Matty Cash had a dream international break – now it’s time to turn it on for Aston Villa

He might be heading back to England with a significant bruise on his leg but the international break couldn’t have gone much better for Matty Cash.

Aston Villa are assessing the injury after Cash‘s return from international duty but there will be a difference of opinion whatever the outcome.

Unai Emery and many Villa supporters will have their fingers crossed for a positive verdict ahead of Villa’s Premier League fixture against Everton on Saturday, their first visit to the Toffees’ new stadium. For better or worse, Cash is the team’s clear first choice at right-back and an injury absence, no matter how short, would necessitate a reshuffle.

A large section of the Villa support would likely advocate for that reshuffle irrespective of Cash’s availability. He is widely criticised, both justifiably and otherwise, and the arrival of Victor Lindelöf is regarded by some as an opportunity to move Ezri Konsa to full-back and take Cash out of the firing line.

Cash is a player Villa would have liked to improve upon in the last couple of transfer windows. He has made some high-profile mistakes, his defending is far from perfect and his attacking output isn’t the best. Villa have higher goals now than when he joined the club in 2020.

He’s also been among Villa’s better performers in a dreadful start to the new Premier League season but when your name becomes a reflex under irrelevant posts on social media, you know you’re not going to get a fair hearing in the court of public opinion.

Villa need a confident Cash and Poland goals will help

The right-back has enjoyed his week away from Bodymoor Heath and an endless stream of unthinking invective on Football Twitter. There has been some criticism of his overall performance but Cash remains popular among Poland fans because he has delivered in a national team shirt again.

Poland drew with the Netherlands at De Kuip and coasted past Finland in Chorzów. Cash scored in both matches with less than 45 minutes of football in between. They were quality finishes, too – the first a thunderous equaliser in Rotterdam, the second a deadly drive in transition to open the scoring in the following game.

We’ve seen Cash do this sort of thing for Villa too but scoring two excellent goals in such quick succession should serve to remind him, Emery and all of us that there are levels to his game that he possesses but can’t always tap into.

Villa need more from him.

At 28 years old and with more than 150 top-flight appearances to his name, Cash is an experienced Premier League player. That’s something Villa fans shouldn’t overlook when climbing over each other to call for his head, but it’s also something Cash himself should keep in mind.

Demanding better

Experience like his sets a standard. It calls for consistency, for concentration, for composure. Cash doesn’t always demonstrate those traits. Villa are in a difficult spot. They need their senior players to step up and Cash is one of them.

Supporters who don’t rate him at all won’t be expecting Cash to step up a level. Lots of them wouldn’t admit it if he did. It’s easier just to slag him off on Twitter even when the conversation is about someone else.

Others, who believe Cash can offer more, who know we’ve seen better from him than his performances in 2025, might look at his goals this week and hope to see the fruits of that ability again.

It’s not a case of defending Cash against warranted criticism, but of not letting him off the hook. Write him off as a total lost cause if you want; it’ll get you nowhere. I want more from him. I expect better from him. I think he has more to give and I’m willing to hold him to account on that basis.

Saturday is a new start, not just for Cash but for Villa as a whole. He’s been better than most of his teammates so far. That should be enough to earn him the same clean slate they’ll be getting come kick-off time.

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