Aston Villa was one of six Premier League clubs to take part in the first-ever Summer Series pre-season tournament in the USA.
Whether you were one of the lucky fans who live Stateside and were able to see Villa live, in some cases, for the first time or you were a regular Villan who made the trip to the US, it was a competition to remember and one that I believe the Premier League will build in the future.
Although it was a packed schedule for the players and coaching staff the time spent on the training pitches could prove priceless as the Premier League curtain draws close.
On the face of it, it was simple. Three games in three cities. On top of that would have been plenty of press conferences and fan engagements that will give fans memories to last a lifetime.
I wasn’t one of the lucky ones who was able to travel to the US but the coverage from Sky Sports, the regular live video updates and podcasts from former avillafan.com writer John Townley (Birmingham Mail) and let’s not forget the many, many pictures and videos from supporters on social media meant I was able to get a feeling of what I could have experienced.
Newcastle United 3-3 Aston Villa
Villa kicked off their Summer Series at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia when they came up against Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United side.
Early goals from Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendia gave Villa an early lead until Elliot Anderson pulled one back for the Geordies. Newcastle drew level just before the break through Alexander Isak.
Buendia gave Villa the lead once again three minutes after the break but Callum Wilson pulled Newcastle all square five minutes before the hour mark meaning both sides had to share a point in the tournament opener.
Manager Unai Emery was pretty pleased with the performance stating: “Everything we were practising here, I think we did on the pitch in 90 minutes and we shared playing with experienced players and young players. I think we got the performance we were trying to get and I’m happy, really happy. The result is secondary for us.”
Fulham 0-2 Aston Villa
Next up for Villa was Fulham three days later at the Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
Emery made a host of changes with just six of those that started in the game against Newcastle handed starts again.
One of those was the scorer of the opening goal, Jaden Philogene, who was able to impress and give the manager food for thought going into the new season.
Moussa Diaby sealed the win with seventeen minutes left on the clock to show why Villa were happy to secure the signature of the French man.
Aston Villa 3-3 Brentford
Villa finished their involvement in the tournament and a 2nd place finish against Brentford at the FedExField in Maryland, Washington DC.
Despite Villa’s early dominance, it was the Bees who took the lead just before the 10-minute mark through Bryan Mbeumo. Brentford then doubled their lead after 22 minutes when Josh Dasilva scored a screamer from the edge of the box.
Although pre-season, the Villa of old would have rolled over and taken a beating but this is a different side under the guidance of Emery and Villa soon got themselves back in the game through a fantastic ‘Alan Hutton-esk’ solo effort from Ezri Konsa.
Five minutes later, Villa were level when Diaby made it two goals from two games and a further five minutes later Emery’s men had turned the game on its head as Matty Cash made it 3-2.
Following a host of changes, Brentford pulled a goal back through Shandon Baptiste to make it all square on the night.
Once again Emery expressed his happiness: “We played very well in the first half, we started losing but we were playing in the idea we planned. And we kept going in the same idea, we didn’t stop. We came back and our control of the game was good. Offensively we were holding the line high and then trying to keep ball possession like we were practising. And progressively, hot day, in the second half we made some changes and lost a little bit of the power we had in the first half.”
Villa returned to the UK today and would have taken a lot from the pre-season tour across the pond.
Next up for Villa is Lazio at the Bescott Stadium on Thursday before a trip to Spain to take on one of Emery’s former clubs Valencia.
