View: Unai Emery to reduce Aston Villa crosses as poor stat emerges
It remains to be seen how Aston Villa will really play under Unai Emery with the Spaniard having only been in charge for two Premier League games thus far.
Against Manchester United, we saw a free-flowing performance which resulted in a positive result and a comfortable victory. However, against Brighton, we witnessed a gritty and aggressive performance which led to Villa picking up a backs-against-the-wall win.
Emery has set up in a 4-4-2 formation during his three fixtures in charge and naturally, that would indicate that Villa will be looking to get the ball out wide and utilise crosses.
However, Villa haven’t been the most prolific crosses of the ball this season, with Emery’s side averaging just 13.4 crosses per 90 minutes (Wyscout). Furthermore, as the graph below shows, the Villans are amongst the top five worst in the league when it comes to crossing accuracy.
Leon Bailey ranks in the top six for crosses per 90 minutes in the whole league but is ranked outside the top 20 for accuracy, with 33 per cent of his deliveries reaching a Villa head. Furthermore, Lucas Digne only averages three crosses per game with a 29 per cent accuracy.
Interestingly, Matty Cash has proven to be the most effective crosser of the ball for Villa with a 41 per cent success rate. Essentially, Villa have been fairly average when it comes to their delivery into the box this season.
When looking at the Premier League’s most accurate crossers of the ball, Manchester City and Arsenal are leading the way with both teams averaging 35 per cent. City have three players in the top ten when it comes to accuracy with Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden all present.
It’s clear Villa don’t quite have the same quality as Manchester City and interestingly statistics from Emery’s two Premier League games could indicate, that his 4-4-2 system will actually reduce the number of crosses Villa attempt per 90 minutes.
So far under Emery, Villa managed six crosses in both fixtures, with just three of them being successful. Could this well be a sign of the Spaniard’s tactics going forward? Interestingly, Steven Gerrard often set up in a diamond formation, with there being an emphasis on his full-backs to get forward and provide an outlet out wide.
Below is Cash’s heat map from Villa’s win over Brighton, with the Poland international spending more time in his own half and often drifting inside, instead of looking to get forward and provide deliveries from out wide.
It was a very similar situation for Digne, who actually sat deeper than Cash did during the fixture at the Amex. It could well be an early indication of how the Spaniard likes his wider players to operate, with his attacking midfielders expected to drift into wider areas and cause issues.
As expected, Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn drifted out wide from their central midfield positions to cause issues for the Seagulls in dangerous areas closer to the box, rather than trying to get right out on the touchline.
With Aston Villa struggling to be accurate from their crosses this season, it would not be a surprise to see the Spaniard stick with his ploy to utilise his midfielders in higher and wider positions. Ramsey and McGinn certainly displayed that they are both more than capable of operating out of position in more attacking areas. Ramsey in particular could well be a huge success if given more freedom.
In other Aston Villa news, patience is a virtue for fans and serial winner Unai Emery