Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa: A Glimpse of What the New Villa Might Become

Villa’s first league win of the season brought more than three points. João Gomes gave Unai Emery the midfield platform he has been searching for, Johan Manzambi connected with Nicolas Jackson, and a subtle half-time change helped turn an encouraging first half into Villa’s most convincing attacking spell of the season. Tottenham’s late goals made the ending uncomfortable, but for much of the afternoon there were signs that a dramatically rebuilt Villa side is beginning to understand itself.

By Nico Valenti

There was something reassuringly familiar about the way Aston Villa grew into this game. Tottenham began with energy, pushed Villa towards their own penalty area and forced Zion Suzuki into the sort of early work that can change an away game before it has properly settled. Villa stayed with them. Gradually the distances tightened, João Gomes and Boubacar Kamara began finding their moments to step forward, and the spaces Tottenham were leaving behind their possession became increasingly tempting. By the final 15 minutes before half-time, Villa looked comfortable with the game they had been given.

Suzuki deserves considerably more than a passing reference in that story. After ten minutes, Sandro Tonali escaped down the left and pulled the ball across a crowded penalty area. It somehow reached Sávio, whose first attempt was blocked by Suzuki at close range; the rebound came straight back to him and Suzuki was ready to make the second save too. Around ten minutes later Sávio was involved again, finding substitute Archie Gray making a blindside run into the right of Villa’s area. Gray struck first time from a tight angle and Suzuki stopped a goal with his feet, then dealt with Sávio again from the resulting corner, diving low to his right to keep out a well-struck effort through traffic. He had made four saves inside the opening 21 minutes.

Those interventions altered the mood of the game. Tottenham had started well enough to be ahead; instead the scoreboard remained blank and Villa were given the time to work through their early problems. Suzuki even had to intervene outside the conventional goalkeeper’s role around 26 minutes, reacting quickly to clear after a messy passage in Villa’s defensive third threatened to release Spurs again.  There was a growing sense that Tottenham had enjoyed their strongest spell without extracting anything from it.

The numbers confirm their territorial advantage: 63.8 per cent possession, 20 shots to Villa’s 15 and 11 corners to one. The chance numbers were much closer, and Villa put six attempts on target to Tottenham’s seven. Tottenham spent far more time with the ball, yet Villa increasingly looked capable of hurting them whenever the pitch opened.  For Emery, after an opening few weeks spent trying to connect the pieces of a radically altered squad, that will have been particularly satisfying.

A midfield Villa could build from

Emery’s starting XI contained one change that shaped almost everything that followed. Gomes returned alongside Kamara, with McGinn, Buendía and Manzambi forming a flexible line behind Jackson. Villa immediately looked more substantial through the middle than they had at Coventry or Nottingham Forest.

Gomes gave Emery the confidence to let the players ahead of him move. He could step towards a loose ball, follow an opponent into midfield or carry possession a few yards with Kamara still protecting the centre. Kamara consequently spent less time repairing spaces around him and more time reading where Tottenham’s next attack was likely to develop.

Gomes finished with five tackles, three interceptions and 23 completed passes from 25, including seven line-breaking passes. His defensive work was accompanied by enough ambition on the ball to turn recoveries into the beginnings of attacks.

That performance gave Manzambi considerable freedom. He started nominally on the right but was already moving around the pitch within the opening quarter of an hour. There were small signs before Villa had really established themselves: his first meaningful involvement saw him wriggle away from contact and keep possession alive before combining with McGinn, and after 15 minutes he collected a longer pass on the right, faced up Andy Robertson and cut onto his left foot for a shot that Kinsky saved comfortably. A minute later he appeared on the opposite wing, carrying into a three-against-three and slipping McGinn into the attack.

Neither move amounted to much. Collectively they were revealing. Emery wasn’t using Manzambi as a right-winger whose job ended at the touchline. He was being encouraged to find the part of the pitch from which he could influence the next action, and Tottenham increasingly had to locate him afresh when Villa recovered possession.

His goal in first-half stoppage time was more opportunistic. McGinn seized upon Robertson’s poor clearance and fed Kamara, whose scruffy effort travelled into the six-yard area for Manzambi to convert while Micky van de Ven was temporarily off the pitch.  It wasn’t Villa’s prettiest move, but it arrived after the game had begun to turn. Spurs’ early pressure had faded, Villa were finding exits through midfield and Manzambi had spent half an hour appearing in different parts of their defensive structure.

Emery changed the right side again at half-time. Aaron Wan-Bissaka had spent much of the opening 45 minutes protecting against Tottenham’s width and staying relatively close to the centre-backs. Matty Cash replaced him and immediately pushed earlier and higher. It sounds a modest adjustment, but it released Manzambi from much of his responsibility for holding the outside lane. Cash could occupy the touchline, Manzambi could stay closer to Jackson and Tottenham’s left side suddenly had to account for movements at two different depths.

For a spell, it was exciting. Villa still had only 36 per cent of the ball across the match, but possession ceased to describe who was dictating the dangerous moments. Gomes and Kamara were moving the ball forward with more purpose, Cash was stretching the right and Manzambi was receiving close enough to Jackson for the two to combine.

The second goal was the best piece of evidence Villa could have produced for that developing relationship. It actually began with Suzuki. His long kick travelled beyond Tottenham’s midfield towards Jackson, who brought the attack to life by laying the ball into Manzambi. Manzambi immediately returned it. Jackson took the pass on his chest, lifted the ball over Van de Ven and drove the finish beyond Kinsky.

It was only a few touches, but an enormous amount happened within them. Suzuki removed the first Tottenham press altogether. Jackson came towards the ball instead of remaining between the centre-backs. Manzambi had moved close enough to him to make the lay-off useful and, crucially, returned the ball quickly enough for Jackson’s original movement to continue. By the time Van de Ven had adjusted, Jackson was attacking him facing goal.

That is the sort of exchange Villa have rarely produced. His instinct is to move across a centre-back, come towards possession or drift into a channel if he senses that the movement can disturb the defensive line. Earlier in the season those movements could leave an empty space behind him. Manzambi understood the next part of the action. One touch brought him into the move; the next sent Jackson back towards goal.

Manzambi left after 72 minutes, his first Premier League start ending with a goal and an assist. He became only the second Villa player in the Premier League era to score and assist on his first league start for the club, after Kevin Phillips in 2005.  Emery has been careful with him following the knee problem, but this was more interesting than a tidy debut embellished by two goal contributions. Villa’s attack moved differently when he was involved.

The game opened and Buendía found his space

George Hemmings replaced Manzambi and Tottenham were committing more bodies forward by then. The spaces between their midfield and defence grew, which suited Buendía.

He has occasionally looked disconnected during the opening weeks, occupying sensible positions but receiving with too much work left to do. Here the movement around him increasingly created the conditions first. Cash stretched one side, Jackson kept Tottenham’s centre-backs occupied and McGinn was willing to appear wherever Villa needed the extra passing angle.

There had already been signs of Buendía becoming more involved as Villa settled. His tendency to move towards Jackson allowed Villa to form a small central combination instead of leaving the striker to contest direct passes alone, while Manzambi’s inward movement from the right gave Buendía somebody to exchange positions with. Tottenham could initially track those movements while their shape was compact. Once they were chasing the game, the same exchanges began pulling players apart.

That context makes the third goal feel less isolated than the brilliance of the finish suggests. Villa were camped around the edge of Tottenham’s area by this stage, a remarkable change from the opening 20 minutes. McGinn worked the ball to Buendía outside the box and he needed almost no backlift, bending his shot around the defender and into the top corner.

It was a wonderful goal, and there was some emotion in the celebration. Villa’s attacking players have carried the frustration of the opening weeks, when goals were difficult and combinations often looked unfinished.

Manzambi, Jackson and Buendía all scoring on the same afternoon felt significant because their contributions were beginning to overlap. Emery will know that one productive half-hour does not settle the attack, but this was the first league game in which his new options began to look complementary.

Gomes was fundamental to that freedom. The aggression in his defensive work allowed Kamara to retain his position underneath attacks, and his willingness to play through a line meant winning possession did not automatically result in another slow build-up. With Manzambi wanting to carry, Cash advancing and Jackson moving away from the striker’s lane, Villa needed players behind them capable of deciding quickly whether to join an action or protect it. Gomes and Kamara managed that balance impressively.

The contrast with Coventry was striking. Barkley and Bogarde had often been close together without Villa feeling particularly secure once possession changed hands. Against a much stronger Tottenham attack, Emery’s midfield actually looked safer. The personnel helped, but so did the clarity of the roles. Gomes could hunt, Kamara could screen, and the attacking players knew there was enough protection behind them to be ambitious.

Emery changed the balance again

The final substitutions produced a useful reminder that those relationships remain delicate. At 84 minutes Emery removed Kamara and McGinn for Barkley and Mbaye; Tottenham introduced Gallagher and Bergvall at the same time. Gallagher scored two minutes later, with his effort taking a deflection off Cash, and Van Hecke added Tottenham’s second deep into stoppage time.

There is little value in pinning the late wobble on Barkley or Mbaye. They entered just as Tottenham abandoned much of their previous caution and committed bodies forward, while Villa were beginning to protect what appeared an unassailable lead. Their introductions did alter the balance Emery had enjoyed for most of the game. Kamara had spent 84 minutes protecting the centre and McGinn had covered enormous amounts of space around him. Removing both simultaneously left Gomes with a different set of relationships.

Barkley’s instincts naturally take him towards the ball. Kamara’s are more concerned with the space around it. Mbaye came on expecting to offer an outlet and attack the space Tottenham were leaving, only for Gallagher’s goal to change the requirements of his cameo almost immediately. The exciting winger seen on the left against Forest and attacking defenders at Coventry spent much of these final minutes helping Villa negotiate a frantic finish. There was barely enough attacking possession to learn anything meaningful about him.

Barkley’s cameo also fits the broader picture beginning to form around his role. Coventry showed the value of his shooting and ability to arrive around the box, even on an afternoon when his deeper work was poor. Tottenham asked him to help close a game dominated by second balls, covering runs and defending the penalty area. Emery may find considerably more value in Barkley when Villa need to add something around the opposition box than when they are protecting their own.

There is perhaps a lesson in the timing. Taking Kamara and McGinn off together removed two of Villa’s strongest defensive habits at the precise moment Tottenham were becoming increasingly direct. It did not cause Gallagher’s deflected goal or Van Hecke’s late header on its own, and Villa were entitled to believe a three-goal advantage with six minutes remaining was secure. It did show how quickly the distances could deteriorate once the midfield changed.

Cash’s afternoon provides another example of how Emery can alter the team without changing the nominal formation. Wan-Bissaka suited Tottenham’s aggressive opening, when individual defensive security was valuable. Cash suited the next part of the game and still contributed six tackles, winning five, alongside five clearances. His willingness to advance changed Manzambi’s position and helped create the conditions for Villa’s strongest attacking spell.

With Maatsen absent and Ruggeri offering a steadier interpretation of left-back, the choice between Cash and Wan-Bissaka could become one of Emery’s most useful ways of changing the character of the opposite flank.

A clearer picture

The final statistics remain slightly deceptive. Tottenham had 63.8 per cent possession, 20 shots and 11 corners, while Villa finished with 15 shots and one corner. Shots on target were seven to six. Tottenham produced more attacking volume.

Yet Villa left north London with something they have been short of during the opening weeks: evidence that the pieces of Emery’s rebuilt side can fit together.

After the upheaval of the summer and a difficult beginning to the league season, that made this win feel like more than three points.