Aston Villa were held to a 2-2 draw by Eintracht Frankfurt in Louisville on Saturday night as our USA pre-season tour got underway.
Goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers twice put us in the lead against the Bundesliga side, but they were able to produce a response on both occasions to ensure that there was a share of the spoils.
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It was another important run-out for the Villa players as our preparations for the new campaign continue, and we’ll now switch our focus to St. Louis City and Nashville SC over the course of the next week before heading back home to continue our work.
Emery boost as senior stars return, 21 players used
Having been short of options in our opening two pre-season friendlies with a significant number of our young Academy players being used, Unai Emery was able to reintegrate all of our senior players to kick-start our USA tour.
Emiliano Martinez, Yasin Ozcan and John McGinn were unused substitutes, but the Villa boss used 21 players in total, and so it was the ideal way to get our tour going as it’s imperative that everyone in the squad gets back up to speed and finds rhythm going into our remaining fixtures.
As expected, the level of quality in our performance went up after two underwhelming outings prior, and it’s hoped that we can continue to advance through the schedule without picking up any injuries along the way.
Clear step up in tempo and urgency in good test
Albeit Frankfurt perhaps overstepped the line at times with some robust challenges that were unnecessary in a pre-season game, it was a good step up for Villa in terms of tempo and intensity to get us prepared for the new Premier League season next month.
Our opponents were eager to press, get stuck into tackles and hit us on the counter-attack with pace, and so these were all positive aspects to ensure that this was a real test for us as we’ll undoubtedly face similar tactics in the new season.
That not only brought out quality play from us, but it also forced mistakes as we saw in the build-up to the goals conceded, and so for Emery it would have been a very useful outing to analyse and ensure we improve when the competitive action gets back underway.
Malen ready for a big season
Having had the second half of last season to settle and adapt, Donyell Malen is being tipped to have a major influence in his second year with us and it’s easy to see why after his performance this weekend.
The Dutchman produced both assists for our goals with smart movement down the right side before picking out a teammate with an accurate pass into the box, and Emery will no doubt have been delighted with what he saw.
Naturally, there are still areas for him to improve in, namely tracking back and giving us defensive cover when needed, but Malen certainly looks primed for a crucial impact this year.
Bizot looks comfortable
Marco Bizot got the nod once again between the posts, and the Dutch shot-stopper continued to show signs of being a more than capable back-up option behind Emiliano Martinez.
Aside from his presence in the box and organisation of the backline, his distribution really stood out as he almost claimed a superb assist with Watkins going close to doubling our lead in the early stages.
Importantly, Bizot looks comfortable in the position and a good fit for how Emery wants us to play out from the back, and it’s hoped that continues when he’s called upon at the start of the new season.
Valuable minutes as settled squad gets full pre-season
To build on the point above, it was vitally important to see our senior players return to the fold early this summer and start getting their fitness and rhythm back to where they want them to be.
This time last year, it was a disrupted build-up due to international commitments and injuries, and so Emery will be relishing having a full group to work with and really get his ideas across and ensure everyone is ready for the season opener against Newcastle Utd in less than a month’s time.
Whether it’s Bizot settling in, Malen becoming increasingly influential or Watkins being injury-free and preparing in the best possible way, with a lack of new signings thus far, it’s imperative that those already at Emery’s disposal hit the ground running when it comes to the start of the new campaign and hopefully they’ll see reinforcements arrive at some stage.
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