Aston Villa player ratings v Walsall – Mosquera shines, 3/10 flop struggles

Aston Villa opened their pre-season with a defeat against Walsall on Wednesday.

The Villans travelled to the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium on 16 July to begin their summer as they look ahead to a further seven friendlies.

With the League Two side already partway into their new campaign preparations, it proved to be a patchy performance from Unai Emery’s side.

This, unfortunately, resulted in a defeat for the B6 outfit to begin the summer, as Villa News now rates each player’s performance out of 10.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery
Credit: Imago

Yeimar Mosquera impresses for Aston Villa v Walsall

Surprisingly, it is the young Colombian who was arguably the best performer in black and light blue for the Villans despite some of the names on the pitch.

In what was a largely frustrating affair at the Bescot, the 20-year-old looked confident on the ball alongside the more experienced Pau Torres.

It is fair to say that the centre-back didn’t look out of place next to the Spaniard, something which has certainly caught the attention of the Villa Park faithful.

As debuts go for a youngster in a new country, the former Real Union loanee did very well and could be set for a breakout campaign in claret and blue.

Aston Villa pre-season schedule
Aston Villa pre-season schedule

Joe Gauci frustrates v Walsall

On a day when neither Emi Martinez nor new signing Marco Bizot featured, it was a chance for the Australian to make his mark.

It is fair to say that he generally struggled in between the sticks with a number of misplaced passes and spilt saves in the first half.

It was frustrating to see the 25-year-old go off with just 30 minutes on the clock as the medical staff opted against taking a risk with his fitness.

This only added to a generally poor performance from the ex-Barnsley loanee, Gauci, something which isn’t a surprise given that last season he played just nine games.

Joe Gauci
Aston Villa goalkeeper Joe Gauci [Credit: Imago]

Aston Villa player ratings v Walsall

Joe Gauci – 3

Triston Rowe – 5

Yeimar Mosquera – 6

Pau Torres – 5

Alex Moreno – 5

Lamare Bogarde – 5

Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba – 5

Ross Barkley – 5

Jacob Ramsey – 5

Louie Barry – 5

Kadan Young – 4

Substitutes

Fillip Marschall – 6

Andres Garcia – 5

Tj Carroll – 5

Tyrone Mings – 6

Yasin Ozcan – 5

Bradley Burrowes – 4

Boubacar Kamara – 5

George Hemmings – 4

Charlie Pavey – 4

Travis Patterson – 4

Lewis Dobbin – 4

Sign up for the Villa News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Aston Villa news sent straight to your phone.