After back-to-back wins this week, Aston Villa are hopefully now starting to find some form and confidence to put our woeful start to the season firmly behind us.
Goals from Ollie Watkins, John McGinn and Emiliano Buendia ensured that we overcame an early setback against Fulham to secure all three points, and in turn we continue to climb the Premier League table after encountering difficulties in the early weeks.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Fulham: Quartet lead way in crucial comeback win
Coupled with our win over Bologna in midweek, we’re hopefully now on the right track to getting our campaign going, but naturally we have to keep improving and that starts against Feyenoord and Burnley next week ahead of the upcoming international break.
As far as the Fulham win goes though, it was a much-needed boost for all concerned, and hopefully it’s a sign that we’re getting back to playing at the level we’re capable of.
Villa showing improvement, results boosting confidence
Particularly in the second half and within that period of scoring a quick-fire double, there were clear signs that Villa were starting to feel like themselves again, playing with energy, urgency and applying pressure on the opposition to impose ourselves more effectively.
Further, after going ahead 3-1, we started to win 50/50s with more consistency as there was a shift in the approach and belief in the players, and that is ultimately what confidence can do.
Now, it can quickly disappear just as we saw through the opening few weeks of the season and so we must strive to continue improving, but Emery has insisted after our last few games that he has seen improvement, and he’ll be delighted with the character and application from the players this weekend.
Pau reiterates his importance and influence
While it was a blow to lose Tyrone Mings early on and it’s never nice to see our players suffer injury setbacks, the introduction of Pau Torres was arguably key to our ability to secure the win.
The Spaniard gave us composure and the quality to play intricate passes into midfield to add rhythm and cohesion to our play, and impressively, he also dealt with the physicality and pace of Adama Traore very efficiently.
He’s done enough in the last two games to cement his place in the side, and with Mings perhaps now sidelined by injury, he’ll get that opportunity anyway. However, particularly with the absence of Youri Tielemans, Pau is crucial to playing our preferred style, especially with opponents continuing to pack the midfield, cut off our passing lanes and force us wide where we struggle to build play.
McGinn leads by example
Naturally, his goals will back up the above statement more so than any other aspect of his game, but McGinn has stood up and made the difference to help drag us out of our slump.
Both of his strikes this week have been quality finishes, and that in itself has galvanised the team and supporters as we’ve battled our way out of trouble, albeit we’re not out of the woods just yet.
With his trademark energy, urgency, determination and tenacity, the Villa skipper has led the way in our turnaround over the past few days, and hopefully he can continue to do so.
Buendia relishing second chance
Buendia’s time at Villa was seemingly coming to an end last season after his loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen, but after a positive pre-season and things aligning in favour of staying with us, he is relishing the opportunity to play his part for us once again.
Prior to his injury setback, the Argentine playmaker was starting to cement his place in the Villa XI and thrive under Emery, but that was derailed by that devastating knee injury that he suffered.
Having worked his way back and never been shy in expressing his desire to help Villa, both through his actions on the pitch and words off it, it’s so good to see him making the difference and playing a key role in a winning cause.
Vital goal for Watkins to kick-start his season
How Watkins needed that goal. While Morgan Rogers has gained unwanted attention due to his poor performances, Watkins has also been struggling and his penalty miss against Bologna wouldn’t have helped matters.
Having finally got back on the scoresheet this weekend though, and in fine fashion with an excellent controlled lob over the goalkeeper, it’s hoped that now sparks both him and Villa into life on a more consistent basis in the final third.
There was both relief and joy in his celebration, and as he has done in the past under Emery, hopefully this goal now starts a run of goalscoring form that sees him give us a much-needed source of firepower when leading the line and helps inspire others around him to find that next gear too.
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