Aston Villa made it four consecutive wins across all competitions after securing a 2-1 victory over Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday.
A Donyell Malen brace was enough to see off Scott Parker’s side, as although the visitors grabbed a late goal to set up a nervy finish, Villa did enough to hold on and keep our momentum going after a bitterly disappointing start to the season.
We certainly head into the international break in a much healthier and happier place compared to the last, but the hope is that we’re merely setting the foundation now to get back to our best, and that we can continue this form after the break rather than allow it to disrupt our winning run.
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Villa face Tottenham on October 19 before a trip to take on Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League, and with clashes against Manchester City, Liverpool and Bournemouth to follow that, we have some major tests to come to prove that our current run is a fair reflection of where we’re now at.
Villa continuing to build confidence, momentum
Confidence seemed at an all-time low just a fortnight ago, as not only were Villa struggling for positive results, but the performances were dire and raised concern that there were much bigger problems at hand.
However, we’ve managed to regroup and gradually rediscover our identity again, as not only have we returned to winning ways, but we’re looking increasingly convincing during that process with the hallmarks of what made Emery’s side so effective previously, now starting to show signs of returning.
While there’s still a lot of improvement to come, this was another reassuring and encouraging display as we get ourselves on track and hopefully continue to compete at a high level in the coming months.
Konsa a class act in defence
Having singled out Pau Torres for praise in midweek, this time it’s Ezri Konsa’s turn as he was magnificent against Burnley.
The 27-year-old’s positional awareness and reading of the game is elite, and although we can perhaps at times get frustrated with him when he looks for a cheap foul and risks being punished for it, he looks such a commanding presence when he gets it right, which is most of the time, and he looks so classy doing it.
We’ve needed the core of our squad to step up in a difficult moment, and having lost Tyrone Mings to injury during that, Konsa has shown his leadership and reliability to continue to be a pillar of the side.
Bogarde growing into role, showing his potential
The talented Dutch youngster is blossoming in front of our eyes. The statistics tell a story in themselves, with a 100 percent passing accuracy across games against Feyenoord and Fulham before recording 96.6 percent against Burnley.
Beyond the numbers though, it’s clear to see that Bogarde is relishing playing in the defensive midfield role and is growing in confidence with each outing.
That’s reflected in his driving runs forward to escape pressure and build our attacks rather than being content with playing the safe pass, while his defensive instincts allow him to help Boubacar Kamara shield our backline. Speaking of the Frenchman, he was majestic again this weekend, and Bogarde will be thriving off playing alongside him to learn his trade and continue to improve.
Malen decisive, opportunity for bigger influence
Having largely shown his quality off the bench thus far, Malen delivered in the starting line-up this weekend as his movement and finishing showed how decisive he can be for us.
The off-the-ball runs were exactly what we needed to prise Burnley open, while he was ruthless once in front of goal, but now his challenge is to show that quality on a consistent basis.
While Evann Guessand is gradually adapting and settling into the side, there is still very much an opening on our right side or in support of Ollie Watkins as a pairing up front, and Malen can make that role his own if he can continue to deliver in such clinical fashion.
Important boost getting injured players back
For all the praise that the players who started on Sunday deserve, it was such a critical boost to see Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana come off the bench and make their respective returns after injury layoffs.
We’ve been left dangerously light in midfield, albeit John McGinn has stepped up and led by example as skipper while Bogarde has flourished, but to compete at the top level consistently across multiple fronts, we need experience and depth to keep players fresh and pushing for a starting berth.
Youri Tielemans is hopefully not much further behind now either, and so it’s such a lift for all concerned to see the group getting stronger and hopefully we’ll be at full strength coming out of the international break.
We’re are all the moaning fans now I said 2-3 weeks ago it was only players who could turn it around thy were letting everyone down but more importantly them selves thy only ones who could change that hopefully were on are way up but if few things don’t go our way please please (fans) don’t start moaning we ALL want the best for our team