Aston Villa suffered a 2-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in our latest pre-season outing, but Unai Emery was right to be positive despite the results on our USA tour thus far.
Goals from Andre Silva and Lois Openda secured the win for our opponents, while Diego Carlos was given a second yellow card just before the half-time break to reduce us to 10 men.
READ MORE: What Unai Emery said in assessment of Villa’s pre-season loss vs RB Leipzig
That’s now back-to-back defeats on our USA pre-season tour after falling to Columbus Crew last weekend, while we close out the trip with an encounter against Club America on Saturday hoping to sign off on a more positive note.
Emery cut a calm figure after the game in his post-match interview, insisting that it was another good test for his side as we continue to prepare for the new campaign, and it’s hoped that not only is he seeing positives, but these games are also exposing vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the side that he can meticulously analyse and fix before the competitive action gets underway.
Silly from Diego Carlos, red card influences game-plan
Villa started the game brightly and the first half was competitive, but shortly after our mistake led to conceding a poor opening goal, Carlos received his marching orders for a second bookable offence after becoming involved in an unnecessary personal battle with Openda.
Not only did that force Emery into a strategy change as we faced playing the entire second half with 10 men, but given our lack of depth at centre-half currently, it forced Amadou Onana, and later Leander Dendoncker, to play at the back and disrupt our preferred rhythm and set-up.
Amid speculation of a potential exit as well, it hasn’t been a positive 24 hours or so for Carlos, but it’s hoped that he’s able to learn from this and ensure there aren’t any repeats when we get our season going.
Onana impresses as he adapts quickly
It hasn’t taken Onana long to settle in and adapt to what Emery wants from him, as although there is of course still a long way to go to reach individual and collective top form, there were promising signs in this display from the Belgian international.
As well as being a combative presence in midfield to give us a foothold and wrestle back control from Leipzig, his switching of play to the opposite flank and ability to keep us moving in possession were also stand-out aspects of his performance.
Competition will be fierce for his role and the position alongside him this season, but if Villa get the right balance, we’ll hopefully be a much more imposing side in that midfield battle.
Vital Jacob Ramsey boost
Similarly to our last game, there was a real boost off the bench as this time it was Jacob Ramsey making his return to action after a lengthy injury layoff to follow in Emiliano Buendia’s footsteps.
It’s imperative that the 23-year-old gets valuable minutes now to improve his fitness and get his sharpness back, as he understandably looked a bit off the pace in this one despite showing some positive touches.
No risks were taken as his minutes were managed and he was taken off before the end after coming on as a second-half substitute, but if we can get him fully fit and pair him with the likes of Buendia, Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey behind Ollie Watkins, we will have a dynamic and dangerous attacking quartet at Emery’s disposal.
McGinn, Tielemans start process of key figures returning
While Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins are yet to rejoin the group, we’re starting to see influential figures return to the squad and reintegrate back into the side as we saw with John McGinn and Youri Tielemans in this encounter.
Unsurprisingly, they were a step off the pace as they get back to playing at a high tempo in games, but they will only strengthen the squad and improve us as we get closer to the start of the new season.
Emery has a real selection headache in midfield now given the moves that we’ve made, and so it will be fascinating to see if both McGinn and Tielemans hold on to their starting spots, and not only where they will be deployed but if they can continue to be as impactful regardless of role.
Overreactions unnecessary, but improvement needed
Admittedly, both games in the USA have been a hard watch, and that’s without the factor of watching in the early hours of the morning.
Villa have suffered consecutive defeats, conceding six goals and scoring just one. Further, the performances have dipped after the wins over Walsall and Spartak Trnava.
However, as cliche as it is, this is pre-season. We’re not going to win a trophy by beating Columbus Crew in July, nor will it result in sealing back-to-back Champions League qualifying seasons.
It’s pre-season for a reason, in that the players are focused on fitness and avoiding injury, while Emery is fine-tuning his side, integrating new signings and analysing our strengths and weaknesses all over again, with the view of being in optimal condition and at our peak in terms of chemistry and understanding for West Ham Utd away on August 17.
The Villa boss will be fully aware of where we need to improve still and perhaps where we must reinforce before the end of the transfer window, and so while it is frustrating and we never want to see Villa lose, the only thing that matters is how we look when the competitive football gets started in August.