Unai Emery has Ian Maatsen decision to make after Aston Villa win v West Ham
Ian Maatsen put in a positive shift for Aston Villa against West Ham United but his stats don’t reflect his efforts.
The Netherlands international made his first start since early December on Friday (10 January) in the FA Cup clash against West Ham.
The Villans came back from 1-0 down on the night and were able to secure a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers.
In a positive result on a cold night at Villa Park, the goalscoring duo caught the eye, but it was the left-back who received plenty of acclaim for his performance.
Ian Maatsen shines for Aston Villa v West Ham
The 22-year-old has spent the majority of this season on the bench, with Unai Emery regularly preferring Lucas Digne in the starting 11.
After grabbing an assist against Leicester City, Villa’s Spanish manager gave the summer signing a chance to impress and it is fair to say that he did so.
The former Chelsea man saw out the full 90 minutes and was able to maintain an 84 per cent pass accuracy as he took 68 touches [FotMob].
The rest of his stats on the night don’t reflect his performance as his 50 per cent shot accuracy paints a negative picture despite having a telling impact on the opening goal.
The Dutchman’s zero per cent dribble success rate also shows him to be poor on the ball, but on the night, he was often picked out with long balls from the likes of Tyrone Mings, as opposed to going on mazy runs of his own.
Defensively, the ex-Burnley loanee is also made to look worse than he was with five lost duels, but given that he won four while also putting up 10 defensive actions, there was a lot to appreciate about his all-round work.
It was a positive showing from the left-back, who may be hopeful of keeping his place for the trip to Everton on Wednesday (15 January).
In other Aston Villa news, an ex-FIFA official cannot believe the controversy that he saw during the West Ham clash.
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