Unai Emery made an interesting substitution in the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday that has dealt one Aston Villa star a ‘real blow’.
Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers came out with the most praise as Emery’s men were beaten by the Gunners but it was a performance that showed promise.
Gabby Agbonlahor felt Villa were unfortunate to lose against Arsenal and on the balance of play, he certainly has a case.
The hosts missed a couple of gilt-edged chances, namely through Ollie Watkins, as Villa were eventually punished by the quality of Mikel Arteta’s attack.
Arteta’s decision to take off Gabriel Martinelli for Leandro Trossard proved pivotal as the Belgian scored with his first touch in the 67th minute.
Trossard’s involvement in that goal came from the left side of the pitch as youngster Kosta Nedeljkovic failed to track his man while many questioned the decision not to introduce Diego Carlos instead.
Diego Carlos will have been annoyed by Unai Emery’s tactical decision
Nedeljkovic replaced the injured Matty Cash in the 15th minute as he went down clutching his hamstring.
Scans have since revealed that Cash will be out for at least four weeks, with the Poland international potentially missing Villa’s next four matches.
Whilst the 18-year-old Serbian came on in his place and did a good job against Martinelli, his struggles started when Trossard was introduced as the experienced Belgian gave him a tough time.
This raised concerns over Emery’s decision to not bring on Carlos instead while pushing Ezri Konsa into the right-back role. It was this exact defence that recorded victory over Arsenal last year and journalist John Townley was ‘surprised’ that the Brazilian wasn’t brought on, especially after his previous ‘outrageous’ performances against the Gunners.
Speaking on the Claret & Blue podcast, Townley said: “I was surprised at the time because I thought, surely we can just revert to what we were doing before and then essentially have a very similar team to what beat Arsenal last season.
“Carlos got two man of the matches against Arsenal as well. As much as Emery says about the system is now changed, I get that, but I think it’s a real blow to Carlos to be honest. If you’re there 31 years of age, you know you’ve had two great performances against Arsenal.
“You know that you’re ready to come on. You probably feel like your future is at the club more so than what it was a few weeks ago. You’ve trained, you’re ready. And then he brings on the 18-year-old”.
How Lutsharel Geertruida arriving could impact Diego Carlos
Currently, Carlos is the third-choice senior centre-back at Aston Villa after Pau Torres and Konsa.
But the 31-year-old could soon slip down to fourth in the pecking order if Villa sign Feyenoord defender Lutsharel Geetruida.
It was reported earlier on Tuesday morning that the Villans are ‘pushing’ to sign Geertruida following the injury to Cash.
The 24-year-old would kill two birds with one stone for Emery, as he’s accomplished as a centre-back and right-back, meaning his chances of selection are pretty high.
Carlos, on the other hand, will perhaps know that Villa splashing £30 million on a defender means his opportunities will become even more limited, especially after a teenager was preferred against Arsenal.
