Josh Onomah has struggled to make an impression on loan at Aston Villa from Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur
Josh Onomah has not exactly seized his opportunity during a season-long loan spell at Aston Villa.
The Tottenham Hotspur trickster was sent to Villa Park last summer in an attempt to get some first-team football under his belt and show Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino what he is made of.
Instead, however, the Aston Villa fans have been served up a series of ineffective and forgettable performances. Onomah arrived with a reputation of being a creative talent with the ability to produce the unexpected, but it is fair to say no one saw a tally of just four goals and one assist in 31 games coming.
No wonder the Villa supporters were frustrated as the 20-year-old produced a far more effective, committed and eye-catching display as England’s U21s beat Ukraine 2-1 at Brammal Lane on Tuesday night.
But rather than ask why Onomah is not producing this sort of performance in claret and blue, manager Steve Bruce could perhaps learn from this display.
The loanee struggled to make an impression in an attacking midfield position in the first half of the Championship season, until Jack Grealish’s return from injury forced him out of the starting XI. But England U21 boss Aidy Boothroyd got a far better tune out of Onomah in a deeper role against Ukraine.
It was his pass that started the move for the opening goal and, with plenty of space to gallop into, Onomah used his athleticism and dynamism to good effect; traits Villa fans did not see anywhere near enough of during his stint in a more restrictive number ten position.
Is this where Bruce can get the best out of Onomah? Probably. The problem, however, is that Villa are not short of deep-lying play-makers.
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