Aston Villa delivered many positives in Tuesday night’s victory over Young Boys, but one player struggled in Switzerland.
Unai Emery’s men got off to a dream start in the Champions League as goals from Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana secured a 3-0 win over Young Boys.
Aston Villa took a while to get into their groove on the artificial pitch but once they did, the Swiss giants couldn’t live with their quick patterns of play and attacking quality.
Youri Tielemans was awarded Man of the Match against Young Boys while Morgan Rogers was dubbed ‘unplayable’ by lead commentator Darren Fletcher.
However, one rare negative from their opening Champions League game was Lamare Bogarde’s performance.
Lamare Bogarde’s performance in numbers vs Young Boys
Since Matty Cash sustained an injury in the defeat to Arsenal, youngster Bogarde has started at right-back in Premier League wins over Leicester City and Everton while making his Champions League debut against Young Boys.
Whether it was the artificial pitch or nerves playing their part, the 20-year-old was run ragged down the right flank and struggled to get into the game.
The Dutchman – who Villa signed from Feyenoord in 2020 – won just three of his six ground duels and was dribbled past once while making just 18 touches.
Bogarde was hooked at half-time for Brazilian Diego Carlos after making fewer touches than Emi Martinez, with Ezri Konsa slotting in at right-back.
The 2004-born defender looked uncomfortable on his first European outing, and while it would have been a huge learning curve, this display could have lost him his place in the starting XI.
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Why Unai Emery should play Diego Carlos vs Wolves
Carlos put in an assured performance on Tuesday night, which was impressive considering he hadn’t played a competitive fixture since the final-day defeat to Crystal Palace.
He completed 12 of his 13 passes, won 66% of his duels and placed both of his attempted long balls accurately, as the 31-year-old’s experience proved pivotal in giving Villa extra solidity.
Although Carlos was heavily linked with a move away from Aston Villa in the summer, Emery should now consider starting the Brazilian against Wolves on Saturday.
In the heat of a Midlands Derby, Emery needs his big characters to stand up and be counted, with the former Sevilla man used to playing in big games, unlike Bogarde.
Bringing Carlos in at centre-back can also see Konsa move to right-back and this can benefit Aston Villa. Konsa is one of the best one vs one defenders in the Premier League and he can deal with the threat Wolves pose from the left.
Dropping Bogarde may seem harsh as he was previously dubbed ‘class’ in pre-season however, for this game especially, it’s a change that is necessary.
