Aston Villa: Matty Cash sweats on place in Unai Emery future plans after injury woes
It looks set to be a busy and exciting summer at Villa Park ahead of Unai Emery’s first full season in charge, with the Spaniard looking to formulate the squad in his image.
Emery has superbly transformed things on the pitch at Villa Park since arriving back in November, taking the club to eighth in the Premier League after 14 wins from 23 top-flight games – a significant upturn in results from when they sat in the bottom three before his appointment.
While the Villans may be undergoing much change in terms of players coming in, it is those on the outs at Villa Park that may prove just as crucial for the Spaniard if he is to properly and successfully build the team how he sees fit and get Aston Villa challenging among the Premier League elite next season.
A European place will certainly be a huge achievement for Emery and his team, and would provide him with the funds to take the club to the next level.
And in these closing two match weeks of the campaign, the former Villarreal boss will have run the rule over his squad to see who deserves a spot next season and who doesn’t, and one player who could certainly be sweating over his long-term Aston Villa aspirations will be the injury-stricken Matty Cash.
Ahead of this weekend’s game against Liverpool on Saturday [20 May], the Polish international should return to the first-team fold, having finally been taken off the injury treatment table, according to Ben Dinnery [Premier Injuries].
Cash has not featured for Unai Emery’s side since the international break after he picked up a calf/shin injury while playing for Poland.
The former Nottingham Forest man had established himself as a key and prominent figure in the team before his injury, registering 24 Premier League appearances, averaging two tackles, one interception, 1.4 blocks and 0.5 crosses per game [WhoScored], he also ranks in the 82nd percentile of full-backs within Europe’s top five leagues for tackles per 90 [FBRef].
The last time he featured for his club in the Premier League was on 18 March when Villa picked up three easy points against Bournemouth by a 3-0 scoreline.
In fact, Pole was superb in that game, picking up the fifth-best score of any player to take the pitch at 7.6/10, also registering 10 out of 13 ground duels won, successfully completing 88% of his passes, completing three of his four dribbles and registering three clearances [SofaScore].
It remains to be seen whether Cash can hit those levels again, with just two games to go, and it’s certainly a very limited time period for the Polish international to prove himself to Emery once again before the season draws to a close.
For that reason, the former Villarreal manager may well be tempted to hand Cash an unlikely start against Liverpool or bring him at half-time to get a crucial 45 minutes under his belt.
With Emery potentially looking to bolster his defensive options this summer, Cash could well become one of the casualties among the incumbents if the manager eyes the chance to improve, which would be a shame because, on his day, he is indeed an enthralling and quality full-back as the above stats show.
Whatever chance Emery gives him before the season is out, Cash must ensure he grabs them with both hands, as his future in the West Midlands certainly depends on it. He’s in the last-chance-saloon territory now after a very unfortunately-timed absence.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery could axe one zero-key pass flop after his struggles in the win against Tottenham