While Aston Villa were able to come through a demanding December in good shape, Unai Emery will be buoyed by the return of an influential duo next month.
It was crucial that we bounced back and got back to winning ways against Burnley to end the year, but the draw at home to Sheffield Utd and defeat at Man Utd highlighted the importance of both Pau Torres and Boubacar Kamara.
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Torres was absent for both of those games with an ankle knock, but he importantly got a half-hour run-out this weekend to reintegrate himself back into the side and get his match fitness back up.
The 26-year-old’s absence was noticeable over the past week, as from a defensive perspective, our execution of our high line and offside trap wasn’t as effective as it had been with him in the backline.
It’s clear he plays an important role in the organisation and discipline of that strategy, and particularly with his partnership alongside Ezri Konsa in the heart of the Villa defence, that was a big miss for us.
Of course, we also lost what he brings to the team in possession with his elite technical ability, composure and passing range. The Spaniard has become fundamental to the way in which we build our play out from the back, and it’s vital in all kinds of scenarios.
Against Sheffield Utd, his ability to pick out a pass to break the lines and find a teammate in space could have been crucial for us in finding an earlier breakthrough, while at Old Trafford, we lacked the calmness and control needed at 2-0 up to see out the victory.
Having Torres back will be significant, and it’s hoped that he can get back up to speed in the coming weeks and be a regular in the Villa XI once again in the second half of the campaign.
As for Kamara, he has now served his three-match suspension after his late red card in the win over Brentford, and the Frenchman will hopefully be well rested as he comes back into the team.
In many similar ways to Torres, we’ve badly missed his presence in our midfield. His tactical awareness and positioning, ability to read the game and snuff out danger, to impose himself in a physical battle and give us that all-important control that Emery demands with his technical quality on the ball too, he is so integral to the way we want to play.
Further, his influence also has a knock-on effect for those around him. Whether that’s Douglas Luiz having the freedom and confidence to play more advanced and know he has that cover behind him, or allowing John McGinn to play in a more attacking position where he has proven to be so effective for us under Emery.
Kamara has also been a massive absence for us, and so having both him and Torres back should give us a major lift as we look to start 2024 positively.
Villa have done so well to come through an incredibly demanding December, during which we’ve played eight games in 27 days.
Luiz even admitted after the Burnley win that the players are tired and the absence of our injured stars has been an issue. Having come through that now though, we’ll hope to get more players back in the New Year, with Youri Tielemans another key man who has been missed during his stint on the sidelines due to injury.
That was a frustrating setback for him and all concerned as he was starting to consistently deliver and cement himself as a key piece in our line-up, and so getting him back as well as Robin Olsen and Lucas Digne will strengthen our ability to sustain our impressive campaign thus far and compete across multiple fronts.