Aston Villa picked up a 1-1 draw against Walsall at the Poundland Bescot Stadium on Saturday as we got our pre-season schedule underway.
Villa fell behind after 31 minutes as Danny Johnson scored from close range, but Ollie Watkins drew us level just 12 minutes later from the penalty spot with a confident spot-kick.
READ MORE: Exit still inevitable or is Villa ace battling to earn Emery chance?
While we had plenty of possession and looked composed and controlled throughout, there wasn’t too much in the way of clear-cut chances, but it was a decent test ahead of our pre-season tour in the USA which begins next week.
Unai Emery will welcome back more senior players in the coming days too with many having had an extended break, and so we’ll certainly see improvements made in the upcoming games as we prepare for the start of the new Premier League campaign.
Good run-out and importantly, no injuries
Given it’s merely the first game of pre-season, there really is little need to look too deeply into the performance and be too critical of any one individual.
Sure, every player would prefer to come flying out of the blocks and make a positive start, but ultimately it’s all about being at our best against Newcastle Utd away on August 12, not a relatively sunny Saturday afternoon in the middle of July in Walsall.
It was a good physical test for the players to get their fitness levels up and compete, and perhaps the most important thing of all, is that there didn’t appear to be any knocks picked up by our players who came through unscathed.
Pau Torres not involved but with squad
There had been hope that we might get our first look at Pau Torres this weekend, but Emery opted not to rush him into the side having only had a day or two of training with his new teammates.
The Spanish international will of course travel with the squad to the USA next week and we’ll see him in action then, but it was nice to see him present at the game on Saturday to support the group and continue to settle in.
It will be important for him to build chemistry and understanding with those around him on and off the pitch to speed up his acclimatisation, and he’ll have more new faces to meet next week when additional players return to Bodymoor Heath.
✅ Monchi and Pau Torres with the squad 🇪🇸🟣🔵#avfc #UTV pic.twitter.com/lEgyU95SPS
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) July 15, 2023
Villa youngsters impress
Jaden Philogene and Tim Iroegbunam caught the eye in the first half as they were positive and powerful in their runs forward and intent on the ball, and they will have done themselves no harm in trying to stake a claim to be in our squad this season.
Despite a raft of changes from the half-time break onwards, various youngsters managed to impress with Lamare Bogarde, Tommi O’Reilly and Kadan Young perhaps the pick of the bunch.
There are some key decisions ahead for Emery in terms of who stays and who is loaned out, but it’s always good to see our young players make a positive impression when given an opportunity.
Versatile shift from Sanson
There’s been a lot of talk over Morgan Sanson’s future at Villa, and admittedly quite a lot from me, but as expected, he was involved on Saturday and put in a decent performance.
The Frenchman was asked to play in a more advanced role at the start of the second half, but after Emery made several more changes just after the hour mark, he was seen deep in conversation with the midfielder to adjust his role.
Sanson sat further back thereafter and tried to dictate play in midfield, and while it wasn’t a stand-out performance by any stretch, it was a tidy effort that showed he can fit into our style and system in various positions and has the technical ability to control possession in the way in which Emery wants his team to play.
Time will tell if he’ll make the trip Stateside with the rest of the squad and continue to make his mark, or if an exit is still the most likely outcome.
Important minutes for Carlos
Much like a few of the other senior players, Diego Carlos looked a bit rusty and off the pace in the early stages, but he of course is working his way back to peak condition after his injury setback last season.
It’s a big year for the Brazilian centre-half as we need to see him prove he can reach the levels he showed prior to that injury, and if he can in turn give Emery a selection headache alongside Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Torres.
This was another important run-out for him to improve his fitness and confidence, and it’s hoped that he builds some momentum over pre-season to reach his best again in time for the new campaign.
Aston Villa vs Walsall: Marschall (Sinisalo 65’), Cash (Bogarde 65’), Carlos (Revan 65’), Feeney (Konsa 45’), Digne (Chrisene 65’), Luiz (Patterson 65’), Iroegbunam (Chambers 45’), A.Ramsey (Sanson 45’), Philogene (Kellyman 65’), Buendia (T.O’Reilly 65’), Watkins (Young 65’).
