Unai Emery right to drag Leander Dendoncker off after stinker in Aston Villa v Everton
Aston Villa went into halftime of their Carabao Cup defeat against Everton a goal down, prompting Unai Emery to drag three players off, and Leander Dendoncker in particular stood out in an awful performance.
Dendoncker was joined by captain John McGinn and 19-year-old Jhon Duran in being hauled off, but McGinn was playing out of position [Sofascore] and Duran is making a rare start this season at 19 – Dendoncker doesn’t have those excuses.
It was a completely ineffective performance and one that is highly unlikely to have earned him any favour under his boss, something the Belgian would have been going into this game hoping to earn.
The midfielder’s numbers make for grim reading after playing just 45 minutes of the game, and it’s no surprise he was taken off. He didn’t complete a single ground duel, aerial duel, or tackle [Sofascore].
On top of that, the Belgian midfielder also failed to make an interception, a clearance or a block in a completely ineffective defensive display alongside Douglas Luiz in midfield.
It’s not as if his role was more advanced to make him less involved with the defensive side of the game either, as his attacking statistics are equally poor. He completed 26 of his 28 attempted passes but lost the ball four times.
Dendoncker didn’t have a single shot, didn’t draw a single foul, didn’t complete a dribble, a cross or a long pass, let alone a key pass, goal or assist. His lack of impact on the first half was one of the worst statically you’ll ever see.
To put it simply, if you were looking at your bank account, you’d be over the moon with the amount of zeros you can see on the midfielder’s stat sheet.
The hope will be that he can pick himself up and perform better next time he’s called upon because another performance like that could see the club move him on as quickly as they can.
In other Aston Villa news, an injury expert has provided an update on one Villa star’s return.