Live from Chasetown: Tony Carss gives Aston Villa tactical glimpse into new-look Under-23s
Aston Villa Under-23s kicked off preseason with a massive 8-2 win over non-league Chasetown.
A hat-trick from Caleb Chukwuemeka was aided by goals from Louie Barry, Brad Young, Tyreik Wright, Kobei Moore and Ajani Burchall as Villa grabbed a huge win.
It was Villa’s first game under Tony Carss after he replaced Mark Delaney over the summer.
He gave fans an insight into what was to come under his management as his team excited fans at The Scholars Ground. Carss’ side set out in a 4-3-3 formation, though this switched at points to a 4-2-3-1 if it was needed.
Much of the attacking emphasis came from the wide areas, with Barry and Wright holding down the wings in the first half.
They were replaced by Burchall and Charlie Lutz for the second half, who performed the same jobs just as well.
Barry and Chukwuemeka would both drift back to influence attacks deeper in midfield, with the latter sometimes ending up behind the midfield as he released the wingers.
Kerr Smith often tried to carry the ball out from defence during the first half, though he was dispossessed several times and left Villa short so this was dropped later on.
Their overall play saw an emphasis on quick passing, with only Smith and a select few others spending any real time dribbling.
Overall, if you did not know beforehand you might be surprised to know it was their first friendly.
Villa played at a relentless pace in an encouraging sign of things to come.
In other Aston Villa news, women’s star Ruesha Littlejohn has signed a new one-year contract.