Aston Villa produced a woeful display as we suffered a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in our Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Goals from Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer secured all three points for the hosts who were deserved winners, but it was another concerning performance from a Villa perspective as we were poor throughout.
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From conceding too easily to not taking our own chances and looking bereft of confidence across the pitch as we lacked intensity, urgency and quality in everything that we did, it’s now eight games without a win across all competitions.
Villa face a vitally important week ahead with two home games against Brentford and Southampton to come, but if we are to turn our form around and get back on track, we’ll need an enormous improvement on what we saw this weekend.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Chelsea:
Emiliano Martinez, 6 – Made some important interventions but was also guilty of making some sloppy mistakes that almost got punished. Forced off at half-time with an injury which hopefully isn’t serious.
Matty Cash, 5 – Defended diligently but lacked quality in possession to help us build out from the back. Our entire backline was put under pressure and struggled.
Ezri Konsa, 5 – Looked rusty and below his usual standards after returning from injury. Jackson caused him problems and he didn’t defend well enough in key situations as we looked vulnerable.
Pau Torres, 5 – Defended relatively well for the most part, but with teams adapting to our style of play, he’s coming under pressure and becoming more limited in his ability to play out from defence and that’s a big problem for us.
Lucas Digne, 5 – Similarly to midweek, he kept allowing his winger, on this occasion Pedro Neto, to cut inside onto his preferred left foot to deliver crosses. Limited impact going forward as only threatened with one or two crosses throughout the game.
Boubacar Kamara, 5 – Villa lacked control and physical presence in midfield, and we were too easily overrun and bypassed in that area of the pitch. He couldn’t follow up an impressive performance in midweek before being replaced just after the hour mark as he works his way back to full fitness.
Youri Tielemans, 5 – Sloppy display as he wasn’t accurate enough with his distribution. Tried forcing passes through pressure to get the ball into our attacking players, but there was no rhythm of fluidity to our play. Tried to make things happen which should be credited, but we were too easy to play against and he had a part to play in that.
Jaden Philogene, 5 – Really poor from the youngster unfortunately, as he didn’t take his chance to warrant a bigger involvement. Looked short of confidence and belief in everything he did and was also booked for diving.
John McGinn, 5 – Limited influence again as he didn’t provide enough quality in advanced areas, while he isn’t providing a link between defence and attack as efficiently as he previously did. Much like everyone else, he’s performing below the standard he’s capable of.
Morgan Rogers, 5 – Anonymous for large periods as his influence in the final third has disappeared in recent weeks. Villa lacked quality and any real sustained threat in attack, and we need more from Rogers and the others who look off the pace and are struggling physically.
Ollie Watkins, 5 – Missed two big chances with weak efforts on goal, and had those gone in with a more clinical finish to our play, the result may well have been completely different. Needs to be more ruthless in front of goal, especially now as we’re struggling for results.
Substitutes:
Robin Olsen, 6 – Well beaten by Palmer’s strike, produced a couple of decent saves to keep the score down in the latter stages.
Ross Barkley, 5.5 – Difficult position to come on in given we were behind and didn’t look like finding a way back. Added a bit more technical quality and composure in possession.
Jhon Duran, 5.5 – Almost got us on the scoresheet with a goal-bound header that was cleared, and added energy and impetus up front after coming on.
Leon Bailey, 5 – Couldn’t find a way through in key areas as he continues to lack conviction and consistency in his attacking play out wide.
Emiliano Buendia, N/A