Unai Emery pulls off Amadou Onana masterstroke in Aston Villa defeat v RB Leipzig
Aston Villa may have suffered defeat in their latest pre-season friendly overnight, but there were a couple of positives to come out of the match.
The Villans went down 2-0 to RB Leipzig in New Jersey in a taste of the step up that is needed when competing in the Champions League this coming season.
As Emery pointed out after the loss, though, it was good to give players a further chance to build up their fitness ahead of the real business beginning.
Unai Emery experiments with Amadou Onana position
More than that, Emery also interestingly asked marquee summer signing Amadou Onana to slot into defence in a likely sign of what is to come.
Onana is a central midfielder by trade, of course, but his qualities lie in his tackling and passing abilities.
Indeed, as per FBref, Onana’s 3.06 tackles won per 90 minutes last season ranks him in the top 92 percentile across Europe’s top five leagues.
As highlighted by The Analyst’s player comparison tool, the Belgian’s weak point is creativity and dribbling.
Onana was in the bottom 28 per cent of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues for chances created last season; the bottom 25 per cent for dribbles attempted.
He was in the top 78 per cent in terms of possession won, though, showing his ability to turn over play, which Emery clearly believes could come in handy in a deeper position.
Amadou Onana has big part to play at Aston Villa
“Onana is progressively getting better,” Emery told the club’s official website [1 August] after the Leipzig loss.
“He’s playing trying to quickly understand our tactical idea and he played some minutes at centre-back.
“Of course he is a player for us to play as a midfielder, but he’s competitive and his adaptation is going really well.”
These comments suggest that, while Onana will likely start the season in defensive midfield, Emery is open to using him in the heart of defence when required.
There is also the aerial ability factor that must be added in, with Onana in the top six percentile for headers won (2.24 per 90) last season, as per FBref.
In fact, that was clear to see when Villa met Everton early on last season as Onana won 100 per cent of his three aerial duels [Sofascore], even if his side did lose 4-0 on the day.
This is certainly an interesting tactical decision by Emery, and one that could pay dividends in the long term as Villa already start to find solutions to potential problems down the line.
In other Aston Villa news, the club want a “shock” deal for Jack Grealish.
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