Aston Villa dropped unexpected points against newly-promoted Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon, with the Suffolk outfit coming from behind to register a precious draw in their Premier League campaign, and reports from the game stated that manager Unai Emery ‘berated’ Amadou Onana for a loose pass to Pau Torres in the first-half at Portman Road.
Liam Delap opened the scoring with a well-worked goal, before some poor defending by the home side allowed Villa to go ahead before the end of the first half. That wasn’t without trials and tribulations as Villa struggled to keep the ball, and eventually Delap got his second of the game after beating Diego Carlos with ease before drilling past Emiliano Martinez in the Villa goal, but reports have stated that it was Onana who was the recipient of an outburst from Emery, who reportedly berated their summer signing for failing to pass short.
Emery ‘Berated’ Onana For Losing Possession
The Belgian was careless in possession in Suffolk
A tweet by The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell stated that Onana produced a loose pass to Torres when the scores were tied at 1-1, and with Villa aiming to keep the ball and break Ipswich down, it wasn’t what the Spaniard required.
| Amadou Onana’s Premier League statistics – Aston Villa squad ranking | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stats | Output | Squad rank |
| Minutes Played | 426 | 8th |
| Goals | 2 | 3rd |
| Aerial Duels Won Per Game | 1.5 | 1st |
| Shots Per Game | 1 | =4th |
| Interceptions Per Game | 1.3 | 1st |
| Match rating | 6.78 | 5th |
That prompted a ‘berated’ response from the former Paris Saint-Germain manager, who blasted the midfielder for his careless approach. Tanswell posted on X (formerly known as Twitter):
“Onana’s loose pass to Pau Torres is berated by Emery, who tells him to keep passes much shorter. I imagine Emery is happy with the intent of Villa, but slightly too fast and loose at times. Ipswich breaking through the wingers regularly.”
Onana came in from Everton in a £50million move in the transfer window, with the Belgian brought in to replace midfield metronome Douglas Luiz, who joined Juventus in the summer for a similar fee. And whilst the former Toffee has made a decent start to life in Birmingham in a goal-scoring sense, the two are slightly different profiles, with Luiz being better at retaining possession.
Villa Result Won’t Fully Derail Champions League Bid
The Villans dropped points but they’ll look to bounce back
Villa are still in the hunt for Champions League football, and although today’s game wasn’t ideal in a result sense, there is still renewed confidence that they will go on to secure a European spot at the end of the campaign, regardless of the competition.
Key Statistic: Amadou Onana has five goals in 69 Premier League appearances.
The Villans are competing in Europe’s elite competition for the first time in 41 years and began with a superb 3-0 win over Swiss side Young Boys, which could have been more – and they’ll be looking to advance further in the coming weeks with daunting visits from Bayern Munich on the horizon.
Newcastle United had a similar campaign last time out whilst they were competing in the Champions League and finished seventh – but Villa’s start to the season will give them confidence, having only lost once this season. Astute signings like Morgan Rogers, Onana and more will look to keep that notion going with aspirations of another place at Europe’s top seat – in which they will have to beat off competition from other clubs if they are to progress.
