Unai Emery punished as ‘McGrath-esque’ Ezri Konsa wasted in Aston Villa draw at Bournemouth while Diego Carlos flops
Ollie Watkins’ late, late header may have rescued a point for Aston Villa in the 2-2 draw away to Bournemouth but Unai Emery’s side were ultimately lucky to escape with that.
The manager’s defensive team selection backfired in a big way as Diego Carlos had a miserable afternoon and Pau Torres also struggled, while Ezri Konsa was wasted at full back.
Carlos was directly responsible for Antoine Semenyo’s opener after 10 minutes, as he conceded possession (one of 12 occasions according to SofaScore) with what Lee Hendrie called a “real poor” pass and then was out of position in trying to make amends to allow the Cherries scorer space to pick his spot.
That error was recorded as directly leading to the goal statistically, while Torres’ lack of intervention for Dominic Solanke’s second half strike didn’t go down on the stat sheet but was feeble all the same, as he was easily turned in the box to leave the excellent Emi Martinez no chance once more.
Carlos was so off the pace he only found himself in five duels in total despite Aston Villa being under pressure for much of the game (winning his single ground challenge, but losing two of four in the air according to SofaScore), while Torres was little better, winning three of five on the ground and one of two in the air.
The central pair’s poor games were all the more of an issue with Konsa comparatively thriving at right back, despite his talents not being best suited out wide.
The England international was faultless in one-on-one situations as SofaScore stats had him winning 100% of his 11 ground duels and four more in the air, which included a stunning last-ditch intervention to deny Justin Kluivert just before the break.
Former Villans midfielder Hendrie was stunned on the world feed match coverage, comparing the defender to Aston Villa legend Paul McGrath for the tackle.
He said (2.47pm): “What a tackle, have another look at this. What a touch from Kluivert by the way. Everything about it looked goal-bound. Konsa, wow. That is McGrath-esque. What a tackle that is.”
Emery preferred the natural centre back on the right ahead of Matty Cash, who was replaced at half time in the win over Tottenham last week after a dismal showing as a right midfielder, where he was branded a “coward” for injuring Rodrigo Bentancur.
But despite Konsa’s fantastic work being badly needed in the centre his obvious discomfort at full back meant that he still afforded Semenyo way too much space on numerous occasions to put Aston Villa under pressure before the break.
Ultimately Emery got very little from Carlos in the middle, in just his fourth Premier League start of the season, and Konsa played comparatively excellently while still looking like a centre back shifted out wide.
Martinez’s key saves and a pair of lovely goals from Leon Bailey and Watkins prevented the damage being worse but the manager’s defensive calls did not pay off.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans are wasting millions as their £412k-per-game signing sits on the bench.