Aston Villa Under-21s have reached the halfway point of their Premier League 2 season.
The Young Lions have grown into the campaign, picking up two of their three wins in their last two outings, while also competing in the EFL Trophy and Premier League Cup.
Senior Professional Development Phase Coach Tony Carss has been encouraged by his squad’s progression, and he joined VillaTV to assess the season so far.
Here’s what he had to say…
We’ve reached the halfway stage of the Premier League 2 season, what’s your assessment of how the team have fared so far?
“In terms of performances, there have been lots of opportunities for players. We’ve played some under-16s and there are some 16-year-olds getting regular opportunities in the team. I think that’s important, having that pathway for young players into the team. We have to do a lot of work, and continue to do, to develop an understanding of the game because in PL2 we want to be as competitive as we can and do as well as we can in the league. Winning games is part of development, so it’s been good over the last few weeks that that has started to turn into more positive results. We’re focusing on the process and the players’ individual development and performances.
"At this stage of the season, we’re in a good place. A lot of the experiences we had early on I can feel the players benefitting from them. Being exposed a little bit down at Portsmouth in the EFL Trophy was tough, but they’re great nights for learning what it takes to become a professional footballer – especially when they’re trying to wear the Aston Villa badge in the Premier League. That’s a phenomenally difficult challenge, so the players need to understand how hard they’ve got to work, how consistently they’ve got to work, and the quality that we’re doing with them has to be top-level and keep evolving to give them the best possible chance. In terms of performances, whether it’s individually or collectively, we’re pleased that we’re getting a little bit of momentum. Results help the players with that feel-good factor, in terms of confidence and belief. It reinforces the messages during the week in training. The energy and intensity over the last six to eight weeks has been really good and everyone is benefitting from that.”
Do you feel some of the younger players in the group are starting to find their feet at this level?
“Definitely. The other thing you want at this level is real competition for places; that’s grown over the last four or five weeks. We’re getting players back from injury, and a couple of the young players are adapting really well and starting to put in performances that are keeping them in the team. That competition is really, really healthy. That has grown; maybe it wasn’t the case earlier on in the season but now it is. You’ve got to be training consistently well, you’ve got to be working and performing at a high level to get in and stay in the team.
"Within that, there will always be opportunities for players. The Under-18s know that they’ve got to perform really, really well to try and get an opportunity in the Under-21s. The Premier League Cup is a great platform for that over the next month for individuals to really impress. Then the Under-18s have got the FA Youth Cup to look forward to as well. We’ll be looking at that with a keen eye to see how individuals perform under pressure in big games at Villa Park. They’re all stepping stones towards moving up into our group.”
The EFL Trophy provided tough games and tough opposition. How valuable were those experiences?
“Really valuable, for the players and the staff. I thought we gave a really good account of ourselves at Wimbledon. Again, it was a game where what happens at either end of the pitch will affect the score. That’s real for these players. For these young players coming through, the detail is massively important. If you’re a striker or a wide player and you get an opportunity you’ve got to be able to take them. Developing that ruthlessness; you could feel that from Portsmouth and a little bit from Crawley. If you give teams an opportunity at first team level they’re going to take them. Equally, if we get opportunities we’ve got to take them and be more ruthless. In terms of the learning curve, they were really positive nights and we did a lot of good work off the back of those evenings.
"We’ve got players in our group who want to go out on loan and play in League One or League Two. The level, certainly in the Portsmouth game, was an eye-opener in terms of the intensity, physicality and quality. It’s been good from that point of view. Some of the players towards the older end of our group have experienced that, but we also had young players like Triston Rowe, who’s 15-years-old, playing at Portsmouth. He’s just gone and played in the Premier League Under-16 National Tournament and won Player of the Tournament, so those experiences for the players are invaluable. The key thing for them is: what did they take from it, what did they learn from it, and what did they do about it? It’s alright learning and getting experience but it’s then about what you go and do after that; that’s the key thing. We’ve been really pleased with the reaction and the response off the back of those games.”
Are some players aiming to head out on loan in January?
“You always want the next challenge for these young players. Some of them have played more Under-21 games than other players. One or two have been out on loan before and are now back with this group. Whether they get the opportunity to go out on loan or not, we want to keep raising the level and the demand of the group here to be even more competitive in PL2. We’ve attached ourselves back with the top five, so there’s an opportunity come January to push on. We want to be competing with the teams at the top end of that league. Whether players get that opportunity to go on loan or not, we’ll push on and keep building momentum towards the end of the season.”
On a personal note, you joined the club in the summer. How much have you enjoyed working here so far?
“It’s been great coming to a different challenge, different environment, and a massive club with a great opportunity for staff and players. I’ve really enjoyed it coaching every day with the players. We’ve got our full staff now, so we’re maximising that because the club has given us a great opportunity. We’re really well-staffed across the board. We work collectively and tirelessly to make sure we’re maximising the opportunity we’ve got as staff to benefit the players. The support we’ve had from other elements of the club has been great.”
Do you feel the Academy is set up for success in the long-term?
“One hundred per cent – short-term and long-term. There are lads out of loan in the Championship who are doing really well at big clubs. They aren’t that far away from connecting themselves back with the first team group here. If you’re performing really well at the top end of the Championship, you’re not very far away from transitioning here sooner rather than later. With the staffing structure and investment we have here, the future is really healthy. We’re all working together to maximise that opportunity.”
What are your hopes for the second half of the season?
“My hopes are that we can continue to improve and keep getting better. I want to see individuals improve and get loan opportunities or chances to train with the first team. It’s an opportunity for us to look closely at the philosophy of the new head coach and his playing style and tweak ours to align with that. The challenge for us as a coaching staff is to look at the depth of detail around how the first team play and how he (Unai Emery) wants the team to play. We’ll align ourselves with that. It’s another opportunity for the players to learn something new and slightly different to what they’re used to. We want to continue to be competitive in the Premier League Cup and in PL2. We’ll keep giving opportunities to young players and we’ll see if we can build some real momentum in the second half of the season.”
