Aston Villa 2023/24: Unai Emery’s issues with a compact mid-block and high defensive line – tactical analysis

The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.

After returning to the English Premier League in 2019, Aston Villas ambition increased cumulatively over time, as the owners—NSWE group—pumped substantial investments in the team since that.

On November 1, 2022, Unai Emery became Aston Villas head coach, succeeding both Dean Smith and Steven Gerrard; the team had signed numerous promising player signings.

The Villains aspirations soared after a terrific performance by Emery in the previous season. However, the current season has seen the team achieve a balanced record of winning half of their matches while losing the other half. They scored eight goals but conceded nine in just four games.

In a previous analysis, we examined Aston Villas attacking tactics under Unai Emery. However, the team has faced recurring defensive issues since last season, which have persisted into this season.

This tactical analysis will explore whether these issues stem from the players quality or Emerys tactical choices and defensive strategies.

At the end of last season, Emery primarily relied on an exciting 6-2-2 low-block defensively. However, in most of the four matches played this season, he has tended more to a 4-4-2 compact mid-block, positioning players closely together. , as in below against Liverpool in the last match, which ended in a 3-0 loss.

Briefly about mid-block compactness

Defending is a matter of How much space should I defend? Everything is about meters, thats all — Johan Cruyff.

Compactness in defence entails maintaining short distances between players both horizontally and vertically. At the same time, a typical mid-block spacing between every two lines is approximately 20 meters. In the compact form implemented by Aston Villa, the distance is only 10 metres. The graphic below illustrates this concept along the X-axis and Y-axis.