At a critical time of the season, Aston Villa ace Moussa Diaby is starting to find some form and make a decisive impact for Unai Emery.
It’s been a tricky first season at the club for the 24-year-old, as despite making an immediate and positive impression in pre-season and at the start of the campaign, he went through a quiet period from December through to February.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs West Ham: Trio decisive to help earn battling draw
Seven goals and six assists in 41 appearances so far this year is a decent return when you consider it’s difficult for players to initially adapt to and satisfy Emery’s tactical and physical demands, but with the expectation that came with his signing and the transfer fee involved, many would have hoped to see more from Diaby to this point.
Being in and out of the side in recent months would have further complicated his settling-in process, but Emery has had to go with his strongest line-up, and at times, deploying Youri Tielemans in a more advanced role to support Ollie Watkins has worked well for us.
Fortunately though, it feels as though Diaby is starting to rediscover some of his best form as he has been decisive in recent weeks, and now has the added confidence-boost of being recalled to the France squad during the international break to give him another lift.
In addition to his well-taken goal against Ajax, he has now produced two game-defining assists in his last three Premier League outings, providing the cross for Lucas Digne’s winner at Luton Town, before delivering the ball for Nicolo Zaniolo to rescue a point at West Ham Utd this past weekend.
A player with his quality needs to make those decisive moments count, and particularly in his current role off the bench in the league, he’s making a fundamental contribution in our ongoing push to try and secure a top-four finish this season.
Emery will likely continue to tinker with his position and role, as while Diaby has often struggled as the support striker behind Watkins, we looked a more dynamic, unpredictable and genuine threat with the French international and Leon Bailey playing out wide, albeit they have looked threatening when playing in close proximity to one another as well.
In turn, that will be down to the Villa boss to continue to put Diaby in areas where he can make the difference, and then it’s over to the Villa forward to keep producing quality to produce either assists or goals, as essentially that is what he will be judged on.
With Emiliano Buendia ruled out all season so far with a serious knee injury, Jacob Ramsey in and out of the squad all year with injury woes of his own and inconsistency from others too, Villa and Emery will hope that Diaby can continue to play a prominent role in the final stretch of the campaign to help us get over the line and achieve our ultimate objectives.
Nicolò Zaniolo with another crucial equaliser. 👌 pic.twitter.com/qqGEdibMSV
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 17, 2024
