As we eagerly await the end of the international break to see Aston Villa return to action, Unai Emery has a big decision to make next week.
John McGinn’s straight red card in the loss to Tottenham ensured that he will serve a three-game suspension, and while he missed the draw with West Ham Utd last weekend, he’ll also sit out games vs Wolves and Manchester City.
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Given what he brings to the side in both phases of the game with his physicality, tenacity and technical ability, we certainly miss the presence of the Villa skipper when he’s not involved, and particularly with Boubacar Kamara sidelined by injury too, it has become an unwanted headache.
Emery opted to go with an attacking line-up at West Ham, not only with Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey out wide with Jhon Duran partnering Ollie Watkins up top, but also with the decision to pair Youri Tielemans with Douglas Luiz.
Both the Belgian and Brazilian enjoy having possession and perhaps lack something in the defensive department when used as a duo, but although we struggled in the first half, we were able to come away with a point in our ongoing pursuit of Champions League qualification.
However, does that midfield pairing give us the best balance in McGinn’s absence? Is it the right one to stick with against Wolves and Man City, who will both present significant tests for us too?
There is an argument that going with a Luiz-Tielemans partnership is more effective in games where we expect to dictate tempo and dominate possession. They would give us an important sense of control in the midfield battle, and allow us to build sustained pressure by keeping the ball and pushing us into advanced areas.
In contrast, and this particularly applies to the City game, is it a physical or balanced enough pairing when we perhaps won’t see as much of the ball and need to be resilient, cover significant ground out of possession and be disciplined in our defensive shape?
That’s not to question the desire or character of the duo, as we saw against West Ham that they’ll be more physical if necessary and do that part of the game if it’s what the team needs.
However, having green-lit the loan exit of Leander Dendoncker in January, and essentially cleared the path for Tim Iroegbunam to get more opportunities, is the talented 20-year-old the right option in the next two games?
His involvement in the Premier League is gradually increasing with 11 minutes at Luton Town before a 21-minute run-out vs Tottenham.
Further, he started in Amsterdam in the first leg of our round-of-16 Europa Conference League tie before getting 16 minutes off the bench in the return fixture, and so his adaptation process has been building momentum as he settles into the side and understands Emery’s demands and style.
While he also boasts technical ability on the ball and a desire to roam into more advanced areas, Iroegbunam brings a physicality, agility and athleticism to our midfield that could be key in our upcoming fixtures, to allow us to impose ourselves on the opposition and dictate in the way we want to.
Additionally, it could give more freedom to Luiz to continue to excel in his usual role, while we’ve seen Tielemans has been much more impactful and influential when playing further forward in support of Watkins.
Conversely, is Iroegbunam experienced and mature enough yet to handle two huge back-to-back games? Wolves will be a threat on the counter while City will be a daunting test with their midfield class. It’s a big ask of the young midfielder to come in and start either of these games.
Emery will no doubt meticulously prepare for each game and have specific, tailored game-plans that he believes will see us overcome both Wolves and Man City. It’s hoped that Iroegbunam features heavily in either or both, as we’ll need a big shift from someone in McGinn’s absence, and the youngster feels like he could be the right choice.
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