Unai Emery in the mud after Lamare Bogarde failure in Aston Villa v Palace
Aston Villa again dropped points in the 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace, and Unai Emery’s experiment with Lamare Bogarde backfired.
The Villans hosted the Eagles on 23 November at home in the Premier League, with Ollie Watkins and Ross Barkley cancelling Ismaila Sarr and Justin Devenny’s goals.
Bogarde started the game at right-back but had a torrid time of things and was hooked off after the break, and it must’ve been embarrassing for the 53-year-old head coach to admit his error at half-time.
The 20-year-old made his third appearance of the season after starting for the Lions against Leicester City and Everton earlier in the season.
In the two wins over the Foxes and the Toffees, the Dutch national didn’t pull up any trees and wasn’t seen again in the league until the Palace draw.
Emery can be forgiven for thinking of Bogarde with Ezri Konsa out injured, but the availability of Matty Cash makes the Spanish manager’s decision questionable.
Lamare Bogarde let Unai Emery down in Aston Villa v Crystal Palace
Bogarde could’ve done better when Palace scored their second goal as he let Sarr play the ball into the box after Oliver Glasner’s team broke on the counter.
In the 45 minutes the 20-year-old was on the pitch, he wasn’t a threat in the attacking third, putting in no crosses, and despite being a defender, his xA of 0.03 was unremarkable [FotMob].
The Dutchman struggled defensively, attempting zero tackles and defensive actions and winning just 67 per cent of his duels.
Bogarde’s two inaccurate long balls in the game also didn’t help the Villans’ cause, as they have now gone four games without a win in the Premier League.
Konsa’s injury is a blow, and while Emery needs to preserve players for all the competitions, the 20-year-old can’t be relied upon to start in important fixtures going forward.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery’s stance on joining Atletico Madrid has been suggested.
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