It has to be admitted that Matty Cash has looked particularly good for Aston Villa early on during the preseason tour in the United States. The right-back's contributions were highlighted during the second half of the friendly against St. Louis City SC, as his cross ended up finding the head of Ollie Watkins for what ultimately proved to be the game-winning goal in a 2-1 affair.
Taking a moment to look a little further into the cross in question, many Villa supporters will often take to social media during and following the matches to criticize Cash over not putting the ball into the mixer. Instead, these voices will often bemoan that he pulls the ball out and plays it back.
This is something that is seen more in the modern game. It is increasingly rare for a ball to just be placed into the box for the sake of it. Instead, the more tactical and measured approach is often what is used. Teams look for a specific look or potential advantage to exploit. Only Cash and Unai Emery will truly know what is expected from the right-back at any point in time.
So far, so good from Aston Villa defender
This does not mean, however, that there is not also room for a well-timed and placed cross when the occasion presents itself, particularly when the opposing defender does not close out quickly enough.
As could be seen against St. Louis, Cash has plenty of quality to pick out the head of a fellow Villa attacker.
Defensively, Cash has been sound, and he appears to be playing with a renewed effort on that end of the pitch. It is early, and the true tests are yet to come. So far, there have been a lot of positives to say about Cash, and the Poland international appears to be on something of a mission to silence his critics during the 2025-2026 campaign.