A timid draw was a bad way to start the Premier League season and Saturday’s loss at Brentford was full of worrying signs.
Aston Villa went to the Gtech Community Stadium and produced an absolute pig of a performance, deservedly losing 1-0 in their first Premier League away game of the season thanks to a debut goal from Brentford’s Dango Ouattara.
The goal was a frustrating one to concede. It came about differently but the situation was in the end identical to the one that saw Ezri Konsa sent off against Newcastle United on opening day. Pau Torres didn’t have the quality or pace to prevent it and it should be cause for reflection for his manager that the defender was so far from his goal by design in the first place.
Villa’s first two games have both fallen short of expectations but it’s not just the result that makes the trip to Brentford more concerning than the first game at home. Emery repeated the mistakes that led to a tame performance last week. Nobody is surprised that they yielded the same outcome.
This time, Villa paid the price.
I’m not interested in dealing in hindsight. I’m happy enough to keep my powder dry in public when Villa’s starting line-up is announced 75 minutes before a match; Emery has earned that level of trust and much more.
But the reaction on Saturday was near-enough universal and I agreed with it. The performance against Newcastle was the weakest of sauces and it was never going to taste any spicier by playing the same way with the same players against Brentford.
Emiliano Martínez replaced Marco Bizot in goal after missing the Newcastle game through suspension. Konsa’s suspension brought in Torres. Villa were otherwise unchanged and what followed was wholly predictable.
Starting with Youri Tielemans in the attacking midfield spot again was an awful decision. He was more involved in attacking areas after an injury to Boubacar Kamara forced Emery into a substitution after quarter of an hour.
John McGinn and Morgan Rogers playing either side of him didn’t work last week and it didn’t work on Saturday either. At Brentford, McGinn offered the width on the right while Rogers tucked in and Lucas Digne got forward while Matty Cash dropped into a back three in possession.
It generated nothing. It doesn’t take a zealous advocate for traditional wingers to yearn for some attacking width. Nobody’s asking for two players to get chalk on their boots. That’s not how Emery plays.
But there has to be an impact in those areas one way or another and Villa have surrendered huge swathes of the pitch for more than 180 minutes simply by cramming the team with central midfielders.
Those are Emery’s minor issues. Okay, they’ve added up to two poor performances and a pretty terrible result but a better selection here and there could go a long way with these players at the manager’s disposal. In truth, the most significant decision on Saturday was not to address the weaknesses in the previous game.
The Villa boss has big problems too and they’re not so easy to fix.
If you watched both matches, you’ll have seen some disturbing characteristics they had in common. Villa haven’t scored yet and therefore haven’t been in front in either game, yet they’ve been passive in possession.
They completed 529 passes against Brentford. They had 76% of the possession. To turn that into an average shot distance of more than 17 yards and a grand total of two shots on target is truly abysmal.
The slow approach is part of Emery’s tactical make-up but the stench around the team at the moment is a worry. The mood isn’t right. There’s no drive, no urgency. It’s a team that looks down in the dumps – justifiably, to a degree – and the manager’s job isn’t just to move the chess pieces around.
Villa need the other side of Emery now. They need kicks up the arse, intent, determination. They need to want it, and to be very clear that feeling put-upon for whatever reason has to be motivation, not mitigation.
Villa have a very difficult fixture next weekend and there’s no room left for excuses. This is Emery’s biggest test at the club. Repeating a mistake once can be unfortunate. Repeating it twice would be reckless.
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