THE ASTON VILLA FC HAS AGREED THE £250M DEAL WITH.
SPORT ANALYSIS Aston Villa’s midfield, which they acquired for £17.7 million, is the invaluable key to their impressive Premier League start.
Aston Villa is currently enjoying their best-ever Premier League campaign at this point, sitting third in the table after a week to savour.
They haven’t scored 35 points or more after 16 games since 1980–81; the three times they’ve done so were more than a century ago.
It reminds me of Newcastle’s season last year, but even then, Villa is currently leading Eddie Howe’s team in points, and after victories over Manchester City and Arsenal by 1-0, talk of a title challenge has replaced the previous plan to finish in the top four.
To be fair, Villa are making every effort to ignore the external hype. The winner against Arsenal, John McGinn, declared, “I’m banning the T-word.” With only 16 games left, there is still a long way to go.
Everyone who has held these positions for a long time is respected by us. They have a great deal of experience. Since we’re novices, can we continue? I’m not sure. We’ll see. Hopefully, the goals have been changed. We need to work on strengthening our away performance, which isn’t terrible but can be better.
McGinn is just one member of a nearly flawless team under Unai Emery’s leadership that has improved since the Spaniard was brought in 13 months ago and Steven Gerrard was fired.
This season’s league match. If not for a one-match suspension, Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara would have also.
And Villa’s improbable attempt to upend the established order is being led by this trio in the midfield. The impressive consistency—McGinn has a 32-game league starting streak and Luiz is currently on a 47-game streak—has provided Emery’s team with a reliable, strong base at the center of the field.
Luiz keeps things moving. Although he has already scored five goals this season, one less than his best league total from the previous year, he is leading the way defensively at Villa with 36 tackles to Kamara’s 32. He is only second only to Pau Torres (1,066) for passes (955).
Additionally, both players have the poise on the ball that Emery needs for his team to play their way out of trouble.
Meanwhile, McGinn’s performance against Arsenal can only be partially described by numbers. There was only one goal, the game-winning goal, the joint-highest number of tackles (five), the most successful dribbles (three), and the most duels won (seven).
He was everywhere, inspiring fans to get up from their seats not just for his goal in the seventh minute but also for the little things that count for so much, like an opponent swarming the field in an unlikely throw-in or a bulldozing tackle to thwart the next wave of attack.
The sight of “Meatball” McGinn pushing you at full speed while Luiz and Kamara are behind him gives him the right to do so, so it’s not for the weak of heart.
“The defense greatly simplifies our task. Choosing when to press is crucial, and positioning plays a big part in our play. Fortunately, it has enabled me to flourish,” McGinn subsequently said to Sky Sports.
And how much is this trio worth to you? In 2018, McGinn and Luiz signed for a reported £2.7 million from Hibernian, while in 2022, Kamara joined for free after Gerrard went to the player’s house to persuade him to join. Kamara’s signing is considered to be the club’s greatest contribution.
