Matty Cash has proven to be a pivotal figure in the Aston Villa side so far this season, and his versatility has been key for Unai Emery too.
Casting our minds back to last season, not only was there speculation that the 26-year-old was struggling to convince the new Villa boss, but a rare foray in a more advanced role against Wolves at Villa Park didn’t produce the desired results.
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Injuries disrupted his momentum in the latter stages of the campaign just as he was starting to cement his place in the Villa XI, but he hasn’t looked back so far this season having featured in all 13 games thus far.
Further, Cash has added three goals and two assists to his defensive duties, providing the all-important assist against Zrinjski last week for John McGinn’s dramatic late winner, while he bagged a brilliant brace in our win at Burnley in August before getting the ball rolling with an assist for the opening goal in our 6-1 victory over Brighton just under a fortnight ago.
With Emery wanting to play with three centre-halves at the back, and particularly with Alex Moreno still sidelined by injury, it’s been Pau Torres, Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa who are seemingly finding a good balance and understanding when they start together.
It allows us to move into a back three in possession with Lucas Digne pushing on down the left, and so Cash has had to show his versatility by delivering in a more advanced role on the right side. His performance at Burnley impressed Emery in particular, and it seems he’s tapping into his past experience and unlocking his potential in that position.
“He’s versatile, he played before as a winger, he’s playing with us in a back four sometimes, sometimes lower, but we used him in pre-season playing higher, as a winger,” Emery told VillaTV after our win over Burnley in August.
“He helped us a lot today defensively and offensively and then he used the moment to remember when he played more at Nottingham Forest as a winger. His two goals were a good example for us but we know he can be versatile.”
With injuries to the likes of Emiliano Buendia, Jacob Ramsey and Leon Bailey, it has limited our ability to rotate given the lack of options in wide areas, and thus we’ve seen Cash move forward and play there to good effect.
In 13 appearances so far this season, the Polish international has three goals and two assists, he’s won 43 duels, made 15 clearances, seven interceptions, four blocks while winning 51% of his tackles and has registered an 85 percent pass completion rate.
He’s done a bit of everything, and that versatility and adaptability has been crucial for Villa to start the season. Further, with his ability to arrive late at the back post and show attacking intelligence and instinct to get into good positions, he’s added a new dynamic to our play in the final third while solidifying that right side with his defensive strengths and energy.
So, whether it’s at right-back or in a more advanced role, it’s hoped we continue to see development and improvement from Cash to reinforce his importance in this Villa side.