Unai Emery to axe Amadou Onana at half-time in West Ham vs Aston Villa after what’s happened
Amadou Onana must be hauled off at half-time if Aston Villa are to beat West Ham.
Unai Emery made six changes to the Aston Villa team that beat Basel in the Europa League last time out, but they did not have the desired effect.
The Villa Park outfit went into the break with a 2-1 deficit after a dismal first-half showing, in which the relegation-threatened side were the better team.
The Spaniard needs to do something drastic if they are to come back, and the Belgian may be the sacrificial lamb.
Why should Onana be the man to come off for Aston Villa?
Onana is brilliant for Villa when he is at his best, but he was not at that level when the sides met at the London Stadium.
The 24-year-old failed to create a single chance, completed just two passes into the final third and played just one accurate long pass, per Sofascore.
Perhaps the most important stat of his performance in the first half was that Onana lost possession eight times.
He did not have the usual impact that he has defensively, with just one tackle and one interception to his name.
He had better luck when it came to duels, winning one of the two ground duels that he tried and winning all three aerial battles that he attempted for a 100 per cent success rate.
However, it was a sloppy showing, which definitely did not help the Villans in their attempts to beat the Hammers, in fact, it may end up killing them off, if Emery does not take him off.
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Who can Emery bring on to down West Ham?
The most obvious solution for Emery would be to bring on Emi Buendia, who has turned his reputation around in B6 with a huge turnaround in form.
The Argentine has the joint-most goals in the Villa squad among those with over 50 per cent of possible appearances and ranks fourth for assists, so his impact could be vital.
Other contenders include Donyell Malen, Evann Guessand and Jadon Sancho, but the standout option for the Villans is the 28-year-old.
They need to do something, and Onana’s sloppiness cannot be rewarded with his coming out in the second half.
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