Unpacking Villa’s lack of presence in the midfield vs Bournemouth

Villa’s lack of numbers in central areas saw our side truly break down on the opening day, as the side resorted to a frustrated, impatient style of play resembling a struggling Championship side.

But why? Here I’ll be looking at the first half of the game for examples, where Villa used our most ineffective structure.

This map of Villa’s passing network by @markrstats is a great visualisation of the problem. Note Kamara’s depth, Ramsey’s width and McGinn’s height in the diagram.