View: Matty Cash must add balance to his game to be ideal for Aston Villa
Aston Villa took on their sternest test of pre-season on Saturday (23 July) and came through it unscathed with a 2-2 draw against Manchester United.
Steven Gerrard’s side went 2-0 down in the first half but responded excellently with goals from Leon Bailey and Calum Chambers bringing parity to the tie come to the final whistle.
One of Villa’s most impressive players last season, and again in Australia, was Polish international Matty Cash who proved to be an attacking menace to Erik Ten Hag’s Red Devils.
But while he shone in the attacking department in Perth, there were blatant problems defensively that will have alerted Gerrard and he needs them to be ironed out before Aston Villa begin their 2022-23 season for real.
Agility has never been an issue for Cash though and he showed it once again in tricky conditions down under as he and Marcus Rashford ran towards the ball in United’s half.
The Pole got there just ahead and was able to deceive the England international with a simple drop of the shoulder and that gave him all the time in the world as he stared at David De Gea’s goal.
Most full-backs in such a scenario would try to find a pass or even bomb down the line to cross the ball in but Cash never even considered it.
With no easy option on, Cash showed the bravery that will have inspired Gerrard and took on the shot which only just whistled past the far post and it will only be a matter of time until that kind of effort rumbles the back of the net.
But for all the good he does in attack, Cash is not astute enough defensively and it needs to be addressed very quickly because it is going to be exploited by opposition teams.
United did so in Perth as Rashford pierced a gap far too big between Cash and the centre-half to play Anthony Martial in behind and the Pole has to be tighter to his teammates to force the Red Devils to go around and not through their defences.
In other Aston Villa news, forgotten striker Wesley has sealed another loan move away from Villa Park and he won’t even be playing top-flight football.