Scout Reports

Patience key with Trezeguet as Villa squad size increases

Fantasy Premier League managers may have to wait to see how Trezeguet (£5.5m) settles in at Aston Villa before assessing his points-scoring potential.

Dean Smith continued his summer spending spree earlier this week by adding Egypt international to his roster, the ninth new signing of the transfer window.

His name alone may evoke nostalgia among football fans of the late 90s and early 00s but, unlike his retro namesake, this Trezeguet isn’t a striker and is yet to play even a minute’s worth of football in any of Europe’s major leagues.

Coming into FPL priced at £5.5m the Egyptian’s viability will depend on several factors.

Indicators of his abilities can no doubt be found by researching his time at previous clubs but can he cut it in the Premier League, let alone start at Aston Villa? And what effect will he have on Smith’s array of attacking options?

The history 

and statistics

Trezeguet in action for Egypt at this summer’s African Cup of Nations

Trezeguet came through the youth ranks of Al Ahly in Egypt, one of the most successful football outfits in African football. Even at a young age, the former head coach of the club said that Trezeguet was “one of the best youngster’s he’s ever come across”.

Within a matter of a few years of turning professional, he had already won the Egyptian Premier League and CAF Champions League. His talent hadn’t gone unnoticed and was attracting attention from European scouts.

Trezeguet was not especially known for with his goal-scoring exploits during this period though, having netted only seven times. But clearly he was contributing in other areas of attacking play so it wasn’t long before Anderlecht came calling.

However, Trezeguet’s loan spell in Belgium was nothing but disappointing. Even when he signed permanently for Anderlecht he spent most of his time being loaned out to other clubs.

There were still benefits for the Egyptian in this as he was attaining crucial minutes on the pitch and was able to adapt his game in a different continent.

It wasn’t until the 2017/18 season, when loaned out to Turkish side Kasımpaşa, that Trezeguet started to make a name for himself again. Switching between the left and right flanks, this was his most successful campaign from an attacking perspective when he scored 13 goals and registered 7 assists in only 31 appearances.

Trezeguet was then signed permanently by Kasımpaşa and scored an additional nine goals for them in the following season. To put this into context he scored 20% of their league goals over the space of two seasons.

It’s this kind of form that FPL managers and Villans alike will be hoping that he can leverage in the Premier League. And if Dean Smith’s words are anything to go by, Trezeguet hasn’t just been signed to make up the numbers either.



“He’s the type of wide player that we have been looking for” – Dean Smith

Comparisons

Trezeguet did well in the Turkish top-flight last season

We must not forget that, on top of Trezeguet, Aston Villa have already signed two other wingers in the transfer window; Jota (£6.0m) from Birmingham and Anwar El Ghazi whose previous loan deal was made permanent.

Also at the club, and getting time in pre-season is Andre Green (£5.0m), while Jack Grealish (£6.0m), Jonathan Kodjia (£5.5m) and Birkir Bjarnason (£4.5m) are all capable of playing on the wing if needed.

This could potentially complicate things for Trezeguet, Jota and El Ghazi in particular as at least one of them will have to miss out each match if Smith continues using a 4-3-3 formation.

There is plenty to be encouraged about in Trezeguet’s underlying statistics though.

Last he averaged four shots per league game, dwarfing dwarfs the output from El Ghazi (1.9) and Jota (1.6). The fact that the Egyptian scored the same number of goals last season (nine) as the two of them combined, he could represent a strong prospect on his own.



Having said that, it is hard to compare the Turkish Super Lig with the Championship with the second tier of English football improving in quality and global appeal every year.

Either way, neither division stacks up to the Premier League so we should at least suspect there to be some reduction in Trezeguet’s shots per game this year compared to 2018/19.

If there’s one key attribute that Trezeguet displays, it is his adaptability. The fact he was has been able to adjust between three leagues over four years (2014-2018) shows that he can cope with change.

18 attacking returns last season (one for every 170 minutes played) by a winger in any league should not be scoffed at.

Even if Trezeguet was able to match half of that in the Premier League, with an FPL price tag of £5.5m, it would be considered a decent enough debut season, especially if it was enough to help keep Villa up.

It must be noted that over a quarter of Aston Villa’s goals last season were scored between Grealish, John McGinn (£5.5m) and Conor Hourihane (£5.5m) respectively, all three of whom predominantly operate in the central midfield trio of Smith’s 4-3-3 formation.

From an FPL perspective, there is a slight danger that Aston Villa now have too many players who are capable of chipping in with goals from across midfield and attack.

This could make it hard to pin down one individual who is involved in more goals than any of his team-mates, a talisman they can count on for attacking prowess in the mould of a Jamie Vardy (£9.0m) or a Wilfried Zaha (£7.0m).

Furthermore, Aston Villa also recently signed a new forward in Wesley (£6.0m), to replace the departed Tammy Abraham (£7.0m) and it is currently unclear how long it will take him to settle into the side too.

The Prospects



Trezeguet is unlikely to have the same impact on the Premier League as his Egypt team-mate Salah

It’s hard to recall the last time a player lit up the Turkish Super Lig and then made an immediate like-for-like impact on the Premier League the following season.

This on its own doesn’t bode well for Trezeguet, so it’s hard to consider him some kind of budget version of international colleague Mohamed Salah (£12.5m).

After all, the Liverpool man had previously played in the Premier League before arriving at Anfield having excelled in Serie A and the Champions League.

Trezeguet lacks this kind of valuable experience and may have to hit the ground running from Gameweek 1 or else risk being rested or rotated.

The £5.5m price does still make him a very interesting prospect for Fantasy managers.

In 2019/20, there are not many FPL assets at that price point who matched or bettered Trezeguet’s 18 attacking returns last season, even if they were recorded in a so-called ‘lesser league’.

At the same time, Trezeguet’s potential attacking influence is equally at risk of being cancelled out by Aston Villa’s other midfielders and forwards, while rotation between himself, Jota and El Ghazi.

The general FPL rule of thumb is to err on the side of caution and avoid players from newly promoted teams when selecting your best XI. This can probably also apply to Trezeguet as he comes into the team as a new face.

But if push came to shove, there is sufficient evidence to suggests that he could cause a surprise or two as a differential pick.

It does seem as if Trezeguet’s presence could boost Aston Villa’s attacking credentials, the question remains whether he can perform consistently and for that, we need to see him play a few weeks of Premier League football first.

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3,547 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Azzastaan
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    Richarlson, sig or martial
    Toby or other 5.5 defender?

    1. Baganuva Hatty
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 8 months ago

      Martial or Lucas Moura
      Coleman or AWB

  2. Baganuva Hatty
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    Morning folks,
    I'm settled until any further developments....Develop
    Foster for first 5 games drop the established 4.5
    Robertson
    Trent AA (could be VVD if funds needed)
    Laporte
    Digne
    Sarah(c)
    De bruyne (looks fire)
    Fraser
    Tielmeans
    Lucas Moura(Son)
    Wilson (to best 6.5 )
    Bench: Greenwood/Wickham/Lundstram.
    Can't find a better solution.

    1. Baganuva Hatty
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 8 months ago

      Salah* could be sterling

  3. Offside
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    I vowed to have Salah and Sterling but I’ve dropped Sterling for stronger mids and strikers. Ready for them to nil fgw.

  4. nn11
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    Thoughts on improving this team?
    Ederson button
    Digne TAA Robertson AWB Kelly
    Salah Fraser zaha bilva dedoncker
    Jiminez Rashford long

    Is bilva still a thing this year or better trying to upgrade to KDB?
    Thanks

    1. OleGGMU
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 8 months ago

      Like the team mate, have something quite similar though went for 3-5-2 , so awb and rashford out in my team for mid upgrades.

      Faced a similar conundrum wiv B.Silva which eventually led to just moving funds and upgrading him to sterling but nevertheless
      B.Silva: Quite Good season , contributed alot, chipped in wiv goals to go wiv assists, when fit is ver likely to start as Pep trusts him and he has repaid the gaffers trust. not really a focal point of the team like Sterl and Aguero are and imo a bit less than KDB . IMO he is the support player who can contribute good points on his day. The Sane situation is one to watch, should he go, B.Silva will certainly get more game time and probably takeover the right of the front 3 wiv rotation or play deeper to bring in mahrez on the right

      KDB : Missed big chunks of last season but reappeared towards season end and showed the same fire and class of old wiv minimal rust. Pre-season is going well for him aswell. When on the pitch he is the a definite focal point as far as being THE guy to make those passes and surges forward wiv the ball to allow sterl and Aguero to get into good positions or take a shot himself. Fitness and whether he will have minutes managed are a factor to consider. KDB is the supplier/creator in chief and plays deeper so as far as goals go, imo, its wait and see or go wiv gut feel on who will be the more explosive at the start.
      I give KDB the up on assist potential as he does take set pieces but its still a toss up for up regarding goals atm

      that extra 1.5 can help upgrade elsewhere mid/attack so if it gives good balance and points potential overall, then having B.Silva over KDB wont be a trainsmash

      1. nn11
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 8 months ago

        Cheers mate - appreciate the reply.

        I reckon I’ll stick with Bilva and look to upgrade if KDB starts off on fire.

        Other option was to upgrade to KDB and downgrade Rash to King but I already had Bournemouth cover in Fraser....

        1. OleGGMU
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 8 months ago

          Not liking King atm and quite the same as far as being happy wiv just fraser mate.
          Under 2 weeks to go mate calmness needed, overthinking always leads to disaster or at least it has for me last season

  5. Kristobal
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    Best 4.5 goalkeeper?

    Is Nick Pope injured?

    Tom Heaton?

  6. King Prawn
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    Auba or Kane??

  7. Gui0883
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    Please help me rate my team

    Pope / 4m
    TAA / Digne / Taylor / Dunk / Kelly
    Sterling / Siggy / Kdb / Martial / Pérez
    Kane / King / Nketiah

    Unsure if to stick with Kdb and Martial or go with Rashford and B. Silva and reinvest the 0.5 somewhere else

  8. 11SPECIALONE11
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    Heaton

    Zinchenko - TAA - Digne - Zouma

    KDB - Siggy - Fraser - Maddison - Sterling

    Kane (C)

    Bench: Button - Kelly - Greenwood - Nketiah

    A few pros and cons:

    1.) Heaton got more pre season minutes than expected.
    2.) Zinchenko looks to have won his spot for the first few GWs.
    3.) TAA will see less rotation with Clyne out injured.
    4.) Digne is on set pieces. However Coleman may be better value.
    5.) Zouma is a punt but looks to have the best chance of joining Luiz.
    6.) KDB is amazing value and had a brilliant preseason so far.
    7.) Siggy is on pens but struggled to find form in preseason.
    8.) Fraser looked bright in preseason. However Bournemouth look lacklustre in preseason.
    9.) Maddisson is on set pieces and will have alot of attacking options around him.
    10.) Sterling is looking in sublime form. Only player I would drop Salah for
    11.) Kane has Villa up first and is great value at 11 million.

    Thoughts on this 4 5 1? What should I consider changing?

  9. Lokomotivvv
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    Pls RMT:

    Schmeichel
    TAA Robertson Digne Laporte
    Zaha Salah Moura
    Kane Jota King

    Bench: Ryan Kelly Dendoncker Stephens

    Originally had Sterling-Deulofeu but changed it to Kane-Moura due to good fixtures in the first 3 GW. Thinking of double switching them after GW 3.

    Thoughts on that?

  10. taylormccormack
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    What could I change to improve my front line? Would like to get Vardy in but thats a bridge too far it seems;

    Allison (4.0)
    Laporte - Gomez - Boly - Cathcart // O'Connel to rotate
    Salah - Sterling - Martial - Siggy - Jorginho (or Hojberg)
    King - Kodija - Abraham

    0.0 ITB

    1. Cmondown
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 8 months ago

      Liverpool def needs change
      N martial or siggy dropped for 6.5.
      Put back into front

  11. Coaly
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    RMT

    Pope
    TAA VVD Digne Dunk
    Salah Sterling KDB Ceballos
    Vardy DCL

    Button Greenwood Kelly Dendoncker

    1. UshFPL
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 8 months ago

      Ceballoa has played 100 games in La Liga. 7 goals, 4 assists and 20 yellow cards. No thanks. The rest is good

      1. Coaly
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 8 months ago

        Who do you prefer at 5.5? McGinn maybe?

    2. Helia
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 8 months ago

      Think everton are signing Moise kean... so I don’t expect to see dcl starting.

      Also, there’s much better picks than cabellos... he will score similar to Dendonckers ppm

  12. Coys96
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 8 months ago

    Which team please? 🙂

    Team 1:

    Gunn
    TAA Coleman Zinchenko Gomez*
    Salah Sterling Tielemans
    Kane Jota Wesley

    *whichever 5.5 plays in community shield or AWB

    Team 2:

    Gunn
    TAA VVD Zinchenko
    Fraser Sterling Salah Tielemans
    Wilson Jota Wesley

    1. UshFPL
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 8 months ago

      2