Aston Villa: Matty Cash not involved for Poland v Faroe Islands, Unai Emery will be concerned
Aston Villa defender Matty Cash has undergone an eventful start to the campaign so far but his omission from the Poland starting eleven against Faroe Islands on Thursday 8 September may turn out to be a cause for concern for Unai Emery.
Cash has proven a crucial commodity in the Aston Villa side in recent seasons after some mature, assured and dominant performances at right-back since his move from Nottingham Forest in 2020.
The latter stages of the 2022/23 campaign was something of an unfortunate struggle for the Polish international, suffering from injuries and a lack of form which hampered his progress both at club and international level.
However, this season the former Nottingham Forest man has proven yet again why he’s a crucial player for the club after some brilliant displays most notably against Burnley, Everton and the second-leg Europa Conference League qualifying tie against Hibernian.
His best performance certainly came against the Clarets in their 3-1 as he recorded two goals but also showed up in an eventful performance, winning seven of his duels, successfully completing two of his dribbles, recording two clearances, three tackles and three blocks [SofaScore].
He took both his goals excellently with the instinctive finishing of a seasoned striker and could have ended the game with five goals to his name.
However, his start to the season have not come without its faults too and again the most notable of his Mr Hyde performances came against Liverpool at Anfield, where he fulfilled an unfamiliar role on the right wing.
Villa boss Unai Emery was rather philosophical about his choice when speaking to BBC Sport prior to the game.
“He was a winger when he was coming through at Nottingham (Forest). He played as a winger and we use him sometimes as a right-back but he can play as well as a winger,” he said.
“And (Leon) Bailey played on Thursday. We have a lot of matches and we need to use every player and today is Cash.”
Indeed, the right-wing position wouldn’t have been unfamiliar to Cash having performed in the role in the past but his performance at Anfield left a lot to be desired.
He was extremely unfortunate to finish with an own goal, when Darwin Nunez’s fierce strike cannoned off the post, rebounded into Cash, and bundled into the goal.
By the end of the 3-0 defeat, though, Cash’s numbers did not make for great reading.
According to stats provided by SofaScore, He had a pass completion rate of only 74 per cent, while failing to attempt any crosses and not finishing with any key passes.
Moreover, he had just one shot – which was off target – and failed with his one dribble attempt, while he lost possession on nine separate occasions.
He did win four of his seven duels, an area where his right-back instincts perhaps helped. But the result and performance will not have helped his confidence one bit, and Emery would have expected him to regain in on international duty with Poland.
However, the 26-year-old full-back was nowhere to be seen in the starting eleven [Polish Press, 24Kurier, 8 September] as he sat through the whole game on the bench. Whatever reasons for that maybe, it will certainly leave Emery with a lot of questions.
Certainly, the Spaniard will want him fresh when the Premier League campaign resumes after the break but after what’s been a stunning rise in the Polish team for him since he changed his allegiance and was first picked in 2021, his lack of starts during the calendar year will not do his confidence any favours.
Emery will be hoping Cash not only returns from international duty in fresh and tip-top condition but in the best form mentally to right the wrongs of that unfortunate Liverpool performance.
In other Aston Villa news, it was not just Cash who struggled against the Reds.