Aston Villa could soon discover a new saviour in midfield as Unai Emery has hinted at the future involvement of Tim Iroegbunam following the suspension of John McGinn.
Aston Villa face an uphill battle to take back control of the race for the top four following Sunday’s damning 4-0 defeat to Tottenham.
The Villans conceded four second-half goals at home to Ange Postecoglou’s side, leaving Unai Emery’s plans for fourth place out of Villa’s hands for the time being.
Spurs not only closed the gap to two points on the Midlands club who sit in fourth place but also have a game in hand, taking their destiny out of their control.
Luckily, there are still 10 games to play in the 2023/24 Premier League season making Sunday’s result far from definitive however, the manager must now prepare for further difficulty due to one key element.
The issue that Unai Emery now faces at Aston Villa
If the 4-0 defeat to Spurs on Sunday wasn’t disappointing enough, the Villans lost captain John McGinn to a three-match ban as the 29-year-old received a straight red card.
The Scotsman went flying into a tackle on Destiny Udogie with Chris Kavanagh’s on-field decision splitting opinion as McGinn was forced down the tunnel.
Speaking on the Football Daily podcast, pundit Nedum Onuoha described the pending absence of the Villa captain as a “big loss” for Emery’s side, who will be without their skipper for their duels with West Ham, Wolves and Manchester City.
Tim Iroegbunam has the keys to relieving one Unai Emery headache at Aston Villa
While things are feeling low at Villa Park at the moment, all hope should not be lost, as we’ve seen time after time just how adaptable Emery’s squad are to change.
Villa have suffered an overwhelming number of injuries this season including three ACL blows, with Boubacar Kamara being the latest loss to the serious injury.
McGinn had been doing a stellar job at covering for the Frenchman’s absence however, Emery must go back to the drawing board to assess his options to now cover the Scotsman.
As seen against Spurs, one figure that the Spaniard can call on is Tim Iroegbunam, who also played a part against Ajax on Thursday.
The 20-year-old is a graduate of the Bodymoor Heath academy and could be poised to play an integral role in the upcoming weeks, as hinted by the manager after Sunday’s defeat.
“They are two similar players [Tielemans and Iroegbunam] and sometimes they need one ‘stopper’ player with characteristics different close to them. But I will give them opportunities, in the case of Tim or Douglas and Tielemans there, trying to protect him.”
Now could be the ideal chance for Iroegbunam to make a breakthrough, with him only making his second senior start for Villa against Ajax and having only secured 55 Premier League minutes for the club.
Once lauded as being “impressive” by U23 scout Antonio Mango for his exploits on loan at QPR, the youngster has all the tools to play an integral role going forward in midfield, possessing the combative edge needed to cover for both McGinn and Kamara.
What the 20-year-old lacks of course is experience, something that can only be gained with now presenting the perfect opportunity for the Englishman to grasp his chance of a breakthrough under Emery with both hands.
