Aston Villa, which was still riding at the end of last year, has now lost momentum.
After losing Kamara, Villa's performance gradually declined, and when he faced Manchester City today, Unai Emery could barely release his main players in central midfield, and compared to the first leg of the season between the two teams, Emery not only lost Kamara, but also did not have the likes of Watkins and McGinn available.
Such an Aston Villa team wants to cause problems for Manchester City away from home, and it is naturally difficult to find opportunities, even if Guardiola did not send Haaland and De Bruyne.
However, City still have Foden.
In the last round, Manchester City did not take the opportunity to get rid of Arsenal.
With less than 10 rounds to go before the end of the season, City had little room for error, so at home to Villa, City quickly got into the groove.
Rico Lewis came on, and City's central and backfield thinking was naturally for him to adduct and work with his teammates to hold up the front five:
Grealish and Dokugora were sideways, with Bernardo Silva, Alvarez and Foden evenly occupying space in the flanks and in the middle.
Unai Emery blocked the space through the collective movement of Kamara and his team-mates in the first leg of the match, and it was the same today, with a large area on the side of Grealish appearing when City were in possession on the perimeter, suggesting that Villa had a problem with wide coverage, but the problem was tolerable:
Because when City hit the 40-metre zone, Irobegnan, a small midfielder who replaced Kamara, would fall into the back line, thus stretching the width out and allowing Villa to form a five-man position in the final line to seal off the space.
Theoretically, the time difference between the linkage between Irobegnan, starting with him, including other positions, is Manchester City's fighter, but at the beginning, Villa players are fit, and all this will not be so simple.
So in the stalemate stage, Manchester City took the lead in the right rib to play a chance, Villa had a problem defending Foden, Zaniolo and Digne did not form a good position, thus exposing Doku on the side, and Doku came to the right side of the foot side without adjustment, he could use his right foot to cross directly, and in front of the goal, Villa also missed Rodri's forward insertion:
Conceding away goals, Villa started to have some problems.
In the 17th minute, the mid-line defense, young midfielder Irobuggnan followed Bernardo Silva directly into the back line, and he did do what the coach intended, but in the situation, he needed to be flexible:
At the time, it was impossible for City to find Bernardo Silva directly through ground passes, and they had to play with long balls behind them, while Bernardo Silva and Grealish on the wing lacked pace and would not pose much of a threat when they hit behind. Irobgnan could have left Bernardo Silva off guard and handed over to full-back for the time being, because if he followed him all the way into the back line, the gap would have been created by Manchester City:
In that moment, the disconnect between the front and back of Villa was very obvious, and in the opening stages, he did not stand like this:
With his team-mates pressing in front of him, City couldn't get off their feet easily, and even after they were behind them, they lacked the speed advantage, so as time went on, Irobegnan began to struggle to assess the situation well.
Of course, Villa didn't have immediate problems with this vacancy at the time, but then, as Foden saw it, Villa suffered a blow:
However, before digging into the problem of the small midfielder, Villa seized the opportunity to equalise:
Throughout the process, Rodri, who was not supported at all, was completely unable to play a defensive role, and finally fell into the back line, Manchester City lost their defensive level and was easily penetrated by Villa.
Needless to say, Rodri's problems are as for Rico Lewis, who should assist Rodri, has long been hot-headed and rushed to the front as an attacker.
Although Manchester City were equalised, the advantage on the pitch was clearly visible.
In addition to this attack, one of the shortcomings is that center forward Duran, including Morgan Rodgers, who provided the assist, is not present enough to bring constant pressure to Manchester City.
Another drawback is that these players also have problems defensively.
In the first leg of the battle between the two teams, Villa, who played their main team, will inevitably fall into the disadvantage on the periphery, but Villa only need Kamara to fall into the back line, but in this game, even if Irobgnan falls into the back line, Villa will still have a problem with width:
The back five can't cover the width, so you can only move to the back six, which is to drag Zaniolo back, but that's not a way to do it, because you shrink to a back six, and you don't want to play counter-attack.
At the end of the day, it's Morgan Rogers who doesn't limit Rodri enough:
Not only this time, but also this time in the 28th minute:
So after the equaliser, Villa's situation was even worse.
There are too many substitutes, resulting in most of the players in Villa can only run blindly with Manchester City's conduction, and they have long forgotten the defensive points assigned by the coach in an anaerobic state, and their physical strength has also been rapidly lost.
So in the 34th minute, the small back couldn't keep up. It was true that he fell into the back line with his team-mates, but Bernardo Silva stopped and couldn't see it:
In the 36th minute, even Rico Lewis was able to instigate an attack on the right flank:
And in the 37th minute, the signs that Irob Gnan couldn't keep up with the rhythm were even more obvious, and he could only let Douglas Luiz, who was not good at defense, move sideways to help:
Around 40 minutes, Foden was already making a big fuss at Douglas Luiz's side:
So in the 45th minute, he made it himself, and he also scored a free kick that exceeded the score again:
So at the beginning of the second half, Manchester City had begun to take advantage of the space at the edge of the penalty area, whether it was directly from here or along the front of the box to the weak side, it became extremely smooth:
Villa only had some extra energy to fight back during this time,
In such a situation, it is natural that Manchester City will have a higher probability of scoring, so in the 62nd minute, Rodri explored space directly in front of Irobgnan and crossed to Foden:
By this time, Manchester City had already sealed the result of the win, and the suspense was just a matter of the score. After his teammates missed the opportunity:
Foden scored a hat-trick:
Strictly speaking, the intensity of this game was not very high.
At home, Villa, who were all in the front line, gradually accumulated time and effect, and Villa's defensive intensity began to drop significantly. Of course it's a problem with the Villa players, but everybody's on the bench and you can't ask too much.
Essentially, Villa are losing momentum now, and it still comes down to the back line. Tactically, you need the midfielders to fall into the back line to help, which is the usual practice of Unai Emery against strong opponents, but at the end of the day, it is your defenders who are not capable enough. Pau Torres of the main force was like that, and Lenglet on the bench needless to say, so under the heavy tactical burden, Camara fell first, thus forming a subsequent domino effect.
Therefore, Villa's bench quality is still not enough, which is a key point in their next development, but this season, Emery has not been able to integrate Zaniolo into his tactics, which is a shame.
He's limited in quality, but it's a shame that he can take a little bit of pressure off Watkins.
So on Manchester City's side, you can't win against Arsenal, and you should win Villa like this.
However, it was a clear signal that Foden's tactical role in capturing space was outstanding, and that the efficiency was quite impressive.
If Foden captures space and can only provide tactical roles, such as making a foul and making a few yellow cards, but there are no stats to be recorded, Manchester City can still watch slowly, but now they can score a hat-trick straight away, then it is time to start pushing Foden to the centre of the stage.
That's how it is to develop players. You can't wait for Foden to get to the height of David Silva and then let him pick up the lead, because that's not how players improve. With signs like today, it is necessary for him to try to pick up the beam, of course it is better to succeed once, but even if it fails, the player can also learn from his mistakes, so as to improve again, and the next time he picks the beam, the probability of success is higher.
David Silva didn't become David Silva on day one, Foden can start taking on a real challenge.
The performance of this game, including the goal against Manchester United and the performances in key games this season, all point to Foden's time to start picking the lead.
Therefore, it is ridiculous that such a player played as a winger in the last game and was replaced after 60 minutes.