Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was pleased with the test his side were given in our 2-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in New Jersey on Wednesday night, and praised summer signing Amadou Onana.
From a results perspective, it hasn’t been a particularly positive USA tour for Villa thus far, having followed up a 4-1 defeat to Columbus Crew at the weekend with this loss against the Bundesliga outfit.
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Nevertheless, pre-season is about building fitness, avoiding injury setbacks and improving the team’s chemistry and structure ahead of the start of a new campaign, and so from that viewpoint, Emery is pleased with the work that his side are getting in during our time Stateside.
While it would perhaps be a confidence boost for the squad to end on a high note when we face Club America this weekend, there were still positives to take from this encounter as although we conceded two poor goals again and a silly Diego Carlos red card forced us onto the back-foot in the second half, it was good practice and a valuable experience all aimed at preparing us as best as possible for the upcoming season.
“We are in preseason and practicing with the team and progressively getting better,” Emery told the club’s official site. “Today was a match against an opponent of the level we will face in the season. It was a test.
“In the first half I think we were good, even losing 2-0 due to two mistakes. One goal was a clear offside.
“We are trying to contest with ourselves some tactical work and after the red card it was a completely different match. The idea after it was to get the work we did with players like Jacob Ramsey and Emi Buendia taking minutes.”
Not only was it great to see both Ramsey and Buendia get minutes as they step up their workload on their way back from lengthy injury layoffs, but Emery was also able to integrate key individuals like John McGinn and Youri Tielemans back into the side after their extended breaks following EURO 2024.
As we edge closer to having as close to a fully-fit squad available as possible, it will continue to strengthen us and it’s hoped that those who have arrived later than others are able to feature heavily in our remaining pre-season encounters against Club America, Athletic Bilbao and Borussia Dortmund.
Meanwhile, Emery also had a positive assessment on Amadou Onana, who impressed in the first half by setting the tone and tempo for us in midfield and giving us some much-needed control and presence in the middle of the pitch.
While he had to shift back to playing centre-half in the second half due to Carlos being sent off, it was a positive outing for the Belgian international as he showed his class and what he is capable of adding to this Villa midfield. and he’ll hopefully go from strength to strengthen under Emery’s guidance.
“Onana is progressively getting better,” he added on our summer recruit. “He’s playing trying to quickly understand our tactical idea and he played some minutes at centre-back.
“Of course he is a player for us to play as a midfielder, but he’s competitive and his adaptation is going really well.”