Upon the conclusion of the International break, Aston Villa return to action with the visit of Crystal Palace on September 16 to mark the beginning of a busy fortnight.
Villa play five times over 14 days, with league clashes against Palace, Chelsea and Brighton, as well as our first Europa Conference League group stage game against Legia Warszawa and our third-round Carabao Cup tie against Everton.
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With just three days in between some of those games, we’ll face the challenge that was spoken about in pre-season in terms of our gruelling new schedule, and the hope is that Unai Emery has the options needed to ensure we can rotate and maintain our best level.
Importantly since he arrived, we’ve shown an ability to slot other players into key roles and continue to play our way with no significant drop off.
It’s all about the system and style of play for the Villa players under Emery, and so it’s a real strength of ours if we can seamlessly rotate without disrupting our rhythm, balance and idea of playing in the starting XI.
However, this will be a new challenge for most of the players in the squad. Further, it represents a chance for those who perhaps haven’t featured as heavily thus far to stake their claim and really cement their respective spots in the Villa line-up moving forward.
While the likes of Robin Olsen, Calum Chambers, Clement Lenglet, Jhon Duran and Leander Dendoncker must step up and deliver to show we’ve got the necessary strength in depth to be competitive even when rotating, Youri Tielemans and Nicolo Zaniolo among others will view it as their opportunity to prove they deserve a more prominent role.
The mentality and approach of the players will be fundamental, as they all have a role to play in our bid to challenge for silverware this season, as we’ll no doubt need to rest key players and keep everyone fresh but involved.
That said, perhaps the biggest test of all will be for Emery, in getting that balance as close to perfect as possible to ensure we sustain our high standards, regardless of the changes in personnel, and get results across multiple fronts.
It’s nothing new for the Spanish tactician given his experience and success in European competitions previously, but it is his first experience of it with Villa and with this group of players.
While we suffered two major blows at the start of the season after losing both Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings to significant injuries, we’re also still awaiting the returns of Jacob Ramsey, Alex Moreno and Tim Iroegbunam.
Moreno will seemingly be ready to make his comeback after the break having now returned to group training, but it’s still unclear at this stage how long Ramsey will need, and given his influence and quality, it will be a huge boost to have him back available.
Further, question marks were perhaps raised over the number of players Villa allowed to leave this summer, with Philippe Coutinho the latest to depart as the squad was trimmed further.
Many of those who left were players that had a very limited role anyway and so it’s not as if we’re losing a whole lot, but while the likes of Cameron Archer, Jaden Philogene and Aaron Ramsey have moved on, it has opened the door for Omari Kellyman, Tommi O’Reilly and other top prospects to push for a breakthrough and make their mark when given a chance.
This Villa squad when at full strength undoubtedly has the capability to compete for our objectives this season, but the fortnight that follows the international break will be a vital learning experience and a crucial test of our ability to actually deliver on that potential.
It’s all about the system and style of play for the Villa players under Emery, and so it’s a real strength of ours if we can seamlessly rotate without disrupting our rhythm, balance and idea of playing in the starting XI.
can you explain that a bit more……because in my mind players move around from club to club and are expected to adapt…..most teams purpotedly play different, so how would players adapt if tht is the case.
Do we quote systems and playing styles too much/unecessarily for what is essentially a simple game.
Specifically in our case, was referencing the characteristics and tactical versatility of the players in the squad. Whether that’s having the technical quality on the bench to try and still control games through possession, or having individuals in defence who can adjust to switching to a back-three on the ball. The template is there, so if it’s Calum Chambers or Youri Tielemans etc. coming in, think they slot into their roles well and hopefully we’re still as effective regardless of changes and don’t have to tweak how we approach games.