Pau Torres may face Aston Villa axe after stinker v West Ham, lost possession 11 times
There would have been little to worry Unai Emery as Aston Villa comfortably ran out 4-1 winners over West Ham United on Sunday 22 October.
Goals from Douglas Luiz, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey ensured that Villa continued their excellent start to the Premier League season and moved within two points of table toppers Tottenham and only a point adrift of the Champions League places.
But among several excellent performances from the home side at Villa Park, one man had a much more difficult afternoon as Pau Torres struggled at the heart of defence while the rest of his teammates flourished.
The Spanish defender started alongside Ezri Konsa and played the full 90 minutes against David Moyes’ team and was wasteful in possession while also struggling to contain the physical presence of Michail Antonio who led the Hammers’ attack.
Torres completed 84.4 per cent of his 64 attempted passes, a reasonable conversion rate, but when passing over a long distance he was unable to find teammates on a consistent basis, missing his intended target with all seven of his long balls [Sofascore].
On top of those seven inaccurate long balls, the 26-year-old lost the ball a further four times to ensure that he lost possession on 11 occasions, more than any other defender in Emery’s side, with only Douglas Luiz losing the ball more often.
In defence, it was a mixed evening for the Spanish international who won one of his two attempted tackles and blocked a single shot, but he was also dribbled past twice and failed to win a single aerial duel in the game as he struggled to deal with Antonio.
To top off a poor performance, Torres wasn’t able to get into position quickly enough to stop Jarrod Bowen from getting his shot away to score West Ham’s consolation goal early in the second half, with the former Villarreal man deflecting the shot past Emi Martinez.
Although Tyrone Mings is sidelined through injury, Clement Lenglet, Callum Chambers and Diego Carlos all watched on from the bench as will hope that they are picked to replace the 26-year-old when Villa return to Europa League action against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday (26 October).
Lenglet has impressed in the Europa League so far this season, against Zrinjski Mostar he completed the most passes of any player with a completion rate of 95 per cent and managed to win four of his five contested aerial duels, all without being dribbled past [Fotmob].
If the Frenchman impresses again against Alkmaar, he must be in with a chance of replacing Torres for Aston Villa’s clash with Luton in the Premier League on Sunday (29 October) especially considering the physical and direct style of the Hatters.
In other Aston Villa news, Leon Bailey’s international performances have surely put him in contention for a starting role for Emery’s side