View: Unai Emery clearly wants Leon Bailey in Aston Villa central role after stat reveal
Danny Ings’ move to West Ham came as a surprise to many at Aston Villa, with the 30-year-old being a proven and consistent Premier League marksman.
The transfer window is now very close to reaching its conclusion and there’s a chance Unai Emery won’t be able to land a striker before the window slams shut. According to the Express and Star (29 January), the Villans are contemplating entering the loan market for an experienced forward.
However, with just two days left in the window, fans shouldn’t be holding out too much hope when it comes to a new forward arriving at Villa Park. Considering there haven’t been many rumours linking Villa to another striker, it would not be a surprise to see Emery stick with what he currently has.
The Spaniard has been eager to utilise Ollie Watkins as much as possible in recent weeks in a central role, with Leon Bailey also being given the chance to show what he can do up front. In the win over Leeds in particular, the Jamaican was outstanding.
The 25-year-old is clearly a natural wide man, but he has operated in a more inverted role under Emery and until another proven out-and-out striker arrives, there’s potentially an argument for Bailey to partner or play off of Watkins in Emery’s favoured 4-4-2 system, or variation of.
He’s proven he is not just a winger with electric pace who sometimes struggles with his end product. His finish against Jesse Marsch’s side was of the highest order.
He gets the ball out of his feet quickly and pinpoints an area of the goal with microscopic precision. There were a number of players in between Bailey and his intended target and this level of composure and finishing ability could well be what Villa need if they don’t sign another forward.
Under Emery, Bailey has had an increased number of touches in the box, which could well indicate that the Spaniard is looking to get the Jamaican to take up more dangerous positions. In Villa’s last four games, Bailey has averaged over six touches in the box, which is considerably higher than his season average of just over three (Wyscout).
The Villa boss clearly believes the 25-year-old is a viable option up front and has been looking to get him closer to the goal. Furthermore, Bailey only has one goal in his past four games but has an expected goals of 0.5 per 90 minutes.
Essentially, he’s getting into good goalscoring positions at present but slightly underperforming what is expected of him when it comes to his output. It’s a small sample size, which could well mean more goals are very much on the horizon if he’s given the chance to play a more central role to accommodate for the departure of Ings.
Ings will be difficult to replace but Emery’s eagerness and faith in Bailey could well see Villa stumble across an astute goalscoring replacement for the West Ham striker.
In other Aston Villa news, James Maddison is one to watch for the Villans in their next game.