With Aston Villa left short-handed in defence against Celtic, Unai Emery turned to Boubacar Kamara to fill the void and in his usual sublime way, he was excellent.
While it’s not to say that the 25-year-old isn’t appreciated by us, but there can be a tendency for him to fly under the radar to an extent as the likes of Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and those operating further up the field get the attention for their own decisive performances.
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However, we know an elite player when we see one, and Kamara is operating at that level on a consistent basis this season.
Not only did the Frenchman have to shift back into defence, but he was deployed as the left-sided centre-half to further complicate his assignment. While we can’t ignore Villa’s defensive deficiencies which were on show again in this game, Kamara was brilliant in our 4-2 win in both phases.
He defended diligently throughout and to a very high level with the circumstances taken into consideration, as we limited Celtic’s threat for large periods, barring the mini-collapse prior to half-time.
Combined with his composure and control in possession though, it was exactly what Unai Emery wanted in that role which we feared we might miss without Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings, as Kamara was able to add rhythm and cohesion to our play as we played out from the back with patience and poise.
He finished the game with 101 touches, 90 percent passing accuracy, one clearance, one interception and three of three duels won, which perhaps reflected our increasing level of dominance as the second half played out, but also his efficiency and positional and tactical awareness making his life easier in doing the job asked of him.
“We are not talking about Kamara at centre-back. Wow. Wow. Fantastic. He’s playing fantastic,” Emery told reporters in his post-match press conference, and ultimately that says it all as the Villa boss fully appreciates a world-class player when he sees one, and an individual who is willing to make sacrifices for the good of the team.
Time will tell if Mings remains sidelined for this weekend’s trip to Wolves and whether or not the Villa boss goes with the same pairing in the heart of our defence. Reinforcements are expected to arrive prior to the transfer deadline too, and so hopefully we’ll see Kamara able to move back into his more natural and influential role in midfield.
Nevertheless, he continues to show he’s a class above and that Villa have a very special player at our disposal currently, and it’s vital that he continues to set the standard at such a high level to demand that others reach it too as we continue to seek to improve and develop as a team to compete at the top.
