The Holy Trinity: Aston Villa conclusions from friendly loss at Borussia Mönchengladbach
Villa were beaten 2-1 in their final pre-season friendly before the Premier League kicks off
Aston Villa concluded their pre-season campaign in Germany with a 2-1 defeat against Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday afternoon.
Villa manager Unai Emery named a weakened starting line-up and made wholesale changes during and after half time at Borussia-Park. The team that played in the first half got a bit of a going over.
Ian Maatsen should have pulled a goal back for Villa after coming on at the break with the team 2-0 down, but he got his low strike all wrong and they had to wait for a John McGinn goal to halve the arrears.
It certainly wasn’t an easy outing for Villa but they’re not supposed to be, are they?
For the last time this summer, here’s your Holy Trinity of match conclusions. If you’d like access to this feature for competitive matches throughout the season, you can subscribe below.
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1. Villa struggled with the Gladbach press
The home team caused big problems for Villa right from the start. They tried to hit Villa hard and they got plenty of joy with Villa uncharacteristically wobbly in the face of an extreme press.
Goalkeeper Marco Bizot and his defenders looked rushed and it forced Villa into some mistakes under pressure. Bizot got away with one early on and Ross Barkley snatched at a blind pass around the corner that could have had consequences.
It’s important to acknowledge that not a single member of Villa’s back five in the first half would start in a full-strength team but it was a jarring thing to watch happen to a team who’ve been borderline obsessive about drawing a press for their own benefits.
One player who might find his way into the Premier League eleven against Brighton & Hove Albion one way or another is Victor Lindelöf, who coped best in Germany. His passing was spot on even with opponents flying at him from all directions.
Lamare Bogarde handled it well too. He was asked to receive the ball in midfield while facing his own goal and did so to a high standard.
Gladbach coach Eugen Polański can be pleased that his pressing tactics paid off. His team got in behind Villa for their first goal relatively easily before a poorly defended corner made it 2-0.
It wasn’t what Emery must have wanted and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brighton will have been watching closely, but a first-choice defence and goalkeeper should be better drilled.
2. Striker has become a problem position
The absence of Ollie Watkins on Saturday was planned and Tammy Abraham was the only option to start up front against Gladbach as soon as news broke of Brian Madjo’s injury.
Looking at those three names alone suggests a degree of strength in depth but a second injury concern exposed a vulnerability that might not be all that easy to address.
Abraham slipped awkwardly in the second half and was immediately withdrawn. It looked anything but ideal initially but the striker jogged off the pitch and it seemed to be a matter of caution, all told.
It raises some questions nonetheless and they’re questions that Emery will be asked so many times this week that he’ll be sick to the back teeth of them.
What underpins them all is the issue of who will be named as Villa’s centre-forward in their first game of the Premier League season, but Emery can expect to field more intentional enquiries about Watkins’ availability and his readiness to play against Brighton, and even his Villa future in general.
It could be an interesting week.
3. Alysson isn’t above playing on the edge
Villa’s Brazilian winger had a funny afternoon in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Alysson was booked for a pretty wild tackle with his team on the ropes after 11 minutes. It wasn’t a terrible challenge or a malicious one but it was worth a booking even in a friendly and it wasn’t even his first foul of the game.
In the Premier League, he’d have been given a second yellow card for a shirt pull in the second half too. All of this, I think, was a result of Alysson launching himself into the game and booming about trying to get involved.
There seemed to be some frustration behind it but I have no concerns about a young player baring a sharpened edge every now and again. Alysson certainly isn’t shy about getting stuck in.
My interpretation is that he was haring around in pursuit of an impact that never really came. He played on the right in front of full-back Kosta Nedeljković and the rawness on that flank was clear.
Alysson is inexperienced and evidently short of rhythm after a very disrupted year to date, but he looks promising when he runs at opponents and is suited to what Emery is going to ask him to do this season.
He’s a threat going forward but not the kind of self-rapt winger who’s going to ignore the game plan and attempt to turn and run at every opportunity. He recycles possession frequently and has no objection to passing the ball backwards to do so.
He does his work in Villa’s press and the graft is there for all to see. Alysson isn’t there yet. He isn’t polished in some areas and he’s not the finished article by any stretch. But the potential is difficult to ignore.
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