Aston Villa were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by Crystal Palace this past weekend as our underwhelming form continued with no wins in our last six games across all competitions.
After a nightmare start having conceded the opener in the fourth minute, Villa responded gradually and positively as the first half went on and drew level through Ollie Watkins.
READ MORE: Villa receive crucial double injury boost in training ahead of Juventus clash
However, a shambolic end to the first half saw Youri Tielemans miss from the penalty spot before the visitors retook the lead on a counter-attack from the resulting corner, and although Ross Barkley’s header salvaged a point, but it was another frustrating afternoon for Unai Emery and Villa.
With Juventus next up in the Champions League and a trip to Chelsea to follow in the Premier League, things don’t get any easier for Villa, as we must find a way to get back to winning ways and rebuild confidence and momentum.
Porous defence continues to be our downfall
One of the unwanted trends through this poor run of form has been our vulnerability at the back and habit of conceding poor goals, and that was on show again on Saturday afternoon with both goals that we conceded.
From not being tight enough and affording Palace players too much time and space to scythe through us on the counter-attack for the first, to simply not learning our lessons from the Liverpool defeat and conceding from our corner, our defending just hasn’t been good enough as a collective recently.
We’ve conceded 19 goals in 12 games so far this season in the Premier League, giving us the worst defensive record of the top 10. That can’t continue if we want to climb the standings and match, or improve on, last season.
Absence of midfield duo is a huge blow for us
While it was great to see Barkley back from injury, it was clear that we lack balance and presence in midfield without one of Amadou Onana or Boubacar Kamara featuring next to Barkley or Tielemans in our deeper pivot.
It was too easy for Palace to bypass our midfield and get at our backline, and particularly with those counter-attacks that we struggled with, the presence of either Onana or Kamara could have stemmed that threat given their positional awareness and ability to provide a defensive shield.
It isn’t necessarily an issue when we’re in complete control and have the opposition penned in if we’re playing free-flowing and confident football, but when we’re struggling like we are currently, we need a more robust and resilient set-up.
Double boost seeing Barkley, Cash back
Building on the point above though, it was vital to see Barkley and Matty Cash return from injury to bolster our ranks this past weekend as we need to get back to having as close to a fully-fit squad as possible.
Barkley may not start once Onana and Kamara are back, but he provides us with an alternative dynamic in midfield, and he’ll certainly be needed in the weeks and months ahead.
As for Cash, we need him to have a consistent and lengthy run in the side now free of injury, as we saw even with the latest tweak of starting Lamare Bogarde at right-back, we lacked balance and solidity in defence and we need to have a settled centre-half pairing of Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres back in place.
Show of character to battle back twice
On a more positive note, we showed good character and determination to battle back from behind twice to salvage a point. Things are clearly not going right for us currently and we’re nowhere near our best, but it’s important we’re able to scrap these games out and get results.
As evidenced by the reaction from the players after the game and even Emery conceding that we’re making mistakes and getting punished, there is a clear awareness and acceptance that we have to improve, but as we go through this spell, we have to find ways to pick up points somehow.
With Juventus and Chelsea up next, we’ll undoubtedly need more of that grit and tenacity to have a chance of making it a positive week.
Still lacking clinical, ruthless edge to our play
Although we did score twice against Palace and both goals were well crafted and well taken, there is still a sense of us not being ruthless enough in recent games to dominate and put our opponents away.
Watkins had two openings in the first half where he couldn’t apply a headed finish, while Tielemans missing his penalty was a massive moment in the contest as had we gone in with a lead at the break, it could have gone very differently in the second half.
With Leon Bailey, Morgan Rogers and John McGinn lacking the quality needed to consistently drive us forward and pose a threat too, we have to get that sharpness and clinical edge back to punish teams and give the defensive side time to get back to performing at a higher level.
