Aston Villa picked up a 3-3 draw against Newcastle Utd in Philadelphia on Sunday, in what was a thrilling encounter between the two Premier League sides.
Villa raced into an early 2-0 lead after 11 minutes courtesy of goals from Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia, with the latter restoring our lead at 3-2 shortly after half-time with his second of the game.
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However, we couldn’t keep things tight enough at the back to preserve those advantages, but with fitness, avoiding injuries and building chemistry and understanding more important at this stage, the result wasn’t particularly disappointing given it was such a solid run-out against a good side played at a good tempo and intensity.
Villa have stepped up their pre-season preparations this week, and it’s hoped that we’ll be in peak condition when we face the Magpies again on August 12 in our Premier League season opener.
Villa’s structure, flow to play evident already
It may only be our second pre-season friendly so far this summer, but some of the attacking football that we played, particularly in the opening 25 minutes, was a joy to watch.
While it’s hoped that it continues to improve and become more consistent as pre-season goes on, there is a very clear structure and flow to our play now under Emery that we saw last season.
The players look comfortable, composed and confident in carrying out his tactical instructions and style of play, and although there are still some sloppy mistakes to tidy up in our defensive third, there was positive early signs on Sunday.
Buendia puts in stand-out performance
It’s all been a bit too inconsistent from the Argentine playmaker over the past couple of seasons, as the talent is evidently there, but the execution hasn’t always matched it.
This is a big year for Villa and him, as we need a consistent level of play in that creative role to ensure we break teams down and pose a more potent attacking threat.
From his assist for Watkins’ goal to the two efforts of his own in which he was at the heart of the build-up and showed real quality, it’s hoped that this was a sign of things to come from Buendia who looked switched on last night.
Youngsters impress
As with every pre-season, there is always likely to be an opportunity for our youngsters to impress and stake their claim, and that is what both Jaden Philogene and Omari Kellyman did in particular.
Time will tell if they end up staying or if they secure loans elsewhere this season, but Villa have two top talents there and Emery has evidently seen it to warrant giving them minutes on this tour.
Philogene was positive, direct and dangerous with his shift on the right side, while Kellyman came on at half-time and looked really bright and a threat through the middle. We’ll hopefully see more of them in the next two games.
New signings get minutes
It was great to see both Pau Torres and Youri Tielemans make their debuts off the bench, with the pair getting important minutes as they continue to settle in and acclimatise to their new surroundings and teammates.
Torres looked composed in possession and switched on defensively, albeit perhaps got caught out at times as he gets his bearings, while Tielemans was classy in his play on the ball as he gradually dictated things for us in midfield.
They’ll hope to step things up in the next two friendlies this week as they continue to battle for a starting berth with healthy competition in their respective positions.
Absences explained
Both eyebrows and question marks were raised after the squad for the game was announced, with some notable absentees from the group.
Emery confirmed in his pre-match interview that Moussa Diaby will begin full training with the squad on Monday and is likely to feature against Fulham on Wednesday, but there were others not yet accounted for.
“Sanson is very close to leaving and that is the reason he didn’t play,” Emery said, as per BirminghamLive. “Coutinho trained this morning alone and he is going to be ready for the next days training with the group and ready for the next matches. Dendoncker is still in Birmingham because he had a baby and he stayed there for this reason.”
While that’s a disappointing development on Morgan Sanson, albeit an expected one ultimately, it’s hoped that Philippe Coutinho will play some part this week to get his fitness levels up and time will tell if Leander Dendoncker can make the trip at all or if he will continue his preparations at Bodymoor Heath until the squad return.