Fewer touches than Marco Bizot, Unai Emery must axe Aston Villa liability vs West Ham
Aston Villa’s winning streak appears destined to end against West Ham unless Unai Emery makes some major changes.
Against Basel on Thursday, 11 December, the boss made a handful of changes, with Emi Buendia earning himself a start after his buzzer-beating winner against Arsenal at the weekend.
Lamare Bogarde was also given a rare chance, with Jadon Sancho on the wing, but it was Evann Guessand who opened the scoring before Flavius Daniliuc’s equaliser during a frustrating first 45 minutes.
Emery was forced to call upon Youri Tielemans to retake the lead early in the second half, and that would turn out to be the Villans’ eventual winner in Switzerland. The performance left a lot to be desired.
Matty Cash deserves to be axed vs West Ham
Basel actually created more xG (Expected Goals) against the Premier League giants [FotMob], with Xherdan Shaqiri creating plenty of issues, but they were unable to take their chances.
For their only goal, many fans blamed Marco Bizot, having failed to act quickly enough, and then pulled out of a full challenge – the complete opposite of what Emi Martinez would have done.
But the 45-touch goalkeeper [FotMob] was far from Villa’s worst performer. No, that award goes to right-back Matty Cash, who was hooked before the half-time break by Emery.
He had already gone into a foolish challenge, had been dribbled past once, and had lost 75 per cent of his ground duels, and it was clear that the manager was not going to risk him for another 45 minutes [FotMob]
Nuno Espirito Santo could exploit the Aston Villa full-back
The Polish international has been one of Emery’s standout players this season, but after his display in Europe, Nuno Espirito Santo could target him as a weak spot at the London Stadium this weekend.
Should he be up against Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, or Crysencio Summerville, the 28-year-old is likely to struggle with their pace and tenacity on the ball, putting Villa in a tricky situation.
Cash has loved venturing forward for the Villans this season, even unleashing a shot against Basel, but being out of position would hand the Hammers the perfect tactic to exploit on Sunday.
Bogarde was more than capable of filling in at the right-back spot once shifted out of the midfield, and if anything, the youngster looked more comfortable out of the limelight.