Aston Villa fell to a 3-0 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday as we fell short of reaching the high standards we’ve set over the past fortnight.
While a trip to Anfield is always a difficult assignment and ultimately the hosts deserved the three points this weekend, Villa arrived off the back of a four-game winning streak having scored 15 goals and conceded just one.
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Admittedly, that was against inferior opposition, but that added to the disappointment that we weren’t able to make this more competitive, as we now go into the international break with plenty to ponder.
Searching for balance in big away games
Having suffered a big defeat away at Newcastle Utd on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, there is perhaps a key hurdle that Villa still have to overcome on the road against the top sides.
When we don’t have the level of control we strive to obtain in games through possession and tempo, coupled with adversity that we can’t account for at times, we don’t seem to react all too well to that, at the moment.
Further, is the high defensive line always the right approach to have? These are fundamental principles of Emery’s football though and he’ll work to perfect them rather than change it. While we’ve shown we can produce it consistently over 90 minutes against other sides, it’s still a big challenge for us in these crunch showdowns with the top teams.
Clinical edge deserts us
While Liverpool had chances to stretch their lead too, Villa missed key opportunities in both halves that could have potentially changed the complexion of the game.
Jurgen Klopp himself emphasised the importance of Liverpool’s early goal in terms of how that influenced what followed, while it’s also worth mentioning that the Reds boss has been nothing but complimentary of Emery and Villa this past week.
Had we been more clinical in this game, we could have not only gone into half-time with an entirely different scenario awaiting us in the second half, but having also missed some great chances straight after the break, we’ll be left to rue what could have been.
Torres under the spotlight
There’s no denying the importance of Pau Torres to the way in which we want to play, as his composure, passing accuracy and calmness in possession help us build out from the back in a measured and effective way.
However, the Spaniard has been caught out in our last two league outings, with question marks being raised over his physicality and decision-making as he looked really vulnerable at Anfield in particular.
Much of it was his own doing given he tried too much in certain situations where he needed to keep it simple and take the safer option, and so this will be a test for him moving forward as it amplifies the blow of losing Tyrone Mings for the season.
Tone-setter McGinn not at his best, Villa follow suit
It’s been said for a while now that when Villa captain John McGinn sets the tone and standard with his performance, the rest of the team follow his example and play to that level.
Ezri Konsa even conceded as much recently, and while our skipper was excellent over the past fortnight, he wasn’t able to have the same level of influence on this game and it unsurprisingly impacted our overall display.
While that’s not to say we’re over-reliant on him and this is a proven theory 100 percent of the time, there is a trend. In turn, he has to find ways of imposing himself better in both phases when it feels as though we’re getting overrun and almost bullied to an extent as we continuously lost second balls and 50/50s in midfield. That’s also on Boubacar Kamara in particular to be more influential too.
Zaniolo pushing for bigger role
One of the positives to take from the performance was the impact of Nicolo Zaniolo off the bench, as the 24-year-old Italian international was positive again with his directness, quality in possession and ability to make us tick in the final third.
While he wasn’t necessarily played in his best position in this one, he still looked a threat, and he’s surely now pushing for a bigger role against Palace after the conclusion of the break.
It will be interesting to see where he fits in as Emery likely won’t want to disrupt and break up the Moussa Diaby-Ollie Watkins partnership, but it could need some tinkering to fit Zaniolo in too as he is looking motivated and capable of playing an important role for us by bringing a different dynamic to our play.
