Aston Villa and Unai Emery sought out the new football-related riches of the Champions League so they could buy top-tier talent.
A dominance known through Villa who sought to acquire players at this point in midfield. The departure of Douglas Luiz, who sold to Juventus to comply with profitability and sustainability (PSR) regulations, has accentuated Emery’s preference for looking for additions to the position.
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This is partly due to the fact that Villa’s midfield pivot is an integral component of Emery’s wider style, oscillating in the formula depending on the state of the game, owned or off-property and depending on where the ball is on the pitch. However, the general formation tends to be a 4-2-2-2, with a box-shaped midfield, split forwards and full-backs offering width.
This means that the starting midfielders have a multifaceted mission, tasked with covering the width of the pitch to defend transitions and, with the ball, break lines by betting on the two attacking midfielders, the team’s maximum crowded and rushed dominance. step. .
All groups are vulnerable to quick, targeted attacks, especially with a midfield pivot as isolated as Villa’s. Douglas Luiz had more daily duties overall than any other player, and Emery did not find it easy to develop his goal contribution by making more regular and effective runs into the final third.
Douglas Luiz’s load is greater without Boubacar Kamara at his side as a defensive anchor. Emery, as usual, became obsessed with his role and communicated (and animatedly) with the Brazilian from the sidelines.
A mainstay of Emery’s football and something that is invariably repeated in press conferences is the desire for his midfielders to be “smart”. This means being able to counterpress while remaining brave in possession of the ball in the precarious spaces of the pitch. and under pressure from other angles.
In short, Emery wants his deep midfielders to have the ability to be water carriers and gourmets, to execute the ugly facets of the game while also providing metronomic qualities on the ball.
Below is an example of the game intelligence Emery expects. Here, unlike West Ham United, Villa are in transition but lack the ball. Kamara, who had just been given possession, opted to take extra touches, which slowed down the attack.
While this provokes groans from Villa’s fans, Emery applauds.
“My concept is to chart a tactical course,” Emery told The Athletic last season. “I must impose our position on the field with the midfielders maintaining ownership of the ball for as long as possible. It is too complicated to fully explain.
Buying a player with such a well-trained and varied toolbox is costly, physically and financially. That’s why Villa has made concerted efforts to bolster the intensity of the position, signing Enzo Barrenechea and Ross Barkley this summer. But the preference still to draft a first-choice starter who can take Villa to the next level.
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To that end, Everton midfielder Amadou Onana is in the process of finalizing a deal to sign Villa for what could be a club record fee of £50 million ($65 million). Emery admired Conor Gallagher wonderfully, but Onana offers a superior technical advantage. ceiling and the English midfielder still has a wonderful emotional bond with his childhood club, Chelsea, which leads him to make a difficult decision.
At almost 6 feet 4 inches (195 cm), Onana has noticeable physical gifts; A top-class player who has a long, athletic stride that can cover the box temporarily and, even at 22, has shown tactical acumen to complement his instincts.
More broadly, Onana has shown an impressive tendency to take the most things with ease off the field. Villa will be his eighth club (although he has made his debut with the first team in four of them), with England being the fourth country in which he has played. in.
Born in Dakar to a Senegalese mother and Cameroonian father, Onana moved to Belgium at the age of 11. Quickly integrating into new environments, cultures and languages has been the theme of his life. He speaks English, Wolof, French, Dutch and German. .
Melissa, his sister and now his agent, underwent chemotherapy when the two set out on the eight-hour exercise adventure to Hoffenheim in 2017. It’s well told, but its story has long been a story of courage and adaptation.
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Among midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues last season, Onana ranked at 8 per cent of tackles made in 90 minutes (3. 06) and 13 per cent of ball recoveries (6Array89). These are numbers that underscore why he fits Emery’s vision of what a combative central midfielder should be.
Belgium have been tactically chaotic for part of Euro 2024, but coach Domenico Tedesco has told Onana that he will be the central midfielder in their round of 16 against France, beating Kevin De Bruyne and keeping Youri Tielemans, a former Villa team. companion, in the field. on the margins.
Looking ahead, Onana has the ability to crash into the box, suggesting he is better suited to replicating Douglas Luiz’s role as a flexible midfielder than Kamara, who is more defensive and susceptible to holding his position. After arriving from Lille in 2022, Onana was used by then-Everton manager Frank Lampard in a similar mold to him as a player: timing late runs into the penalty area and finishing crosses from the outside.
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Onana’s height, however, meant that he tended to make curved movements towards the far post, where he would have the aerial merit over the rival full-backs.
Last season, Onana ranked in the top six for percentage of midfielders won in aerial duels, indicating that, if well developed, he could develop a threat in the opposition box and increase his goal tally (he has scored three goals in the league in two years). at Everton).
Villa were looking for luxury skills and Onana has a rich bench of experience and a ceiling that will only rise under Emery’s leadership. It is a sign of what the culmination of the Champions League can buy.
(Top photo: Dave Howarth – CameraSport Getty Images)