Analysis: Aston Villa

Aston Villa set up in a 4-1-4-1 formation with the intention of using Jack Grealish’s quality through the middle to cause problems for Fulham at Wembley.

The game started fairly balanced, but Fulham soon took control, and Villa struggled to deal with the threat of their opponents’ quick and well-organised attacks. The Villans were reluctant to push players forward when in possession, and this lack of options meant their attacks often broke down. As a result, they rarely threatened the Fulham goal in the first half.

Full-backs Alan Hutton and Mohamed Elmohamady were reluctant to leave their own half and one of the midfield three, usually Mile Jedinak, would stay to help protect the defence against a counter-attack. It was clear that Villa had opted to operate a man-oriented approach to their out-of-possession strategy.

Steve Bruce’s men were particularly concerned by the wide areas, where Hutton would be responsible for Aboubakar Kamara while Albert Adomah would have to track the movement of Ryan Fredericks. On the other side, Elmohamady would try to deal with Ryan Sessegnon, leaving Robert Snodgrass to track Matt Targett. This approach was problematic, as the fluidity of Fulham’s movement, particularly from Sessegnon, often pulled the Villa players out of a compact structure, leaving gaps for penetration.

Villa significantly improved in the second half, when Grealish got on the ball more and tried to influence the game. The young midfielder’s direct dribbling caused Fulham some problems, but these moments were few and far between.

After the dismissal of Fulham’s Denis Odoi, Villa began to push more numbers forward – albeit with some caution – and they did pose a threat. Unfortunately, they appeared bereft of ideas in the final third and relied too heavily on Grealish to unlock the door. In a playoff final against a well-organised Fulham team, this simply wasn’t enough to get Villa back into the game, as they were forced to concede defeat in their battle to win promotion back to the Premier League.