Aston Villa were held to a goalless draw at Everton on Sunday, and it certainly felt like a missed opportunity coming away from Goodison Park, a sentiment shared by Unai Emery in his post-match analysis.
Villa enjoyed plenty of possession and gained more control as the encounter went on, and although the hosts perhaps had the clearest chance to break the deadlock, we posed a threat but ultimately couldn’t find a breakthrough.
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In turn, it’s a point that keeps us in the top four in the Premier League standings for another week, but it’s imperative that we rediscover our best form in the coming weeks to ensure we keep that chasing pack behind us and remain in a strong position heading into the latter stages of the campaign.
Emery and the players will have another break now before our FA Cup outing against Chelsea on January 26, which will be swiftly followed by the visit of Newcastle Utd to Villa Park four days later.
Control but no end product from Villa
In his post-match interview, Emery lauded the level of control that we had in the game, not only to create openings for ourselves but to limit Everton’s threat.
The Villa boss was pleased with the way we approached the game and how we implemented our game-plan, but ultimately a key factor that was missing was a clinical end product to our play.
It’s an issue that we will continue to face as teams sit deeper and defend in numbers behind the ball, and so we need influential individuals to step up and deliver quality and inventiveness in the final third to break these sides down systemically and consistently.
Emi Martinez decisive yet again
It’s ultimately become an expectation now that Martinez will step up and produce a decisive save in every game, and he did so again on Merseyside this past weekend.
His double stop to deny Calvert-Lewin and Garner was superb, and although we weren’t able to take advantage of that big moment and go on to win the game, it was important to keep a clean sheet and secure a point at least.
It’s certainly not the first time that the Argentine World Cup winner has produced a decisive intervention, and it will not be the last this season.
Blow losing Ramsey to injury once more
Villa posed a real threat down our left flank against Everton, largely through Alex Moreno’s ability to provide width and get into dangerous, advanced areas of the pitch.
In turn, although he was still searching for some form prior to his latest setback, it was a disappointing blow to lose Jacob Ramsey to injury for this game as his penetrative runs and movement could have been key in unlocking the Everton defence.
Emery was hopeful that the hamstring issue that the 22-year-old sustained in training last week is just a minor problem and he won’t be sidelined, but further tests will ultimately determine how long he’s out for again in what is becoming a frustrating, stop-start campaign for him.
Good news with Tielemans return
There was better news though as Youri Tielemans returned from an injury blow of his own, and the Belgian midfielder’s class was evident almost immediately as he offers an important option for Emery.
His ability to find pockets of space between the lines and link our play while attempting probing passes to find holes in the opposition defence will be a fundamental component of how we approach games moving forward, and so it was crucial to see him get minutes and work his way towards top form again.
Villa are missing that guile and creativity in the final third at times, particularly with Emiliano Buendia still sidelined, and so Tielemans will be critical for us in the coming weeks.
Emery still looking for best balance away from home
When Villa go with three centre-halves at the back, with Ezri Konsa typically deployed at right-back to accommodate Diego Carlos, we look a solid defensive unit for the most part.
Particularly away from home, that’s an important foundation for us to build on to try and win games, but it can also pose a problem with our lack of attacking dynamic down the right side to provide balance and threaten sides happy to sit in a low block and frustrate us.
Konsa is solid defensively and can make the odd run forward to cause problems for the opposition, but Matty Cash’s introduction injected life into our build-up play in the latter stages, and so it will be interesting to see how the Villa boss goes into our next game at Chelsea in the FA Cup.