Aston Villa fell to a 4-1 defeat to Man City on Wednesday night, with Unai Emery and the players now aiming to respond against Brentford this weekend.
An early goal for the hosts left us fearing the worst given it was a much-changed Villa line-up, but Jhon Duran struck back to level things and it appeared set to be that way going into the half-time interval.
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However, Villa conceded a soft goal just before the break as our defensive wall was nowhere near good enough to prevent Phil Foden’s free-kick from going in, and although we started the second-half brightly, the City ace registered a hat-trick as the game got away from us after the hour mark.
It’s a disappointing loss and setback in our pursuit of a top-four finish in the Premier League this season, but the reaction is now the most important thing as we’ve bounced back well all season, and we’ll need to do it again on Saturday when we host Brentford at Villa Park.
Olsen steps up after late blow
Despite initially being named in the starting XI, Emiliano Martinez withdrew late on due to illness, and so Robin Olsen was thrust into action in perhaps the most difficult of situations and opposition.
The experienced Swede has his detractors among the Villa fans given his poor performances previously, but he deserves credit for his display this week as he produced a string of quality saves to keep us in the game.
Naturally, it’s hoped that Martinez is able to recover for Saturday and is restored to the Villa XI, but it was a real positive to see Olsen step up and deliver a performance like this one to give confidence to Emery that he can rely on him when needed.
Iroegbunam shows positive signs
It was a big challenge for Tim Iroegbunam to make his first league start against the reigning champions, and particularly after only a handful of cameo appearances off the bench previously.
After a shaky start, the 20-year-old asserted himself well as he began to make key interventions to win back possession as he shielded the backline, while he grew in confidence in possession to keep us ticking over.
These are pivotal experiences for the talented midfielder, and it’s hoped that he’s proving to Emery that he can be an important option for him moving forward, both in the short-term and long-term future.
Duran makes his mark in big chance
Similarly for Duran, this was a significant opportunity for him in the absence of Ollie Watkins to prove to Emery that he can be a reliable depth option, but also a young talent that can push on to compete for a starting berth.
He produced a positive and lively first-half display which was capped off with a top finish for his goal, and as he continues to gain experience, mature and develop his game, he’ll hopefully establish himself further in Emery’s long-term plans.
Aside from the attacking threat that he provided, his work ethic and determination out of possession was really promising to see, and that indicated his attitude and approach is where it needs to be as part of the structure and system Emery is building and the application that he demands.
Six changes from Emery for City clash
While there were two enforced changes for the Villa boss with neither Watkins nor Martinez available, he opted to make four more with Pau Torres, Alex Moreno, Youri Tielemans and Leon Bailey all rested on the bench.
On one hand, there will be criticism of his decision as our starting line-up was weakened as a result, and although we were still competitive, things could have been different with a stronger side.
However, as the Villa boss emphasised in his post-match interviews, it is absolutely fundamental that he gives chances to the rest of the squad in order to help them adapt and settle in our structure and idea of how we want to play, and the most effective way to do that is to give them minutes.
As noted above, the likes of Iroegbunam and Duran will have benefitted hugely from this game, but the expectation is that we’ll see a stronger Villa side take on Brentford, and one that is refreshed and less fatigued given their mid-week rest.
Response needed vs Brentford
The danger of this strategy though is that it can go pear-shaped, not only in the City game where we rotated, rested and lost, but also against Brentford, a game we’re evidently targeting as a winnable one.
That makes it imperative that we get three points on Saturday to bounce back and boost confidence, and to further cement our place in the top five in our pursuit of Champions League qualification.
Emery will be boosted by the return of John McGinn from suspension, while Martinez, Watkins and Jacob Ramsey will hopefully be available again. Add on top of that Torres, Moreno, Tielemans and Bailey all being recharged, we’ll hopefully be celebrating three massive points come Saturday evening to finish the week better than it’s gone so far.