View: Lucas Digne to show Aston Villa worth under Unai Emery
It’s been a tough start to the 2022/23 season for Lucas Digne with the Aston Villa full-back suffering a Heel injury at the start of the campaign.
Whenever the 29-year-old has been fit, he’s been called upon by both Unai Emery and Steven Gerrard, and his recent performances under the Spaniard should give fans plenty of reason to be positive for when the Premier League restarts at the end of December.
His display against Brighton in particular really caught the eye with the left-back demonstrating he can be an integral defensive cog in Emery’s system at Villa Park. The win against the Seagulls demonstrated plenty of fighting qualities and a focus on being defensively rigid.
Furthermore, Villa’s players showed a fight and desire which we hadn’t seen for a long time under Gerrard. Digne in particular was the epitome of everything good Villa did against Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
The Frenchman managed a staggering 100 per cent success rate from seven defensive duels (Wyscout) which showed his commitment to what Emery had asked of his players beforehand. Considering Digne’s average success rate this season was 63 per cent, it was an impressive rise in performance level from the 29-year-old.
Digne also managed five clearances during the match at the Amex, which is nearly double compared to what he has averaged so far this season.
This new gritty and aggressive version of Aston Villa needs players like Digne to be invested in the way they want to defend.
Emery was content allowing Brighton to have possession out wide and in less dangerous areas, and when the ball came near the box, his players were tight to their men and didn’t allow any space.
The Spaniard will be relishing the opportunity to work with his players during the international break to really engrain his methods into this group of players.
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Hutton thinks Eden Hazard could end up in the same situation as Philippe Countinho if he arrived.