We often talk about Unai Emery’s desired way of playing at Aston Villa, and integral to that idea are midfield duo Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara.
While there’s the defensive high line, the switch to a back three in possession at times and other fascinating aspects to it, ultimately the Villa boss has reiterated consistently throughout his time in charge, the desire to control games.
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That comes through dictating tempo through possession, but also with our positioning on the pitch to limit the opposition and put ourselves in a place whereby we can ultimately dominate the game on and off the ball.
Fundamental to executing that game-plan are both Luiz and Kamara in the heart of our midfield, as they directly impact what we do in both phases of the game and are the link between the two.
Luiz’s absence was undoubtedly felt in Warsaw last week, and our last two outings have certainly re-emphasised just how far he’s come under Emery and how influential he is in adding rhythm and control to our play with his interventions and technical quality in possession.
In conjunction with Kamara, the Villa pair were excellent against Chelsea, as they not only set the tone with their industry off the ball to win possession back and disrupt the opposition’s play to get a foothold in the contest, but they had the intelligence and ability to set us on our way in the other direction too.
As seen in the video below, they were in the heart of the battle and not only provided a shield in front of our backline, but they were able to quickly progress our play further up the pitch to transition into attack and exploit spaces left in the final third when needed, while showing patience and composure too.
While many pointed the finger of blame to other parts of the pitch in recent years during our struggles, and perhaps rightly so as we had deficiencies elsewhere too, our lack of quality in midfield was a constant source of frustration.
Whether it was Luiz playing in a deeper role that didn’t suit him as well as the more advanced one that he has flourished in with Emery, or not having the balance and physical presence to impose ourselves and win that particular battle, we’ve now got an excellent balance in Luiz and Kamara. It’s hoped that they can influence many more games like they did this past weekend as it can only lead to positive things for us.
A midfield masterclass. ✨@BoubaKamara_4 🤝 @DGOficial pic.twitter.com/aa9PzJjunk
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 25, 2023
