Nicolo Zaniolo banishes ‘wasteful’ tag with strong performance that will encourage Aston Villa
Aston Villa midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo put in a much-improved performance for Italy during their Euro 2024 qualifying win over Ukraine.
The 24-year-old started Tuesday’s (12 September) match at the San Siro having been criticised for his performance in Italy’s 1-1 draw with North Macedonia on Saturday, earning a 4.5 rating and being labelled as “wasteful” [Cult of Calcio, 9 September].
In the 72 minutes Zaniolo featured for Luciano Spalletti’s side, he earned an impressive 7.9 rating from Fotmob, the second highest of any Italian player, falling behind man of the match Davide Frattesi, who assisted both goals in the game.
The Villa midfielder completed the most dribbles in the game with two and earned the most fouls of any player, winning five free-kicks, as he demonstrated his excellent ability on the ball alongside his talent for drawing challenges from defenders.
Defensively, the 24-year-old was no slouch either, winning nine duels in the contest, making nine ball recoveries and winning the ball with both of his attempted tackles. He bettered his defensive output from the match against North Macedonia where he was already combative.
One of the biggest criticisms of Zaniolo in the draw earlier in the international break was his wastefulness in possession but that couldn’t have been further from the truth at the San Siro. In the win over Ukraine, he created two chances for his teammates and completed 86 per cent of his passes.
According to his FBRef scouting report, in the last year, he has only attempted 20.78 passes on average per game, placing him in the bottom one per cent of all attacking midfielders in Europe. Against Ukraine, he attempted more than double that number of passes.
Despite passing the ball more often, he still carried a goal threat, taking two shots during the 90 minutes, below his average of 3.43 per game, but still a record that is better than a majority of attacking midfielders in Europe.
Following the draw with North Macedonia, there were doubts over whether Zaniolo’s performance would have done anything to make Unai Emery consider starting him after the international break, but his display at the San Siro may have made the Villa manager reconsider his stance.
The 24-year-old showed that he is capable of being the creative force from the middle of the park that Emery needs in Philippe Coutinho’s absence, and while one display isn’t enough to show he’ll do it consistently, it may have put him under consideration for a start against Crystal Palace.
However, John McGinn, Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey are all vying for those starting places behind Ollie Watkins, so Zaniolo could be made to wait yet.
In other Aston Villa news, Ezri Konsa has stepped into Tyrone Mings’ place after his injury