After Aston Villa’s awful performance against Fulham, Unai Emery had to fire Leon Bailey.
The Villans secured a 3-1 win away at Craven Cottage on Saturday 19 October thanks to strikes from Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins, added to by an Issa Diop own goal.
Although Jaden Philogene’s late dismissal for what appeared to be a harmless challenge was disappointing, the performance was otherwise excellent.
After yet another lacklustre performance, he took Bailey’s place on minute sixty-one and perhaps Emery should have fired Bailey sooner.
For Aston Villa against Fulham, Leon Bailey battles once more
The Jamaican international’s performance is undoubtedly suffering as he seems strange and possibly unfit.
Watkins’ attempt on goal while falling was a clear indication of the 27-year-old’s lack of urgency as he now seems to be a little off pace.
As this was going on, Bailey was closing the distance between himself and the goal on the right side, but he showed no signs of wanting to catch up as the effort went in Bernd Leno’s direction.
The German custodian deflected the ball away from the goal and towards the Villa winger, who was moving too slowly and too far away to make a play.
The time the former Bayern Leverkusen player approached the ball, Antonee Robinson slammed it away to release the pressure, and it was too late.
On a different day, Bailey beats the American international to the ball for a simple tap-in, but it is obvious that he is not performing at his best or doing the fundamentals.
Leon Bailey dominated Fulham by a wide margin.
His statistics, which include just 38 touches and 13 passes in 61 minutes, demonstrate how awful he was that day [FotMob].
The winger attempted two crosses but was unable to execute either, recording only one successful dribble with a 33 per cent success rate.
The 27-year-old was excellent the previous season and frequently supported his right back, but he had little to no defensive impact against Fulham.
He attempted nine duel matches, but he only won one of them, giving him a 13 percent victory percentage in ground duels. He also lost a tackle.
In order to give the winger time to regain his best form ahead of their Champions League match against Bologna, Emery might rest him.
Aston Villa has excluded a young star as part of an ongoing contract dispute, according to other news.
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