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Matty Cash perfect for transformed Unai Emery system at Aston Villa - BBC pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Matty Cash is the perfect right-back to slot into the new system Unai Emery is playing at Aston Villa, according to Alan Hutton.
Cash, 25, had been a mainstay of the Villa defence under Steven Gerrard but found himself in an out of Emery’s starting line-up after he’d finished representing Poland at the World Cup in Qatar.
While Hutton isn’t ruling out that Cash could have been carrying a knock or didn’t come back from the World Cup in the best of shape, he believes that it could have been a tactical reason as to why Emery was overlooking the former Nottingham Forest ace.
“It’s been difficult for him,” Hutton exclusively told Villa News.
“After the World Cup, I thought he did well. But whether it was a bit of fatigue or he was carrying an injury or whatever, he was a little bit in and out.
“Ashley Young was in and I think that came from a place where Emery was trying to make it very solid at the back.
“Cash is more a forward-thinking player, he wants to get forward. But in recent weeks, they’ve played more narrow with the width coming from full-backs. I think that’s where Cash fits in.
“He really gets involved in the game so he’s got a lot to give going forward and with two clean sheets on the bounce, he’s playing at a level which makes him the regular starter.”
Cash has played 23 times in all competitions for Villa this season, directly contributing to just one goal which came as an assist in the 4-2 defeat to Arsenal on 18 February.
Between the return of the Premier League on Boxing Day and 12 February, Casg has started just one of seven league fixtures but he’s now started the last three and played all 90 minutes.
In other Aston Villa news, a football finance expert has reacted to Villa’s payment to former owner Randy Lerner.