Emery Would Be ‘Crazy’ Not to Start Maatsen for Aston Villa v Fulham

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery must start selecting left-back Ian Maatsen more frequently, beginning with Saturday’s clash against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Maatsen joined Villa from Chelsea this summer in a £37.5 million deal after he starred for Borussia Dortmund in their run to the Champions League final at the back end of last season. However, the defender is yet to be given his full Premier League debut for the Villans, with Emery opting to pick Lucas Digne ahead of him in all seven matches thus far.

While the West Midlanders have enjoyed a largely positive start to the campaign in spite of this selection choice, Emery ought to start using the promising talent in place of the ageing Digne. The Dutch full-back’s transfer fee represented a significant investment for Villa, and thus his minutes on the pitch should reflect that.

Emery Should Start Maatsen Against Fulham

The left-back is also not playing for his country

A Cobham academy graduate, Maatsen left Chelsea this summer in pursuit of greater first team opportunities, with such opportunities unlikely to ensue at Stamford Bridge due to the stacked nature of Enzo Maresca’s squad. Demonstrating that he could play at the highest level in his time in Germany, and described as ‘special’ at Dortmund, the Netherlands international likely expected to succeed Lucas Digne at Villa Park.

While this succession may be the long-term plan, with a short integration period perhaps always likely, Maatsen certainly would’ve anticipated a Premier League start before mid-October. This hasn’t materialised, and thus Emery may be on the cusp of having to deal with an agitated squad member.

Combine this lack of minutes for his club with a lack of minutes for his country, and frustration may be brewing within the 22-year-old. Speaking on de Oranje boss Ronald Koeman’s decision to leave Maatsen out of the Netherlands squad, Raphael van der Vaart described the choice as ‘crazy’, stating that he finds the player not being in the national coach’s sights as ‘strange’.

A similar verdict can be made on Maatsen’s current standing within the Villa squad. At 31, Digne’s quality is certainly waning, while the former Burnley loanee is only improving, and ought to be granted more game time by Emery to continue this development, starting with the trip to West London this weekend.

Continued lack of faith placed in a £37.5 million would be bizarre, and could be detrimental to Maatsen’s career progression and eventually Villa’s fortunes as a team.

All Statistics via FBRef – correct as of 17/10/2024