With the Premier League 2 2023/24 fixtures having been announced last week, the time is ripe to review Aston Villa’s U21 Pre-Season.
Words by: Ivan McDouall
The youth side has played three public pre-season friendlies over the past weeks – all away from home at Solihull Moors, Hereford and Rushall Olympic. Three games against National League and National League North opposition allowed Villa’s academy side a toughly competitive pre-season, and as with the first team, a chance to practice some formations and themes that will carry forward into the PL2 season.
The club’s coverage of these games has been virtually non existent with only the Solihull Moors fixture even being deemed worthy of a brief write up on the website. Even more odd was the announcement of Inigo Idiakez as the new U21 coach after he had coached the team at Solihull.
There is clearly an interest in the academy sides – underlined by a decent turn out at all three games from Villa fans – so one can only hope that once the league season gets underway the coverage will at the very least return to last season’s levels.
The three games gave a clean sweep of results. Solihull Moors were beaten 2-0 with a Louis Barry penalty and ‘debut’ goal from Rico Richards enough to beat the National League side. A late Kyrie Pierre goal secured a 2-2 draw against Hereford, with Richards again on the scoresheet for Villa. In what was in my opinion the toughest game, goals from Chisom Afoka and Kobei Moore were not enough as Villa lost 3-2 to Rushall.
I was fortunate to be at all three games so what follows is a summary of some observations from the pre-season as a whole, defined positionally, and gives us some pointers in terms of what to expect from the new PL2 season
Goalkeepers
James Wright started the Solihull game and played exceptionally – two top draw saves in either half essentially secured the win for the Villa youngsters. A tall and clearly confident goalkeeper Wright exudes an air that will stand him in good stead and belies his tender years.
However, I would suggest that he will have to be happy (at least initially) with being back up to Oliwier Zych. The Polish U19 captain started against Hereford and Rushall and looked largely secure. Again, Zych has a strong presence and in these small grounds you could get a clear sense of his vocal command and organisation.
Full Backs
The same full backs started all three games – Frankie Ealing at right back and Finley Munroe on the left. Both players seem to have graduated to be U21 starters in place of Kaine Kesler Hayden (on loan at Plymouth) and Seb Revan (who I full expect to be used as cover in the first team squad).
Ealing is an energetic footballer who pushes forward, but not at expense of his defensive duties. Munroe is probably the better known – some key roles in the Birmingham Senior Cup and U18 Premier League Cup campaigns last term. He was quiet over these three games and some of the marauding style we saw last season was tamed – he was also less involved in set pieces than I have seen at the younger levels.
Ben Chrisene was only seen sparingly but was outstanding in a brief cameo against Solihull – given he went on loan last year; you’d assume another temporary exit is on the cards.
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Central Defence
The central defensive positions seem to be – in the absence of injured Sil Swinkels – a rotation between Aaron O’Reilly, Kerr Smith and Josh Feeney. All three started twice over the three games and all wore the captain’s armband at some stage. The former two have more of a physical presence than Feeney, although lack some of the ball playing comfort of the latter.
I was impressed – as with last season – with all three against physical lower league strikers like Adam Rooney and Danny Waldron. O’Reilly is arguably the strongest in the air. Much is spoken and written about Feeney and he continues to impress – not least when playing in a ‘6’ type midfield role in the second half at Rushall. That gives a sense of some flexibility of how these three will be utilised and may depend on opposition set up.
Given how stacked Villa are, first team wise, with centre backs and with Swinkels to come back into the mix at some stage it would not be a surprise to see one of these loaned out.
Midfield
Two players who have been on the fringes of the first team squad at times – Tommi O’Reilly and Lamar Bogarde started the first two pre-season run outs and unsurprisingly sparkled. I wrote after the Walsall game how impressed I had been with Bogarde and he looked the part in his dual appearances – really looking ready to not be playing at this level.
The same can be said of O’Reilly who was missed against Rushall. He is such a catalyst for this side – linking attack and defence, probing and pushing constantly. Without him Villa struggled to make those links against Rushall. Interestingly O’Reilly was in attendance at Rushall but Bogarde was not – which again may point to some loan movement.
Todd Alcock and Teddy Rowe also had minutes over the games (Rowe more than Alcock) and both are busy players who try and work on the ball, unfortunately not with the same impact of an O’Reilly or Bogarde. With some midfielders either in America (Aaron Ramsey), injured (Tim) or ready to go out on loan (Finn Azaz) there was also game time for U18 prospects Ewan Simpson, I-lani Edwards and Mikell Barnes.
I’d say that the midfield mix is the hardest to pin down ahead of the PL2 opener in ten days or so and much will depend on who stays and goes. In all three games Villa fielded a midfield three – you’d imagine Tommi plus two might be the thinking moving forward. Travis Patterson wasn’t overly involved in these three games disappointingly so he would be someone I’d look forward to being added to that midfield mix.
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Wide Players
There is a wealth of resource here for Villa – new signing Rico Richards (thanks, again, West Brom) joining Afoka, Kadan Young and Kobei Moore (who played through the middle against Rushall). Despite his two goals Richards could look to get more involved, and Kadan Young (fresh off the plane from America) looked weary in his one appearance.
Afoka is the most direct and clearly is desperate to have an influence on games – he was often a standout last season too. I also like Luka Lynch who made an appearance against Hereford and was impressive in the age group sides who played abroad recently.
This is not forgetting Omari Kellyman who can play wide or more centrally. Impressive in America, he will be a crucial element to the U21 side next season whilst continuing to be involved on the first team periphery.
Strikers
With Louie Barry departed to Stockport this is up for grabs. Barry had started against Solihull and Hereford, with the aforementioned Moore taking up the mantle in the final game. Moore – son of former Villa striker Stefan, nephew of Luke – took his goal well against Rushall and will likely get chances to impress.
Rory Wilson was largely used as a substitute but lacked service as Villa rang the changes in all games – not a dissimilar parallel to Archer with the first team. Wilson remains the most natural finisher in these age group sides and it will be interesting to see how he might thrive when fed by O’Reilly and Kellyman.
This by no means covers everyone who has appeared across these three games – Jayden Barber and Ben Broggio are just two examples of U18 players who may end up making the step up to U21 level. The comparison is Kellyman again who transitioned midway through last term.
For me, the excitement and anticipation around the first team filters down to these age group levels. It’s great to see young Villa fans knowing these players and asking for autographs and selfies and I hope the squads understand what they mean to fans. Much is being made of players having a pathway, but as Villa fans we have a great opportunity to support these younger players who may benefit from that pathway in the future.
Roll on Friday nights at Bodymoor Heath.
2023/24 Premier League 2 fixtures announced | AVFC
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