After making a significantly positive impression in his first six months at Aston Villa, it’s been a trickier campaign thus far for Alex Moreno.
Injury troubles have limited the 30-year-old to 24 appearances across all competitions, but with 17 of those coming as a starter, he has become a more regular fixture in the Villa XI in recent months.
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The Spaniard has won 70 duels in 1,512 minutes played, made 43 clearances, won 50 percent of his tackles, made 17 interceptions, four blocks and has an 82 percent pass completion rate. Additionally, he’s chipped in with three goals.
His direct competition for a starting berth at left-back is of course Lucas Digne, who has featured 34 times this season, winning 120 duels in 2,259 minutes played, with 52 clearances, 56 percent of his tackles won, 27 interceptions, one block and he also has an 82 percent pass completion rate. He’s added two goals and five assists to his defensive work.
Assessing those figures, there isn’t that much between the pair with Moreno perhaps more impactful in less playing time, but the lack of assists is a blot on his page.
Meanwhile, Digne has been a steady presence when involved this year and has arguably silenced speculation over his future amid rumours last summer that he could be on his way out, and so he has undoubtedly made a strong case to be our first-choice at left-back this season.
However, as an Emery signing and with his characteristics and qualities suiting the demands made, Moreno is still the preferred option in our favoured system and style of play, and so despite struggling to reach the level that he displayed last season, the Villa boss has stuck with him and continues to back him.
That was the case this past weekend after the win over Wolves, as Emery conceded that Moreno let himself down with his final ball, but importantly he’s getting into promising, attacking areas where he can influence the game in the attacking phase, and so there are positives.
“He got in the box but the crosses weren’t finding good solutions,” Emery said, as per the Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell. “But I appreciate how he played getting higher & getting the performances he had before. Defensively with Morgan they struggled a bit. When we changed with Digne and Zaniolo, we did better.”
It’s clear though that the Spanish left-back is still searching for his best, more consistent form, and at times he looks like he’s lacking a bit of confidence. Further, he has looked more vulnerable defensively, and so whether that’s down to the ongoing process of putting his injury behind him or just the difficulty finding that balance Emery is looking for at the highest level, is unclear.
What is clear now though is that the Villa boss has a decision to make against both Man City and Brentford this week.
Does he stick with Moreno and continue to give him the platform to regain his best level of performance and thus provide us with a pivotal spark with his attacking threat down the left flank? Or given the drop off, is it right that Digne gets the nod and is rewarded for his form this campaign?
It could be said that Moreno is also missing Jacob Ramsey on that side of the pitch, as that pair were so influential and impactful together and were a consistent source of some of our best build-up play to break teams down, but also to provide us with the ideal balance alongside those around them.
As noted above, there is still a sense that Moreno fits what Emery is looking for better than Digne with his speed, energy and ability to break into advanced areas, but with eight league games remaining, it’s hoped that he can have a positive end to the season as it would be such an important boost for the team.
I think that depends on who we are playing against, their players and usual formation, or so Unai says : )