly with Buendia now out.
Having looked effective in a more advanced role supporting Watkins, that will hopefully be the role and position that he is consistently deployed in to build some momentum and to continue to be decisive.
Humbling defeat, regroup, learn and move on
It was hard to watch in the latter stages as we were ultimately outplayed but also contributed to our downfall with costly mistakes. It’s a horrible way to start the season and a loss is never easy to take, but it’s arguably better that it’s happened now.
It’s a defeat that perhaps grounds us a little now given the talk before the campaign started, and it gives everyone something to think about in training this week as we regroup, learn from the mistakes and react.
Emery has big decisions ahead with the injury setbacks and we await to see if further signings are made, but he’ll have to get the balance right again, re-establish our style and restore confidence in the players to do it, as we hopefully produce the right response to facing a significant amount of adversity this past week.