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Unai Emery has exposed Aston Villa's real issue after dealing with obvious problem
Aston Villa's Leon Bailey has struggled for form this season, but dropping him only exposes the real issue at play.
Unai Emery does not have a like-for-like replacement for the Jamaica international, who lacks genuine competition. John McGinn and Jaden Philogene are capable of operating from the right, but all three players are very different stylistically.
A key strength of this Villa side is that Emery has a multitude of options and players with different qualities. But as seen in the first months of this season, a drop off in form from a player in a specialist role can lead to problems.
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Bailey plays a key role in Villa's structure because he provides the width on the right and draws out defenders to open up space for his teammates. Villa often build-up in a back three and the left-back will provide the width on the left, essentially playing as a winger.
Then, usually Jacob Ramsey or McGinn would operate off that flank and occupy an advanced space closer to the two forwards, which have often been Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers so far this term. If there is no natural width coming from the right, then Villa can become congested and predictable in attack.
Philogene's preference is to play off the left and Emery is a big fan of him and sees huge potential. But after Villa sold Moussa Diaby to balance their books in the summer, it's clear that they are missing that profile of player to not only push Bailey, but also replace him when he is struggling with injury or otherwise out of form.
Emery opted to drop Bailey for Philogene for the trip to Chelsea, but the move didn't work. Perhaps he chose to start Philogene because of his ability to help out in a defensive capacity - as seen in his excellent display against Bayern Munich - and also to manage Bailey's minutes at the start of this hectic period of the campaign.
Villa need Bailey to step up and return to the level he was playing at last season after only showing it in spells this term. His struggles at the start of the season have been a key reason why Villa have looked stale in attack and are in a rut.
