Nicolo Zaniolo no longer has to start for Aston Villa after anonymous performance against AZ Alkmaar
Aston Villa came from behind to win their Europa League clash against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday, November 9, thanks to goals from Diego Carlos and Ollie Watkins.
It wasn’t easy for Unai Emery’s side when they fell behind at the start of the second half thanks to Evangelos Pavlidis’ goal, but they finally had the quality to bounce back from defeat against Nottingham Forest.
One player Emery introduced late in the game as he looked to salvage the result was Nicolo Zaniolo, the Italian who replaced Moussa Diaby with just over 15 minutes remaining and it was a night to forget for the 24-year-old .
old.
In his brief appearance, Zaniolo made just two accurate passes from his 14 touches and failed to pose any goal threat seeing off his only shot comfortably blocked from the edge of the box.
The Italian is known for his technical ability on the ball and is a very skilled dribbler, but only completed one of his three tries at Villa Park as he was blocked four times, many than any other striker is turning burgundy and blue.
In total, the Villa midfielder lost the ball six times throughout the match, meaning he lost the ball more than once every three minutes as Emery’s side were desperately searching for a decisive goal.
Zaniolo was also unable to provide a defensive presence from the right flank, as he failed to win his only tackle, while also losing both aerial duels in the match.
Perhaps most worrying for Emery and Aston Villa supporters is that the 24-year-old has won just two of his eight away matches.
Unfortunately, this oversight is by no means a new problem for the Italian international.
Over the past year, he ranked in the bottom 2% of European attacking midfielders for passes made and pass completion rate per 90 minutes [Fbref].
Despite his tendency to try to rush defenders with the ball at his feet, he only succeeds on 1.
27 attempts per game, a figure that puts him in the 28th percentile compared to his peers.
his career in the top 5 European leagues.
With the immense attacking talent that Emery has, Zaniolo cannot start for Aston Villa against Fulham on Sunday November 12, especially against the likes of Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby.
He often wastes too much time on the ball, both on and off the ball.
The Italian didn’t fare much better against Forest last time out in the Premier League, losing the most duels of the game and one has to wonder whether he wasted his chance to return to the starting line-up with the anonymous appearance before AZ Alkmaar or not.
