The Talk Villa Newsletter: #2
'Emery ball' is back, Diaby delight, the 2023/24 away kit is out and we talk tactics as Villa wrap up our USA pre-season tour...
🇺🇸✅ That concludes the 2023 USA pre-season tour
From Philadelphia to Maryland via Orlando, it has been an eventful trip for the Villa squad in scorching Stateside heat.
Draws with Newcastle Utd [3-3] and Brentford [3-3] sandwiched a win over Fulham [2-0] in the Premier League Summer Series, and Unai Emery was pleased with how productive the trip proved to be, as he would have learned a lot from our exploits across the pond.
“We are here, trying to build, trying to create a strong structure with the squad, with the players; strong tactically defensively and offensively,” Emery said of the tour.
“And trying to get some young players as well, the performance if they will help us in the season because we are going to play the Premier League, the first competition in our target.
“But then there’s Europa Conference League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup; they’re another three competitions I want to be competitive in. And we will need a lot of players.”
Perhaps the biggest takeaway though was to never trust the inclement Orlando July weather on a school night. It could have been worse though aye, imagine staying up past 1:20am last Thursday morning waiting for ‘moments of magic’ under a Steven Gerrard-led Villa side.
Fortunately, we’ve come a very long way in the last nine months, and yes, while it is ‘only pre-season’, the style of play that Emery continues to implement and establish has been an absolute joy to watch at times.
Individually, there were many stand-out performers and moments. From Emi Buendia’s performance vs Newcastle to Moussa Diaby bagging two in two, we were also treated to Ezri Konsa dancing his way through the Brentford XI.
‘It’s just like watching Brazil’, one text read as we carved Thomas Frank’s side apart in the space of 10 glorious minutes, while I will unashamedly admit conversations were had about Villa’s odds to win the Premier League this season, before realism quickly set back in. We’re currently available at 150/1, by the way…
Emery experiments tactically and finds answers
Aside from improving fitness and ‘building a small family’ as Emery so beautifully puts it, this pre-season has also presented an opportunity for the Villa boss to experiment with his system and tactical set-up.
While we’ve seen Konsa line up at right-back and Pau Torres on the left, we’ve developed our ability to seamlessly drift into a back-three in possession as one of our full-backs pushes forward with the other tucking inside, before returning to a more orthodox 4-4-2 out of possession.
From what we’ve seen, Konsa on the right side forming a back three to give Alex Moreno the freedom to attack down the left could give us the best balance and most effective option moving forward.
It’s taken some time, but collectively we’ve now bought into our desire to patiently build out from the back, to invite pressure in our defensive third which then opens up spaces further up the pitch that we can exploit.
The players look more comfortable, confident and disciplined with clear patterns of play emerging in our performances, as the turn in pace in our tempo of passing as we break the press and lines of defence see us quickly create goalscoring opportunities.
Further, it’s crucial we become more unpredictable and flexible in our approach, as with the varying opposition presenting different challenges, we need to adapt and have a Plan B, C and more to continue to win games consistently.
We’re looking so much stronger now though with a clear identity and style of play that the players believe in and stick to even in difficult moments.
Moussa Diaby and Villa new boys impress
While Torres looks effortlessly classy in our backline as he has added composure and technical ability to our play along with his defensive strengths, both Youri Tielemans and Diaby have impressed too.
The Belgian midfielder was named Player of the Match against Fulham as he ran the show in midfield. While there is a good balance with him in alongside Boubacar Kamara, should we need more creativity and individuals capable of dictating possession and unlocking a stubborn defence, partnering him with Douglas Luiz could also be crucial at times.
With two goals in two games thus far, Diaby’s speed, touch and finishing have all stood out and he looks a real gem, not only with the qualities he brings to the table but how he’s settled into the side already. ‘This is going to be fun’, read Villa’s tweet after his debut, and that sums it up pretty well.
Since the day he arrived, Emery has been insistent about only adding players who significantly improve us. In our trio of new stars, they have certainly showed their capability to do exactly that.
Villa youngsters make positive impression
The Villa boss will face a big decision on Jaden Philogene’s future in the coming weeks, as he emerged as the pick of our youngsters on this tour.
Having started all three games, he showed his attacking qualities throughout and got on the scoresheet vs Fulham, while perhaps equally as impressive, he was defensively disciplined too as there was a great balance in his displays.
Cameron Archer, Seb Revan and Omari Kellyman all made an impact too, and in a season where we’ll hope to play in excess of 60 games as we look to challenge for silverware, our squad depth could have a real homegrown look to it.
Villa release 2023/24 away kit
It’s here, and it’s beautiful. Or is it?! There’s nothing quite like a kit unveiling to split opinion, and Villa’s away look for the new campaign has seemingly done that.
While we’re by no means fashion experts over here at Talk Villa, it’s a pretty clean look, is it not? What matters most though is that the players deliver in them, and so we’ll see just how memorable it proves to be in the grand scheme of things.
Transfer talk
Since our last chat, Villa haven’t added any more new faces after Tielemans, Torres and Diaby, but the exits are starting to mount.
Morgan Sanson has now officially departed on loan to OGC Nice, while Wesley has bid farewell on a permanent basis having joined Stoke City. We wish the pair well this season, and a special word for ‘Big Wes’ as we hope it works out for him after what was a horrific injury and rehabilitation process for the Brazilian starting back in 2020.
Emery has backed Robin Olsen to provide cover for Emi Martinez this season, news which has been met with sheer panic from many Villa fans, while Jhon Duran and Cameron Archer are expected to offer competition and depth behind Ollie Watkins, who has flourished under Emery.
While he ended last season with 16 goals and six assists in 40 appearances, 12 of those goals and two assists came in 19 games after Danny Ings left in January. Villa have found a good balance with Watkins leading the line as our main man, and while we’ve strengthened around him, it would seem like the sensible decision to not disrupt that now.
Best of the rest…
🇧🇪🥹 Christian Benteke reunion
After three memorable years in Claret and Blue, Villa caught up with former striker Christian Benteke while in Washington, and it provided some wonderful quotes from the Belgian who scored 49 goals in 101 games for the club.
“It was the best time of my career, I think,” he told VillaTV. “I’m grateful during those three years, I had so many nice memories.
“I will forever be grateful for the club. Thank you for everything they’ve done for me. Even until today, they [fans] give me some love when I see them. When we play a different team in the US, Villa fans still give me some love.
“I will always be grateful for this club because if I’m known worldwide, one of the reasons is because of Aston Villa.”
Who’s cutting onions…
Villa’s Europa Conference League boost
After Juventus were banned from playing in Europe this season, it resulted in an important development from a Villa perspective.
As seen in the updated table below, we’ve now moved to the seeded side of the draw for the upcoming playoff round of the Europa Conference League.
While that of course by no means makes it a guarantee we’ll now qualify for the group stage, it should hopefully increase our chances of making it through with a more favourable draw.
Talk Villa poll
Well done to those who got last week’s quiz question right, Villa have had 14 permanent managers in the Premier League. [Ron Atkinson, Brian Little, John Gregory, Graham Taylor, David O'Leary, Martin O'Neill, Gerard Houllier, Alex McLeish, Paul Lambert, Tim Sherwood, Remi Garde, Dean Smith, Steven Gerrard and Unai Emery].
Change of tact this week, more of a poll to gauge the feeling amongst us ahead of the new season…
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