Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was handed an important boost this week after Alex Moreno returned to training with the group.
As seen in the club’s tweet below, the 30-year-old Spaniard has recovered from the hamstring injury that he suffered against Liverpool in our penultimate game of last season, as he closes in on a comeback after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
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Lucas Digne has stepped in for him so far this season and has four assists in five games to go with his defensive duties, and the Frenchman deserves credit for the job he has done in filling that void and showing his quality.
However, there is arguably little doubt as to who the first-choice left-back at Villa is when available, given how impressive Moreno was in the second half of last season following his January move from Real Betis.
In 19 league appearances last season, the Spaniard had three assists, 52 touches per game on average, 79 percent passing accuracy and progressively improved in the defensive phase with his pressure and recovery pace.
As shown in the heat map above, his ability to get up and down the left flank consistently was a fundamental part of our style of play, as he was highly influential in our system by adding a fundamental balance with his attacking play down the left flank.
With Emery likely to deploy three centre-halves in games consistently this season given Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos and Pau Torres are at his disposal, adding Moreno back to the fold will make us a more balanced and settled backline, while he will also hopefully build a strong understanding and chemistry with Torres on that side of the defence.
That will allow Konsa to tuck inside and form a back-three in possession, a preference of Emery’s that he tested over pre-season and has utilised so far this season, but with the boost of Moreno’s speed and quality in both phases adding something extra.
Importantly though, it’s his ability to get into advanced positions, and to the byline in particular, to create opportunities for others that makes him an ideal fit in this Villa side.
Digne has shown he has quality in his delivery, but he’s undoubtedly more of a stand-and-deliver type left-back with his crosses into the box.
We saw he was effective and versatile enough to offer a similar threat with his assist for Moussa Diaby against Burnley, but we need more of that on a consistent basis moving forward, and it’s Moreno who was undoubtedly first choice in that role last season for a reason.
Villa have five games in 14 days after the international break, starting on September 16 against Crystal Palace, and with the Europa Conference League group stage getting underway as well as our third-round Carabao Cup fixture to consider, Moreno’s return has come at a pivotal time.
Yes, he’ll hopefully pick up from where he left off last season and be a key figure in the Villa XI again. However, it’s also important that we’ve got another quality option in that department to compete with Digne, and we’ll need them both over the course of the campaign if we are to achieve our objectives and ambitions, both domestically and in Europe.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 8, 2023
