Amadou Onana needs to do more as Frank Lampard makes Aston Villa prediction
Amadou Onana needs to provide more in midfield for Aston Villa after his performance in their defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.
Onana played a full 90 minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Villa took an early 1-0 lead, but was caught in a second-half whirlwind as Spurs exposed Unai Emery’s side to record a 4-1 win.
Speaking on coverage for Sky Sports on 3 November, Lampard – his former manager at Everton – said that Onana has all the talent and ability to realise his true potential at Villa Park this season.
In quotes reported by Birmingham Live (4 November), Lampard said: “He’s a great talent, he has many qualities.
“Thanks to his physical abilities, he is very strong defensively and he also regularly scores a goal.
“He was very important to us at Everton, but I believe that he will continue to grow at a team like Aston Villa, with a good coach, good environment and a lot of competition.”
Amadou Onana has mixed afternoon for Aston Villa v Tottenham
The proverbial game of two halves was on full display in North London on 3 November as Spurs staged a second-half comeback, with Onana and Youri Tielemans unable to contain the hosts.
Despite this, Onana did rack up some superb numbers for the Villans, completing all but one of his 36 passes at a success rate of 97 per cent [SofaScore], and having 56 touches in total.
Onana had three of those touches in the Tottenham box, firing off two shots which were both off-target for an xG of just 0.11 as Villa’s attack dried up amid a wave of second-half pressure from the Lilywhites.
In defence though, the Belgian was kept almightily busy, with 67 per cent of his three attempted tackles won amid a total of 15 defensive actions in total, seven of which saw him recover possession.
A further five clearances, two headers away from danger and two interceptions apiece are also recorded, but Onana being dribbled past twice was a sign of things to come for Villa.
Contesting 18 duels in total throughout his 90 minutes, Onana came out on the losing side in 10 of them [FotMob], with Spurs midfielders Pape Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma coming to the fore.
Of his 14 ground duels, Onana won just six, a success rate of just 43 percent and added to by the Belgian winning just two of his four aerial battles, committing five fouls as Tottenham began to run riot.
While a game as free-wheeling as their clash with Spurs will be rare this season, it’s clear that for Onana to make good on Lampard’s lofty prediction, he needs to start exerting more control on Villa’s matches.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery will be hoping one Villans star is available for selection soon after his display in North London.
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