Aston Villa secured a 3-0 win over Spartak Trnava in our latest pre-season outing, with goals from Leon Bailey, Morgan Rogers and Cameron Archer sealing the victory.
Villa boss Unai Emery took a strong squad over to Slovakia as expected, and similarly to the win over Walsall in midweek, he opted to make sweeping changes at half-time to give everyone minutes.
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While the result obviously isn’t as important at this stage, he would have been pleased with what he saw both in terms of individual performances and as a collective, with plenty of positives to take away as well as areas to improve.
It was a decent run-out to continue our preparations, and as we prepare to welcome back a whole host of key players ahead of our pre-season tour in the USA, things will no doubt now start to ramp up the closer we get to the new campaign getting underway.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Spartak Trnava:
Joe Gauci, 7 – A promising display in the first half, as although he wasn’t particularly tested, he was composed and accurate with his distribution as he invited the press, while he commanded his box well to collect crosses with minimal fuss.
Kosta Nedeljkovic, 7.5 – Impressed again as he gets the ball out of his feet with his first touch and pushes forward at every opportunity. Positive and energetic, he looks like a real asset on that right side, particularly when playing with Bailey.
Diego Carlos, 6.5 – Physically imposing and in control when faced with any threat, it was a solid shift from the Brazilian centre-half, albeit he gets marked down for an early booking after being caught out.
Sil Swinkels, 6.5 – Gaining valuable experience with his playing time in pre-season, as although he looked shaky on occasion with a heavy touch or loss of positioning, he looked confident and assured for the most part.
Lucas Digne, 6.5 – A decent effort as he got forward to add width when possible and posed a direct threat for one effort on goal. He was caught out defensively though with some lacklustre defending too. It’s only pre-season but he’s got a lot of competition as things stand so must make these run-outs count.
Leander Dendoncker, 7 – Ultimately the expectation is that he’ll leave before the end of the transfer window, and so for him to look good in these pre-season games works for everyone as it will hopefully build up interest. A tidy shift as he swept things up in front of the defence and kept it simple but accurate with his passing.
Enzo Barrenechea, 7 – Another encouraging display from the Argentine midfielder. He’s still settling in and adapting so we’re not seeing anything too extravagant yet, but it’s his intelligence in finding space and making himself available that is really promising as he fits into the side and makes his mark.
Leon Bailey, 7 – Superb finish to break the deadlock as he curled a wonderful effort into the far corner. Was full of running and showed off his skills and flair to try to create more openings in a good run-out.
Louie Barry, 6.5 – Villa lacked quality and an attacking threat for the most part in the first half, but he showed glimpses of his attacking ability on the ball as he awaits to see what’s next for him in the upcoming season.
Samuel Iling-Junior, 6.5 – Still working his way into the side as although he showed good energy and intent, wasn’t able to pose much of a threat in the final third, albeit Villa did generally struggle to create much going forward.
Lewis Dobbin, 6.5 – Showed good pace and directness with his play when picking up possession in deeper positions to then turn and drive towards goal. Similarly to others though, we didn’t create enough in the first half to be more impactful.
Substitutes:
Robin Olsen, 7 – Produced a couple of good saves to protect our clean sheet, and looked assured when dealing with deliveries into the box.
Matty Cash, 6 – Showed good energy to inject freshness into our play down the right side in the second half, although he got badly caught out with the last kick of the game that Spartak almost scored from.
Josh Feeney, 6.5 – A decent effort as he was calm and accurate when in possession, and did his job for the most part defensively to keep the home side at bay when on the attack.
Pau Torres, 6.5 – Added a classy touch at the back after the break, showing his trademark coolness and composure to build our play out from defence.
Alex Moreno, 6.5 – Had an impact with his runs forward and delivery into the box, but was unfortunate that he couldn’t pick out a teammate to grab an assist or two.
Lamare Bogarde, 7 – Imposed himself well to give us a foothold and control in midfield, and even showed his ability to break forward with the ball too. Has put in two promising pre-season performances so far.
Ross Barkley, 7.5 – His role is becoming very clear already in that he drops back, picks up possession to control and dictate tempo and passing in order for us to slow things down and probe. Looks to be having an important influence even at this early stage in a promising initial development.
Kaine Kesler-Hayden, 7 – Full of energy as he didn’t stop running up and down that right flank. Will be frustrated he couldn’t make a more telling contribution in terms of being decisive in the final third, but a positive outing nonetheless.
Kadan Young, 6.5 – Looked dangerous with his direct play and ability to take his man on, and so he’ll be encouraged by that. Couldn’t quite add an end product to that play though.
Morgan Rogers, 8 – Aside from his goals, he’s looking really sharp and full of confidence. Rogers is brilliant at finding pockets of space between the lines and he wants the ball at all times to make something happen. Took his goal well and grabbed an assist for our third in another stand-out display.
Cameron Archer, 7 – Showed good movement and desire in the second half, and was rewarded, via a deflection, as he drilled home our late third.
