Anthony Onifade

Thu 4 May 2023 11:33, UK

Aston Villa saw their 10-game Premier League unbeaten run come to an abrupt end as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday [30 April].

Bruno Fernandes’ first-half strike – his 100th league career goal – was the only way to split the two sides in a game of few clear-cut chances and one which Villa would have hoped to nick a point from.

Boss Unai Emery said after the game on Sunday he was a “little disappointed” with his team’s performance, and the stats back up the Spaniard’s thinking, with Villa recording a worrying record which has proven uncharacteristic throughout his impressive tenure so far.

Throughout the former Villarreal coaches’ tenure, Aston Vila have been moulded into a team tasked with focussing heavily on a slow build-up play from the back as well as the demand to be in complete control when in possession of the ball.

However, against Erik ten Hag’s side, Villa lost possession of the ball on 34 occasions, the most recorded across Emery’s 23 games at the helm.

While Aston Villa as a collective struggled to impact much of the proceedings at Old Trafford – the first Premier League game they’ve failed to score under Emery’s stewardship – the Spaniard will have been worried by the performances of one of his most prized assets who’s tremendous form has somewhat hit the skids in recent games.

According to SofaScore, Jacob Ramsey gifted the ball away 16 times against Manchester United, picking up a torrid average score of 5.9 – the worst of any player to start at Old Trafford.

The Villa academy graduate struggled to impose himself against the physical presence of Casemiro in the heart of Manchester United’s midfield. As per the stats from FBREF, the English midfielder was dispossessed a team-high 3 times as well as recording 3 miscontrols – a total which only John McGinn topped (4).

The poor use of possession by both McGinn and Ramsey was highlighted by their total pass accuracy stats of 72.7% and 73.3%, which was the latter’s lowest total from his last six outings.

However, such a showing has somewhat crept into Ramsey’s game, he was largely uninfluential against Fulham and Brentford prior to the Manchester United game, after a superb individual showing in the 3-0 win over Newcastle United [15 April]

Known for his swash-buckling nature and tremendous aggression both on and off the pitch, the youngster failed to exert such exemplary traits up against Ten Hag’s team, just winning 3 of his 12 total duels at a worrying success rate of 25%, winning just one of his three dribbles, failing to register a completed cross or a key pass and was dribbled past twice throughout his 90 minutes on the pitch.

Given the wonderkid’s importance to Aston Villa and his huge improvement already throughout this season, Emery is unlikely to drop him for their clash against Wolves on Saturday [6 May], but in such an engrossing derby, Ramsey certainly has a shot at redemption and a chance to once again prove why he is the cream of the crop in the eyes of the Villa Park fanbase.

In other Aston Villa news, an “emotional” Emery had to talk to one Villa ace who wasn’t doing what he was told.