Aston Villa kicked off our pre-season schedule with a 3-0 win at Walsall on Wednesday night, with a brace from Morgan Rogers and a late Louie Barry goal sealing the victory.
As expected, it was a decent run-out for the Villa players as they work their way back to full fitness and peak match sharpness, with Unai Emery opting to make eleven changes at the break to ensure every player named in the squad got minutes.
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While we’ll travel to Slovakia to face Spartak Trnava for our next summer outing this weekend, this was an important test to get things underway, and there were certainly early positive signs from the performance.
Naturally, Rogers stood out with his two goals which were both well taken efforts, but all of our new recruits showed promise as they continue to settle in and adapt to Emery’s demands and ideas.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Walsall:
Robin Olsen, 6 – Didn’t have much to do but was calm when involved, barring one mistake which almost got punished. Organised his backline well to limit Walsall’s threat.
Matty Cash, 7 – A good shift down the right side in the opening 45 minutes, as he looked fresh and sharp with his movement on and off the ball.
Josh Feeney, 7 – Composed in possession and showed good positional play to look solid in the first half. Confidence boost for the young talent.
Pau Torres, 7 – Assured as always as he played accurate passes out from the back and defended diligently. Good to see him dictating our play again.
Alex Moreno, 7 – Similar to Cash in that he added energy and impetus on the opposite flank, and defended well to ensure we controlled the left side throughout the first half.
Lamare Bogarde, 7 – A promising outing for the youngster in midfield, as he gave us a foothold and linked up well with Barkley at times.
Ross Barkley, 7.5 – Had a couple of shaky moments where he gifted possession to Walsall in dangerous areas, but showed control, vision and passing range to dictate and progress us up the pitch throughout the opening half. His quick-thinking led to our first goal and his corner led to the second.
Kaine Kesler-Hayden, 7 – Played in a more advanced role on the right flank, but had good moments and looked to play with positive intent throughout his time on the pitch.
Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba, 6 – Nice to see him given a chance in this one and he showed glimpses of quality. Will hopefully take a lot from the experience.
Morgan Rogers, 8 – Two excellent finishes for his goals, and was a threat around those two efforts as well. Looks to have picked up from where he left off last season and has a major role to play for us this year.
Cameron Archer, 7 – Showed good movement to cause the Walsall defence problems, and although he couldn’t find an end product, he still managed to make a positive impression.
Substitutes:
Joe Gauci – 7 – Great to see him get the second half to settle into the side and get experience in the Villa XI, and he looked calm and in command throughout the second half when called into action, albeit there were a couple of moments he might like back to be more assertive.
Kosta Nedeljkovic, 7.5 – A really promising first impression from the youngster, as he looked sharp defensively, and wasn’t afraid to push on down the right side to offer an attacking outlet. Hopefully much more to come from him through pre-season as he stakes his claim for an important role.
Diego Carlos, 7 – Played at his tempo as he used his physicality well to dominate his duels. A really solid shift in the second half to marshal our backline.
Sil Swinkels, 6.5 – Continues to show potential, and he’ll hopefully benefit from a loan spell this season to continue to develop and gain valuable experience.
Lucas Digne, 6.5 – Was relatively untroubled defensively and made some good runs down the left side to add width to our play.
Enzo Barrenechea, 7.5 – Almost made a dream start at Villa with an effort from just outside the box which went close, but the Argentine midfielder still looked really good. Found space between the lines well to give himself time on the ball, and his vision and passing was on point as he showed the capability to dictate and control a game in midfield for us.
Leander Dendoncker, 6 – Although the expectation is that he’ll leave this summer, he put in a professional effort. Almost gifted Walsall a goal at one point, but that was the only slip up in his second half outing.
Samuel Iling-Junior, 7.5 – Looked to be very positive and progressive on the ball down the left flank, and he bagged a late assist with a perfectly timed cross for Barry to tap home.
Leon Bailey, 7 – Missed a good chance after a cut-back into his path in the box, but he looked like he was enjoying himself being back playing as he showed quality and skill in possession.
Kadan Young, 6.5 – Showed great touch to cause Walsall problems down the right flank in what was a very positive and direct display.
Louie Barry, 7 – Lacked an end product after finding himself in good positions at times, but his movement was impressive and he ended up getting our third late on with a finish from close range.