Tuesday night brought another important league fixture against a fellow relegation rival for Aston Villa when Watford visited Villa Park. Over 40,000 supporters ardently cheered Dean Smith’s side as both teams marched out of the tunnel and on to the hallowed turf. Hearts rapidly beating, blood quickly rushing through their veins, the home supporters were desperately hoping for a result against the Hornets.
Frédéric Guilbert was a force to be reckoned with for all 90 minutes against Watford. The fearless fullback set the tone for the match as soon as the 7th minute, winning a free kick for his side. That night he was an utter colossus, helping reduce Watford to two shots on target all game whilst being influential offensively with his accurate long balls forward.
Matt Targett, too, was immense against the Hornets, and both full-backs benefited from the freedom they were given on the flanks, assured the three centre-backs would cover them. But it’s Guilbert who, impressively, has a 69.8% passing accuracy and has created 9 chances and 2 assists, proving that he has the capabilities to be effective in the attack.
Guilbert has had a bright start to life in English football, starting 17 games of the 19 he has been involved in. Defensively, the Frenchman is fairly effective, winning 57.4% of his tackles and 50.6% of his duels against the opposition.
Freddy is not yet the finished article; however, his performance against Watford proved to the passionate Villa faithful once again that he is a fantastic talent who Villa are fortunate to have purchased for a small fee. Hopefully over the next few months Guilbert continues to blossom right in front of our eyes by putting in several more man of the match performances.