Ross Barkley leaves Unai Emery ‘frustrated’ after what he did for Aston Villa v Manchester United
Aston Villa were nowhere near their best against Manchester United at Villa Park and Unai Emery will have been happy to take a point into the October international break.
The Villans managed to keep the Red Devils at bay to secure a 0-0 draw on Sunday (6 October) with Bruno Fernandes the closest to breaking the deadlock with an excellent free-kick effort.
While Villa had some occasional moments of quality in possession, BBC Sport pundit Clinton Morrison was quick to suggest Emery was growing tired of watching Ross Barkley lose possession in the second half.
Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live on Sunday (6 October) he said: “Unai Emery is frustrated.
“He will send his subs out to warm up. Ross Barkley is frustrating Emery by giving the ball away.”
What has happened to Ross Barkley at Aston Villa and Villa Park?
In his first Premier League start since returning to Villa Park this summer, Barkley did slightly struggle to consistently find teammates in claret and blue with the ball at his feet.
According to Fotmob, the 30-year-old completed 80 per cent of his 44 attempted passes but failed to find a teammate with any of his two attempted long balls which is what left Emery pulling his hair out on the touchline.
Although the midfielder created the most chances of any player in the game, he only managed to produce 0.07 expected assists, meaning he failed to have a major impact on the game in the final third.
However, the former Luton Town man was always trying to help the Villans progress up the field. Six of his 44 attempted passes looked to find a teammate in the final third, more than Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Jaden Philogene produced combined.
To top it off, Barkley also completed 100 per cent of his attempted dribbles as he looked to carry the ball up the field.
Out of possession however, the former England international was nowhere near as effective as he struggled to contain the likes of Fernandes and Christian Eriksen as they put Villa under pressure.
Barkley only managed to win 50 per cent of his six ground duels in the contest and only won one of his attempted tackles as he failed to replace the physical presence of Amadou Onana in the middle of the park.
When he did attempt to win the ball, the 30-year-old was rather reckless as well. He committed two fouls in the match and picked up a late yellow card in stoppage time as he looked to stop a counterattack.
Failing to win tackles was an issue for the midfielder during his time at Luton Town as well. According to Fbref, he placed in the bottom 15 per cent of midfielders last season for tackles won per 90 minutes.
Over the course of his time at Kenilworth Road, the former Everton man sat in the second percentile for percentage of dribblers tackled per 90 minutes with a miserable average of just 22.9 per cent.
While Barkley has the skills to replace Onana’s presence in an attacking sense, it would be naive of Emery to assume that he can be as effective as the Belgian international out of possession.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery has been handed a new boost at Villa Park after an Emi Martinez update emerged this season
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