The Holy Trinity: Aston Villa conclusions from friendly win at Walsall
Villa won 5-0 in their first friendly of pre-season
There’s no rest for the wicked. In the blink of an eye, we’re back in the full swing of pre-season and the friendlies have arrived.
Aston Villa started their pre-season fixtures with the traditional scoot up the M6 to take on Walsall at the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium, where they were beaten 1-0 a year ago but put five past the Saddlers, now managed by Lee Grant, on Tuesday night.
It’s important not to take the results and performances in friendlies too seriously but it can still be a useful exercise to try and pick the bones out of them.
That being the case, here’s your Holy Trinity of match conclusions. This is the sort of analysis we post after every first team fixture but sits behind the paywall for competitive games.
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1. Brian Madjo is a specimen
Villa signed striker Brian Madjo from Metz on his 17th birthday in January but the club is embroiled in proceedings against FIFA over his registration. International signings cannot be registered until they turn 18, meaning Villa can’t include him in the team until next January.
Madjo is from London and is an England Under-17 international. Just saying.
Anyway, as Villa await a verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Walsall game was a chance to give him a belated Villa debut of sorts. Madjo started as Villa’s central striker and scored twice.
Young players shouldn’t be judged on friendlies and hey, they’re young. It’s not easy to draw conclusions about any player at 17, so I won’t. But I will say Madjo was fun to watch against Walsall.
He scored a couple of nice goals, the second a bit of a fortuitous scuffer but the first a superb first-time finish with his left foot after outmuscling a defender. Naturally, this is the first thing supporters want from a striker so the teenager has made a fine start.
There’s no delicate way to describe how he plays, so have this instead: Madjo is a unit. In the first 45 minutes at the Bescot alone, we saw that he’s quick and strong and he’s not shy about using it.
I’m not making any bold predictions here but I like what I saw and that’s better than not liking it, at least.
2. Villa’s young defenders show positive signs
In all likelihood, Villa will play the entirety of the 2026/27 season in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup with neither Modou Kéba Cissé nor TJ Carroll appearing in the centre of defence.
Carroll is no stranger to the position but is a way down the pecking order at 19 years of age. Cissé is perhaps likelier to make the breakthrough at right-back despite most of his football on loan back at LASK last season being played in the middle.
Nevertheless, they formed the first centre-back pairing of pre-season for Unai Emery and I thought they did a terrific job.
Carroll was tidy enough for the most part but Cissé, as a de facto new signing, was the player who grabbed my attention with his performance in the first half against Walsall.
He passes with the slickness and confidence of a ball-playing central defender, handling the side-to-side stuff with ease but also showing a willingness to thread a ball into feet in midfield.
Cissé is patient on the ball – manna from heaven for Emery – and doesn’t always play the simplest pass. He looks like a player who understands the spatial implications of what he’s doing in possession. At 20, I think that’s a pretty good sign.
He was Villa’s best defender in the first half too.
3. João Gomes will hit the ground running
I’m thrilled with the signing of João Gomes. I like him as a player and I like what his acquisition suggests about Emery retooling Villa’s midfield and tweaking his approach in the middle of the pitch.
Villa could really benefit from a player of his type playing regularly and consistently but it does require a new tactical outlook, even if it’s a small one, and Gomes himself should be the key architect and beneficiary.
There’s no point in picking through his contribution after coming on at half time against League Two opposition two days after signing, but it was reassuring to see Gomes plonked straight into the midfield at a new club and just immediately be Gomes.
Not that I’d ever have doubted it. Villa’s £38 million man looks like the sort of player who can drop right in and play his game for anyone and against anyone.
Gomes received the ball and moved it on without fuss, and worked hard to win it back when Villa were out of possession. It was a fleeting appearance but it just confirmed that he can be instantly comfortable in his new surroundings and we’re going to see the same player in a different shirt.
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