With a summer break and initial pre-season fixture against Walsall out of the way, Steven Gerrard has the opportunity to assess his current crop of players and experiment with philosophies over the course of the club’s two week tour of Australia.
The first test emerges this Sunday 17th July against Leeds United, as the two English sides fly across the globe to meet in the inaugural Queensland Champions Cup at the legendary Suncorp Stadium.
Jesse Marsch’s side joins Brisbane Roar FC to form the three-team competition, and the trio of clubs will hope to use the tournament and the pre-season break as a platform to mount a better go at their respective leagues after underwhelming finishes across the board last time out.
Leeds and The Roar have already played out their fixture together, with the Yorkshire-based side coming out 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Daniel James and Joe Gelhardt in the first-half; Joe Knowles was the scorer for Brisbane.
Steven Gerrard is spoiled for choice in regards to his selection for Sunday, and the full list of players currently down-under can be seen below:
- Goalkeepers: Filip Marshall, Robin Olsen and Emiliano Martinez.
- Defenders: Matty Cash, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Frederic Guilbert, Calum Chambers, Josh Feeney, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Diego Carlos, Lucas Digne, Ben Chrisene and Ashley Young.
- Midfielders: Marvelous Nakamba, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Sanson, Emiliano Buendia and Philippe Coutinho.
- Forwards: Ollie Watkins, Cameron Archer, Danny Ings, Leon Bailey, Keinan Davis, Jaden Philogene-Bidace and Bertrand Traore.
Meanwhile, Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United camp contains the following:
- Goalkeepers: Ivan Meslier, Kristoffer Klaesson and Harry Christy.
- Defenders: Liam Cooper, Leif Davis, Cody Drameh, Robin Koch, Leo Hjelde, Rasmus Kristensen, Diego Llorente and Pascul Struijk.
- Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson, Adam Forshaw, Tyler Adams, Archie Gray, Darko Gyabi, Marc Roca and Mateusz Klich.
- Forwards: Patrick Bamford, Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood, Jack Harrison, Daniel James, Rodrigo, Luis Sinisterra and Crysencio Summerville.
Let’s now take a look at the team news from both the Villans’ and the Whites’ camps heading into the opening game of the Queensland Champions Cup, as we see who is missing from the trip or unavailable for selection on match-day.
Ezri Konsa, despite being ruled out for approximately 16 weeks following his knee injury sustained during the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace in May, looks to be ahead of schedule and has began training on grass with his teammates. Konsa has been a staple within the Aston Villa side since the reemergence of the club back to the Premier League, and it now seems as if Konsa will be available for the league opener against Bournemouth. Whether or not the centre-half will feature doing the tour of Australia is yet to be known, but Steven Gerrard will certainly be glad the 24 year-old’s recovery has gone as smoothly and quickly as it has.
Youngsters Aaron Ramsey and Tim Iroegbunam are still on their summer break on the back of their successful tournament with England’s U19 squad who won the U19 World Cup, and it remains unclear as to whether or not the duo will meet with the first team in Australia. Carney Chukwuemeka was also a part of the triumphant squad, but boss Steven Gerrard revealed that the midfielder would not join his first-team teammates whilst contract talks persistent. The gaffer stated that ‘Chuk’ was “yet to sign a contract offer thatβs been in place for some time”, and so decided to let the 18 year-old “continue his training programme back at Bodymoor.β
Kortney Hause is another member of the side back at Bodymoor Heath after the defender underwent surgery on his knee following persistent issues throughout the course of the 21/22 season. Hause made just nine appearances across all competitions, and will hope the recent operation will put him in contention for more game time across the oncoming campaign.
Elsewhere, goalkeeper Jed Steer’s situation is currently up in the air, with the 29 year-old not pictured with the squad out in Australia and is a player who could be deemed somewhat an outcast after the arrival of Robin Olsen as Emiliano Martinez’s back-up. Steer spent last season on loan at Luton Town from January to the end of the season, but after playing just three times in net, he suffered an injury to his Achilles tendon in a cup game against Chelsea – ending his time with the Hatters.
After featuring in a U23 games against Hednesford earlier in the week, many Aston Villa fans believed winger Anwar El Ghazi’s time at the club was over, but in a recent sit-down with VillaTV, Steven Gerrard confirmed the Dutchman missed the tour down-under due to his wife expecting their first child imminently.
As for Leeds United, there are three men missing from their first-team squad on tour, namely full-backs Junior Firpo and Luke Ayling. Firpo is believed to have suffered a knock leading up to the squad’s travel plans and will rehabilitate and recover back at the club’s training ground – Thorp Arch. Ayling is still recovering from knee surgery undergone in May which looks set to keep the 30 year-old out for a further month or so.
Finally, youngster Jamie Shackleton is the other absentee from the Oz trip, with a proposed loan move to Millwall on the cards for the midfielder – a deal thought to be concluded in the coming days.
Aside from this, both Jesse Marsch and Steven Gerrard will have free reign over starting line-ups for the fixture on Sunday, picking from the vastly talented squads that made the trip to the Southern Hemisphere (previously listed).
Who will come out on top? Look out for an article later this week, where I discuss my pre-match thoughts ahead of Aston Villa’s second pre-season game against Leeds United this weekend.
AUTHOR | LIAM DAVIES
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive liamayrtondavies – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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