Inside Villa Park: Major boost, ‘painful to watch’ comment, boos response and Pickford praise
Onana gets minutes under his belt, Rogers hailed by Pickford and Malen told not to be so modest
Aston Villa are back in action this weekend against Tottenham Hotspur following the October international break.
Unai Emery’s side will be targeting their fifth win in a row on Sunday, having recorded victories over Bologna, Fulham, Feyenoord, and Burnley.
It was a slow start to the season for Villa, but a win this weekend would see them move within two points of Tottenham, who currently occupy third place with only a couple of points separating them from first-placed Arsenal.
Ahead of Villa’s return to Premier League action, here are the latest goings-on around the club…
International diary
Twelve players from Emery’s first-team squad were called up for international duty, representing their respective nations.
Among them was Amadou Onana, who recovered from a hamstring injury a couple of weeks ago to feature against Burnley before the break.
He played 86 minutes across two of Belgium’s matches against North Macedonia and Wales, with 70 of those minutes coming in Monday’s 4–2 victory at the Cardiff City Stadium.
While some Villa fans were frustrated to see Onana selected for the Belgium squad — considering he had missed several weeks of action for Villa — it’s a big boost for Emery that the midfielder now has valuable minutes in his legs.
It was also a positive break for Lucas Digne, who featured for France against Iceland on Monday evening. Although Didier Deschamps’ side failed to beat Iceland, Digne provided an assist, created two additional chances, recorded a 90 per cent passing accuracy, and completed 13 passes into the final third.
Villa skipper John McGinn started both of Scotland’s wins over Greece and Belarus during the break. Despite those victories, the Tartan Army weren’t entirely enamoured with the performances.
A small section of the Hampden Park crowd even booed at full-time in the 2–1 win over Belarus, after the visitors pulled one back in stoppage time to make for a nervy finish.
Speaking after the game, McGinn was as honest as ever, saying: “It’s an unbelievable opportunity for us but we need to give absolutely everything and perform far better than Sunday.
“If you’d said to us at the start of the group you could be going into the last two games knowing two wins would take you to a World Cup, it’s an opportunity that you dream about.
“We’re not naive enough to think this camp was good enough, but it’s about us finding that form again, everyone staying fit and healthy for the next camp and getting over the line.”
Pickford hails Rogers’ impact
England could seal their place in the World Cup tonight when they take on Latvia at the Daugava Stadium in Riga.
Morgan Rogers may be handed his third consecutive start for the Three Lions, as he continues to establish himself as a favourite of Thomas Tuchel.
While his form for Aston Villa was below par in the opening weeks of the campaign, Rogers has shown signs of returning to his best — particularly after providing assists against Fulham and Burnley before the international break.
Against Wales, Rogers opened his England account with a composed finish to set the team on their way to a comfortable victory. Jordan Pickford also praised both Rogers and Elliot Anderson earlier this week for their recent performances and attitude in camp.
“Elliot has been terrific, and Morgan as well,” said the Everton goalkeeper. “Elliot in the last two games has been just getting on the ball, the half-turn. But the defensive side of it as well, which not many people will see.
“For the lads at the back, with him in front of you, he’s always getting back, screening the centre-forward. He breaks up the play well.
“You saw Morgan in the Serbia game. And getting his first goal against Wales the other night was a massive moment for him. Hopefully we’ll see many more.
“It just shows the pathway, coming into the seniors and feeling confident. We let the football do the talking because we’ve got that good environment.”
Villa defender Victor Lindelof also heard boos on home turf as Sweden ended their internationals on Monday evening.
Their World Cup hopes were dealt a crushing blow as they suffered a 1-0 home loss to Kosovo that all but ends their chances of reaching the finals, with a third qualifying defeat piling more pressure on coach Jon Dahl Tomasson.
“They are welcome to boo if they want,” the Villa man said when asked about the reaction. “Whether it makes it better or not is up to them to ask themselves. I have been through quite a lot in my career, so I can also react in my own way. People can think what they want about it.
Malen among the goals again
Donyell Malen is in sensational form at the moment, following up his brace against Burnley with a goal against Finland on Sunday night.
The Dutchman opened the scoring in the eighth minute, firing past Jesse Joronen, who later conceded further goals to Virgil van Dijk, Memphis Depay, and Cody Gakpo.
Like at Villa, Malen has mostly featured off the bench under Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman, and he has often insisted that this is not a role he minds playing.
However, former Dutch international Hans Kraay Jr. believes the forward should show more self-belief, rather than settling for a substitute role for his national team.
“This was a beautiful goal. It’s play and move, play and move. Even in tight spaces, that’s almost impossible to defend. Malen controlled the ball very deliberately,” he said.
“He’s never that enthusiastic about himself, and I sometimes find that a bit painful to watch. He’s always very critical of himself, but he can be proud tonight.”
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