Our pre-season tour in the USA didn’t get off to an ideal start this weekend, as Aston Villa suffered a 4-1 defeat to Columbus Crew in our opening game Stateside.
As reiterated by Unai Emery in his post-match interview, the result certainly takes on less importance at this stage of the year as we continue our preparations for the upcoming campaign, but the Villa boss would have learned a lot from the outing, particularly where we must still improve.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Columbus Crew: Buendia boost, quartet struggle in defeat
Difference in fitness levels was evident immediately, while Villa continue to rotate heavily to share out minutes and integrate our summer signings, but there were undoubtedly concerns in the first half as we fell to a 3-1 deficit at the break.
Our intense training sessions since arriving in the US will have contributed too as we’re of course gearing towards being in peak physical condition for August 17, but there were still talking points from our defeat in Ohio, as we hope to improve in our next two outings before returning home.
Huge boost as Emi Buendia makes his comeback
Starting with a positive, it was such a great moment to see Emiliano Buendia make his comeback after a year out with injury, and it was a fundamental step in his recovery to getting back to full fitness.
The Argentine playmaker naturally looked rusty and was off the pace a little, but he’ll have gained so much confidence from being back out on the pitch to build his fitness and sharpness back up.
We did see glimpses of his vision and passing as he looked to pull the strings in the final third, and it’s hoped he can continue to build on this now and become an influential and creative figure for us again.
Defensive issues emphasised in defeat
While Josh Feeney struggled in the first half, Lucas Digne had to fill in as a centre-half after the interval as we’re short on numbers with both Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings still missing.
Our sloppy defensive play will fix itself as we become sharper and fitter, but the lack of competition and depth in that area is a concern, and will likely be addressed before the transfer window closes.
Konsa is expected to rejoin the group once we return from the US, but there are still question marks over when we can expect Mings to make his comeback. In turn, we need more than just Pau Torres, Diego Carlos and Konsa as our senior options.
Onana, Maatsen make positive first impression
We did get a first look at some of our summer additions in the second half, as both Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen were introduced and made a positive first impression in a Villa shirt.
Maatsen was energetic and added an attacking dynamic to our play with his ability to push forward into dangerous areas, while Onana added physical presence and control in midfield as he gave us a foothold in the last half hour or so.
Their respective roles will evolve with time as they continue to adapt and integrate into the side, but it was great to see them get their first appearance under their belts.
Barrenechea continues to look like a potentially key Emery cog
Emery speaks a lot about control, and if one player has stood out as being capable of providing that controlling presence and calmness in the middle of the pitch, it’s Enzo Barrenechea.
The 23-year-old rarely gives the ball away as he looks assured, calm and composed in possession, while he consistently offers himself as an option in that deeper midfield role to help add rhythm and flow to our build-up play.
Admittedly, he still has a lot of improvement and development to come in order to be a perfect fit for what Emery wants, and he’ll soon face the additional challenge of competition for places with Youri Tielemans and John McGinn returning to the fold, while Onana pushes for a more prominent role too.
Rogers excelling in important role
Similarly to the point above, Morgan Rogers will start to face competition and pressure in the coming weeks as more players become available to Emery, but his form through pre-season so far has been hugely promising.
The 22-year-old is relishing having almost an element of freedom in the final third to roam, find space and either attack the opposition defence directly or create for others.
He is doing it so consistently well and looks a great fit for Emery’s idea of playing, that it’s hard to not see him establishing himself as a starter when the campaign gets underway, and he’ll hopefully be even more influential than he was in the second half of last season and continue to prove to be a brilliant signing.