Aston Villa must add trait that Unai Emery’s squad lacks this summer – here’s why
Aston Villa’s season is beginning to fall apart all around them.
Unai Emery‘s side were one of the stories of the Premier League season a matter of weeks ago, as Aston Villa looked to take the title race all the way down to the wire.
However, with one win from their last seven in all competitions, the Villa Park faithful are far from happy, as Villa’s top four hopes now hang by a thread.
There are, of course, a number of different reasons and potential explanations as to why the Villans have dropped off over the last few weeks, as Emery desperately searches for the answers.
Aston Villa have to become more physical next season
Emery has brought some excellent football to the West Midlands, and he’s enjoyed some excellent seasons in charge of Aston Villa as a result.
However, the very best Premier League teams down the years have been able to compete in all aspects of the game.
They could play teams off the park, but also bully them off it too, and whilst Villa have certainly done the former of those this season, they’ve rarely performed the latter.
As per Sofascore, Villa have recorded a sub-50 per cent win rate in both total and ground duels won in the Premier League this season, showing a lack of physicality in the side.
This has also extended into Europe too, as Emery’s team have won just 48.7 per cent of their ground duels in the Europa League this term.
An average of 1.6 yellow cards per game also speaks to a lack of bite and nastiness in Villa’s team, which can be seen as a positive in some respects, but when trying to win a league title, it’s a part of the game that they must be able to do.
Villa’s winter window suggests Emery knows this
However, in what was a fairly quiet winter transfer window at Villa Park this season, Emery did add a couple of players that should help address this issue going forward.
Douglas Luiz is a classy-yet combative central midfielder, and does bring that steeliness back to the heart of Villa’s midfield, and so triggering his permanent option seems like a no-brainer this summer.
Meanwhile, Tammy Abraham is a big, powerful and athletic centre-forward, which gives the Villans a true target man to aim for up top, with the out-of-form Ollie Watkins not offering as much in this department as he’s done before.
And teenage striker Brian Madjo already stands well over six-feet tall at just 17, and looks a very exciting young player that could be a real focal point of the Aston Villa attack in the future.
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