Aston Villa's Barcelona defeat exposes flaw in Unai Emery's playing style
Aston Villa’s 3-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League was a lesson in execution.
Emery’s side took a brave game plan to the Camp Nou, playing out from the back as his Villa team usually does, trying to draw Barca onto them and beat the press.
Unfortunately, Villa came undone within the first seven minutes of the game. They played short from a goal kick, with Barcelona primed and ready to close them down.
Zion Suzuki passed to Joao Gomes with a defender closing in, and whether it was a case of panicking or just an execution error, Gomes’ bounce pass got nowhere near its intended target in Pau Torres and was pounced on by Lamine Yamal, who fired Barca into the lead.
After the game, Emery said of Gomes’ error: “The mistake is part of our style, I am not blaming him”. It was far from the only time Villa got themselves in trouble by passing right into the teeth of Barcelona’s press.
On one hand, Villa’s bravery in build up was necessary to create the kind of openings they did in the first half, when they could easily have scored a couple of goals.
Had Nicolas Jackson been able to round Joan Garcia after he flew out of his goal or had Johan Manzambi finished a good chance inside the box, this could have been a different game.
But there have been other goals stemming from losing the ball near their own penalty area this season. Gomes had the ball stolen from him against Brighton in the lead up to a goal, and Tyrone Mings gave it away before another one conceded versus Brentford.
Having Torres in the lineup instead of Mings certainly helps with build up against opponents who are more aggressive, but at this stage it is worth questioning whether Villa have the central midfielders capable of playing with their back to goal under that kind of pressure.
Youri Tielemans’ greatest strength might have been his ability to pull off passes with a very high level of difficulty, with precise accuracy and while being pressed by opponents.
Gomes was Emery’s hand picked replacement, but he did not seem like the same profile of player, and the idea of him improving his on-ball skills was always a projection. It is still early, but the signs are not positive that Gomes is capable of taking that step.
The point of this discussion is not to bash the Brazilian midfielder, but more to say it might be worth Emery reconsidering how stubborn he is willing to be with his philosophy against opponents who make it more difficult to control the game as he wants to.
The addition of Suzuki and his ability to pick out long passes has given Villa another weapon to take advantage of teams who press high and leave spaces in behind.
They used it to good effect against Manchester City a couple of weeks ago, but Emery could benefit from leaning into a more direct style of play then the opposition calls for it, rather than persisting with a riskier style of build up even if it becomes clear it is not working.
Ultimately, it is a core part of Emery’s philosophy, so it makes sense he is sticking to it and trusting that they will come out the other side capable of dictating games the way Villa traditionally have.
But if it turns out the players he has at his disposal are simply not capable of executing what he is asking, he faces a choice between adapting to his personnel or plowing ahead as planned, even if it is to the detriment of Villa’s results.
