Aston Villa defender, Pau Torres has had a great start to life in the Premier League but has received little praise from external media. How has he flown under the radar this season?
Over the summer, one of Aston Villa’s key targets was Pau Torres and it seemed that they did everything in their power to bring him in.
Having worked with him at Villareal, the Spaniard was top of the shopping list for Unai Emery in his first pre-season window.
It must be said that he had a shaky start to life in B6, coming on after the heartwrenching injury to Tyrone Mings. After coming into a tough situation, it only got tougher as the Villans were smashed for five at St James’ Park.
Ever since then, Torres has been almost faultless in a defensive sense and has been simply outstanding with the ball at his feet.
Despite only moving to Villa Park in July, the defender has become ‘a key component’ to Emery’s team, as John Townley said via Birmingham Live.
With all this being said, there has been very little said about him in the mainstream media, much to the confusion of Villa fans.
How good has Pau Torres been?
This week, Torres’ defensive partner, Ezri Konsa’s great form has been recognised with a call-up to the England national team.
This has seen a slight media circus form around Villa’s number four with former stars like Gabby Agbonlahor discussing it.
In a similar fashion, Torres has earned a place in Luis de la Fuente’s Spain squad this month. With that being said, there has been a lack of reaction to this call-up and his form this season in general.
The offside trap tactic that Emery demands from his side often sees the Villa defence do less defending than most. As a result, as with all the best defenders, their defensive stats do not stand out compared to worse teams.
Where Torres does stand out is his ability on the ball and his statistics when it comes to playing out from the back. According to Fbref, the centre-back ranks in the top 5% for progressive passes and carries, and in the top one percentile for successful take-on.
So to put it simply, of all centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues, he is up there with the best when it comes to passing and dribbling out from the back. His pass completion sits at 86% which is quite superb really.
Emery’s teams are not about individuals, they are about the team as a whole and Torres is a vital cog in that machine.
How he doesn’t get more praise and respect from rival fans and pundits is beyond me. With that being said the longer the Villans fly under the radar the better they are likely to be.
