Aston Villa’s pre-season tour of the USA is well underway with our first outing fast approaching, as Unai Emery’s preparations for the new campaign continue.
The Villa squad arrived in Washington this past week as we ramped up our pre-season training, with the group now set to travel to Philadelphia to face Newcastle Utd on Sunday in the first of three games in the Premier League Summer Series.
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With Fulham and Brentford still to come, it promises to be an important stretch of our schedule as we not only improve fitness, but continue to build on the progress of last season with Emery getting his ideas across and working on key elements of his philosophy in his first pre-season with the squad.
Naturally at this time of year, there are plenty of questions to be answered as the Villa boss figures things out about his group, but there are perhaps five that emerge from the pack that we hope will be answered in the coming days and weeks.
Centre-half competition, who establishes themselves in starting XI?
With the addition of Pau Torres this summer, our centre-back room has becoming significantly more competitive as he joins Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Diego Carlos in the battle for a starting berth.
The quartet will all be needed this season given the number of games we’re hoping to play, but ideally we want some consistency and familiarity in the backline to build a solid foundation.
Our upcoming games could give us an indication as to who the preferred pairing will consist of, while it will also be interesting to see if there is a plan to shift Konsa across to right-back more often.
Sanson comeback story to gather pace?
Having returned from his productive loan stint at Strasbourg, Morgan Sanson has been heavily involved in pre-season thus far, and put in a decent shift against Walsall last weekend.
The Frenchman is in the thick of things in the USA and is seemingly set to get more minutes, so is this all just to tick over before a suitable offer presents itself, or is Emery planning on using him this season?
An answer to that question may not come until we get closer to the transfer deadline, but as of now, there is a sense that Sanson could be an option for the Villa boss, who was complimentary of him back in January prior to his temporary exit.
Will Coutinho re-emerge as vital option?
Speculation earlier in the month suggested that Saudi Arabia could be a realistic destination for the Brazilian playmaker this summer, but Philippe Coutinho is back with the squad and looking healthy and happy.
Injury problems prevented him from featuring in our last 15 games last season, but he looks to have been working hard over the summer to get his fitness back and be ready to fight for his place in pre-season with Emery conceding his disappointment that he didn’t get a chance to have a closer look last year.
Coutinho’s goal against Arsenal was perhaps a brief glimpse into what he can still produce at this level under Emery, and so time will tell if Villa are open to letting him leave or if the Villa boss wants to count on him this year.
Tielemans to cover Ramsey absence?
With Jacob Ramsey out injured for the foreseeable future after suffering a broken metatarsal while on England U21s duty, there is a significant void that needs to be filled in the Villa XI.
A reshuffle in midfield will likely find a solution, but it will be fascinating to see if Youri Tielemans immediately establishes himself at the front of the queue to come in and play a key role.
It’s going to be hard to replicate and replace the speed, positional awareness and goal threat that Ramsey poses consistently, but perhaps the Belgian’s creativity and technical ability in the final third will provide a different dynamic and tweak to our system.
Archer to stake his claim?
While there are a few of our youngsters on the tour, most eyes will be on Cameron Archer to determine if he can finally end the debate over whether or not he’s ready for his big chance in a Villa shirt.
He’s delivered in every challenge he’s faced thus far, and now the stage is arguably set for the 21-year-old to prove his quality and worth to Emery in order to establish himself in his plans for this season.
With no Jhon Duran and Leon Bailey having had an extended break following his international exploits with Jamaica, it’s likely to be Archer who is the main alternative to Ollie Watkins in the early part of this tour. It’s really hoped that he can take full advantage of that and play his way into staying with us.