Jadon Sancho has been issued a new reality check as he begins a new adventure in the colors of Aston Villa.
The on-loan Manchester United man made his debut for Aston Villa on Tuesday night as they exited the Carabao Cup on penalties against Brentford, after a 1-1 draw.
Sancho had a chance to put Villa 2-0 up, after Harvey Elliott’s opener, but struck the post from a tight angle before Aaron Hickey equalised for the Bees.
The result means Unai Emery’s team continue their winless start to the season having failed to claim three points – and even score a goal – in their opening four Premier League matches.
Jadon Sancho warms up during the Premier League match between Everton and Aston Villa. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Speaking after the game, Unai Emery made it clear Aston Villa have to get Jadon Sancho fit before he can fire on all cylinders.
“We have to build a team again to be as strong as possible in our structure and get new players to adapt as soon as possible,” said Emery.
“In the offensive positions, we need to get Sancho fit and get Elliott adapted to us,” he added.
Sancho is lacking match fitness having not played for United during pre-season before leaving Old Trafford for Villa Park. He followed in the footsteps of Marcus Rashford, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Villa from the Red Devils.
However, the England international was excited to have finally made his debut. He posted a message on Instagram after making his debut, which was liked by Rashford.
“Happy to make my debut,” he said. “Not the result we wanted but something to build on.”
Villa face Sunderland this weekend, looking to arrest an alarming slump to start the new season. While Sancho will be eager to get in the squad, Emery insists his charges are improving after finally breaking their scoring duck.
“We have improved things,” Emery claimed in his press conference. “We have to build a team again to be as strong as possible in our structure and get new players to adapt as soon as possible.
“We played 90 minutes in good balance to dominate and to try to create chances and perform the things we need. We scored one goal and we drew. The penalties we lost – a little bit disappointing – but we have our way.
“Our way now is to try and build a team as soon as possible in the structure we want to get, strong defensively and offensively, with players knowing each other and getting combinations. We have to accept the result and keep going.”
