Amadou Onana ‘problem’ flagged by Belgium media in Italy defeat as Aston Villa ace scored 5/10
Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana was labelled a “problem” by Belgian media with an underwhelming performance against Italy on Thursday.
Belgium weren’t at it against Italy in a 1-0 defeat in Brussels and Onana certainly didn’t help with his performance in their midfield, which was slated by their media on 14 November.
Het Nieuwsblad claimed that Onana: “Tried to pull the cart, but failed too often in the passing. Ended up in a problem with Retegui”, giving him a match-rating of 5/10.
Het Belang van Limburg also scored Onana a 5/10.
Amadou Onana performance is a concern for Aston Villa
According to FotMob, Onana won just 25 per cent of his defensive duels throughout their encounter with Italy, completely removing his ability as a ball-winning midfielder.
He won 50 per cent of his ground duels but failed to win a single aerial duel.
With such a lack of defensive attributes showcased in the game, his offensive ones left even more to be desired with zero chances created and just six passes into the opposition final third.
In the heart of the Belgium midfield, he made just one interception and tackle and struggled in general to have any impact in the game.
With an 88 per cent pass accuracy, his downfall wasn’t necessarily in possession although he often went for the easy option as opposed to making a pass that could have started a Belgium attack.
His performance will worry Unai Emery who will be hoping that his players can maintain their league form during the international break but for Onana, this wasn’t the case.
Perhaps his one strength in the game was his ball retention. Onana was not dispossessed once throughout the clash, using his frame well in shielding the ball from opposition players.
Perhaps softening the concern, no one was at it for Belgium. As a collective, the team performance was incredibly underwhelming for a side that have such quality in their ranks.
On the other hand, a goal scoring performance from Ollie Watkins will provide some reassurance for Emery, scoring the opening goal in England’s 3-0 win over Greece on Thursday.
In other Aston Villa news, Don Goodman expects Villa to take disciplinary action against Jhon Duran should the striker ever react angrily to being substituted again.
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