One key figure has supported Aston Villa’s incredible climb up the Premier League standings.
Their ability to set up an offside trap.
Despite all of the excellent work that players like Ollie Watkins, Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa, and John McGinn have done, manager Unai Emery has truly shown his mettle at the other end of the pitch.
The statistic that Villa had more times than any other Premier League team caught their opponents offside was discovered by the BBC’s stattos. Not by a small margin—they have over 20 points advantage over their closest rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.
They caught teams off guard 65 times in the last 15 games of the previous campaign.
When Emery presented his methodology last term, it raised a few eyebrows. Remarkably, the clearest example of it occurred during their New Year’s Day trip to Spurs, which occurred three weeks after the Spaniard assumed control. Even though Emery’s arrival had caused a huge uptick after Steven Gerrard was fired and Villa defeated Manchester United in his debut game, this was a crucial test.
However, its success—Emery at times nearly deployed six defenders in a line across the pitch at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium—combined with a victory at Brighton gave the players hope that the former Arsenal coach was competent.
The most recent victim at Villa Park on Sunday was Fulham.
Marco Silva’s team had obviously put in effort to counter such a strong line, but they essentially gave up when they were unable to get behind Emery. Why then has it been so effective? Tyrone Mings’s injury hasn’t hindered his ability to score points against opponents. The reason for its success was explained by a UEFA Pro-licence holder and former Football League manager.
According to the source, teams these days seem pre-programmed to avoid moving forward. Instead of looking up the pitch, they seem content to maintain possession and switch the ball from one side to the other. Since they are positioned backwards by default, Villa has more time to establish their line.
The fact that Villa’s defenders are all quick on the turn and that custodian Emi Martinez is alert to the possibility of a ball over the top helps too, as it reduces the amount of actual space that their opponents are attempting to exploit.
It’s witty. Villa will almost certainly either give up the ball or be caught if forwards gamble too soon and the opposition doesn’t want to move the ball forward and the space is crowded.
And that’s the situation that exists. So what should I do? Can something set off the trap? The short answer is yes, and so far this season, Newcastle United and Liverpool have shown that they can do it.
Villa found themselves trailing the game on both occasions. At St. James’s Park halftime, they were adrift. At Anfield, Dominik Szoboszlai’s exquisite half-volley put them down in three minutes.
Harvey Barnes demonstrated his ability to time his runs on Tyneside, making the fourth and scoring the fifth on his own after being given acres of space to run.
However, Mo Salah’s ability to play off the back of defenders is practically unmatched. He was able to spin away from Lucas Digne for the Reds’ second goal in their 3-0 victory.
However, other teams haven’t been able to give Villa any long-term issues thus far, especially at Fortress Villa Park, where victories are happening on a regular basis.
What action is possible?
“Streekers could choose to bend their runs across the backline, but this means that midfielders have to have time to pick those runs, and sometimes Villa smother them. Players also need to look forward rather than backward. Alternatively, one could emulate the actions taken by Salah and Barnes. Finally, they could utilise a “breaker” who runs from midfield as a third man.
Don’t expect Emery to make any changes anytime soon until teams figure out how to expose Villa.
Why try to fix something if it ain’t broke, after all?
Aston Villa with Douglas Luiz in a strong position
During this international break, DOUGLAS Luiz was called back to the Brazil team.
Evidence of the midfielder’s increasing impact at Villa Park, as if it were needed.
Four years ago, Luiz was signed as a relative unknown, but he has since developed into a notable performer.
He acknowledged this when he signed a long-term contract in October of last year.
Villa has added an extra layer of security, but it might not be enough to keep him out of Manchester City’s grasp—there is still discussion regarding a buy-back clause in his contract. At some point, there may be work to be done. Since joining from Leeds United in a £45 million deal, Kalvin Phillips has shown that he is a surplus.
