Aston Villa fell to a 1-0 defeat to Club América in the final game of our pre-season tour in the USA this summer, with Illian Hernandez scoring the only goal of the game.
Our latest loss means it’s a clean sweep of defeats across our three games Stateside, and although there is a sense of disappointment that we couldn’t produce more positive outcomes, Villa were given three important tests and solid run-outs to help with our preparations for the new campaign.
READ MORE: Double fitness boost among most important positives in Villa pre-season so far
As expected, Unai Emery changed his line-up from half-time onwards as he looks to get everyone fit and integrated into his side, and we’ll hopefully see a more settled XI against Athletic Bilbao and Borussia Dortmund with more key players returning, ahead of our Premier League opener on August 17.
The Villa boss once again reiterated that although the result wasn’t good, both he and his coaching staff will continue to take significant information away from these games, and provided we’re prepared and at our best against West Ham Utd in a fortnight, our pre-season results will mean very little in the grand scheme of things.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Club America:
Joe Gauci, 6 – Continues to improve his distribution, and made one big save in the first half to showcase his shot-stopping ability. One other key observation was that his starting position was a lot better compared to the last game, and so he was able to sweep up danger.
Matty Cash, 6 – Had his hands full in the first half as Borja caused him problems, with Club América continuing to use a quick switch of play to find him in space. Cash though, stuck to his task well and put in a decent shift.
Lamare Bogarde, 7 – Impressive outing for the youngster who was back in a more natural role as a centre-half. Showed composure and technical ability in possession, and was switched on throughout the first half to snuff out danger, with one important intervention standing out in particular as he denied a big goalscoring opportunity.
Pau Torres, 7 – Showcased his importance in possession with his patience and ability to break the press with calm and accurate distribution. Defensively sound for the most part as he continues to see his centre-half partner switched every game.
Ian Maatsen, 7 – Impressed in the first half as his positive attacking runs down the left flank were one of the stand-out aspects of our performance, as he added an important dynamic to our attacking play. Looks to be growing in confidence and settling in with every game.
Leon Bailey, 6 – Went agonisingly close with an effort that struck the post, and although he looked a threat at times, Villa didn’t retain possession well enough to build sustained pressure and allow him to attack with consistency.
Amadou Onana, 7 – Another impressive performance in both phases. Defensively solid as he covers ground quickly to show his tenacity out of possession, while he’s composed and accurate with his passing to help us control proceedings and give us physical presence in the midfield battle.
Youri Tielemans, 6 – Still working his way back into things after joining the squad later than others, but settled into that midfield pivot well alongside Onana and kept things ticking over nicely for the most part. Will no doubt improve as he gets fitter and sharper with playing time.
John McGinn, 6 – Had our best chances of the game as he saw one strike hit the post before curling another effort from distance just off target. Similar to Tielemans in that he’s playing his way back to full fitness to get back to his best at this stage.
Morgan Rogers, 6.5 – Good movement off the ball and a deft touch with it at his feet as he looked to play Cameron Archer in on a couple of occasions. Didn’t pull those passes off, but the vision and courage to try are positive signs as he looks to continue to play an influential role for us.
Cameron Archer, 5.5 – A difficult game for him with Villa struggling to keep the ball and build pressure, but it wasn’t one of his better displays. Did well at times to stretch play and hold the ball up, but had a couple of openings he could have exploited shortly before coming off, but ultimately made the wrong decisions in key moments and threatening areas.
Substitutes:
Lucas Digne, 6 – Had to fill in at centre-half again and to his credit, he did a decent job of keeping the opposition at bay with a focused and diligent effort.
Kosta Nedeljkovic, 7 – One of the biggest positives of pre-season has been the emergence of the 18-year-old. Always positive with his intent on the ball, either to play forward or burst into space himself and provide width down the right flank. Still needs to improve defensively, but his recovery pace allows him to get back and cover any mistakes.
Leander Dendoncker, 6 – Similar to Digne in that he put in a good shift considering he was asked to play in the backline. Will most likely move on this summer, but showed his versatility and usefulness on this tour.
Alex Moreno, 6.5 – Positive influence on our play after the break as he got up and down the left side and provided balance to the side as well as an attacking threat.
Enzo Barrenechea, 6 – Promising outing again as he’s evidently comfortable and effective in possession, but perhaps still needs to improve physically and with his work off the ball. Will excel when we dominate games and control possession, but hopefully can be a bigger presence in midfield to help us impose ourselves more effectively.
Ross Barkley, 6 – Some more positive indications from him in this one as he was really good at playing through the lines and releasing our attacking players into space into the final third. We’ll hopefully see that more consistently as time goes on and a better end-product from his teammates to make it count.
Jacob Ramsey, 7 – In only his second game back after injury, there was a lot to like about this performance in the second half. Showed good movement to drift into spaces and dangerous areas, and he’s starting to look a lot sharper already with his touch. Had he got better service, he could have got himself onto the scoresheet.
Jaden Philogene, 6 – Positive with his work on the ball to try and make something happen, and he’ll hopefully emerge as a spark for us off the bench this season given his ability to take his man on and offer a threat on the right side.
Emiliano Buendia, 6.5 – Still a bit rusty and looked to keep it simple at times, but he’s working hard off the ball to get back up to full speed and he still has that important quality of finding space between the lines to be able to pull the strings and have a positive influence for us.
Oliwier Zych, 6.5 – Produced an excellent save shortly after coming on, but was well beaten in the 1v1 for the goal.
Lewis Dobbin, N/A
It’s as clear as the nose on your face Villa have scored one goal in three defeats and that simply won’t cut it, come on goals win games and yes we have Watkins coming back but this clearly shows what will happen if he gets injured it will come back to bite us big time, so a striker is essential and urgently needed if we don’t sign one I’m afraid our season is down the drain, I find it hard to believe that the club can’t see this it’s patently clear.