El Ghazi proves he should start for Aston Villa alongside Watkins | OneFootball

Aston Villa took their first win in five under new manager, Steven Gerrard on Saturday afternoon, with an attacking masterclass that enabled the side to bag two goals against Graham Potter’s Brighton.

Gerrard spoke out after the game to give his analysis on the game and explained why despite having less possession than the Seagulls, they were able to win the game comfortably with two goals in the last ten minutes of the game.

The Villa manager said;

“We wanted to block the middle of the pitch and when our moments came we wanted to semi-counter and full counter and wanted to hurt the opposition.

“It took until the last ten or 15 for us to look like a real threat but we have a lot of attacking players in squad who can run and who are dangerous.

“We allowed them to have the ball in certain areas of the pitch and when Brighton tried to win it from us, we made them pay.”

Despite winning the game with attacking tactics, Emi Buendia struggled to make a credible impact on the game, which is something he has been unable to do in his short time at Villa Park.

Should Buendia be dropped?

Buendia struggled to command the ball and be present in the final third, with a heavy touch that cost a potential big chance for Danny Ings during the game.

One player who didn’t start in Gerrard’s first game in charge was Anwar El Ghazi.

El Ghazi had a poor game against Southampton but has been known to offer moments of magic in his link up play with Ollie Watkins, scoring 26 goals and 15 assists since joining the club in 2018.

The winger came on moments before Watkins opened up the scoring for Villa in the 84th minute, with the player making a run outside so that the striker could move into the space to score the goal.

The £11.7m-rated gem has been in and out of the team for a while now but has proven on occasion that he is experienced in finding goal-scoring opportunities and assisting his teammates in the past, something Buendia is struggling to do for Villa, with just one assist in the league.

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Gerrard will need to make a decision on whether he wants to include the 26-year-old in his future plans at the club, as he has been linked with a move away from the club, and on the radar of many clubs, who are keeping an eye on his situation at Villa.

The Villans will be pleased to have taken three points from the game this weekend as they plan to move away from a potential relegation battle but El Ghazi is somebody who must receive more game time.