Aston Villa would have wanted to go into their tough Champions League tie versus Bayern Munich full to the brim with confidence, after brushing aside Ipswich Town at Portman Road with ease.
Instead, Kieran McKenna’s men proved to be a far more difficult task for Unai Emery’s side than they might have anticipated, with Liam Delap causing a leaky Villa backline all sorts of problems throughout in Suffolk, as the Tractor Boys clinched a share of the points at 2-2.
The ex-Arsenal boss would’ve been left frustrated with the performance levels of some of his players in that entertaining draw, particularly from his defenders who couldn’t handle a rampaging Delap throughout, among other blistering Ipswich attackers.
The main Villa underperformers against Ipswich
It was an afternoon to forget for many of Villa’s senior defenders in Suffolk, as the likes of Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres struggled to get to the grips with the fast pace of the clash.
Between the defensive pair, only one tackle was registered the entire contest, which saw Delap and Co grow in confidence that they could exploit the timid away side at the back with energetic bursts forward.
Sloppy play out from the back also allowed Jack Clarke to set up the ex-Manchester City wonderkid with his first strike of the contest, before converting this unbelievable solo strike to gift his side a share of the spoils at Portman Road.
Emery would have just been relieved that his attackers didn’t experience an off-day however, away from any shoddy defending, as Ollie Watkins powered home his fourth goal of the Premier League season to make it 2-1, before Ipswich mounted a late response.
The ex-Exeter City man would also turn provider for Morgan Rogers to fire home his first top-flight strike of the campaign, with the Villa sharpshooter an absolute shoo-in for a starting spot tomorrow against the Bavarian giants.
Diego Carlos is less likely to feature though from the start, with his calamitous display arguably the worst of the lot from a nervy Villa back four at Ipswich.
Carlos’ performance vs Ipswich
Carlos has infrequently featured for his side this season owing to some injury concerns, but his spot in the side is shaky now for the mammoth task of Bayern based solely on his sub-par showing against McKenna’s men.
Constantly being shown up by the likes of Omari Hutchinson running through at goal, away from Delap causing all sorts of havoc, Emery just won’t trust that his lacklustre number three will calmly do a job against tricky Bayern forwards such as Michael Olise and Jamal Musiala.
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Carlos’ performance in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Carlos |
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
Goals scored |
0 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
Touches |
71 |
|
Accurate passes |
60/67 (90%) |
|
Possession lost |
7x |
|
Clearances |
1 |
|
Tackles |
1 |
|
Dribbled past |
1x |
|
Total duels won |
2/5 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
Only winning two of his five duels in the entertaining 2-2 draw as well, it could well be the right time for Emery to tinker with his defence and drop Carlos, knowing full well the firepower the Bundesliga titans have at their disposal, having watched Vincent Kompany’s men put a staggering nine goals past Dinamo Zagreb in their first Champions League encounter.
One alteration could see Konsa moved away from the right-back position back into the heart of defence, where the former England international could excel after experiencing his own tough day at the office against Ipswich.
That’s where Konsa – who has been dubbed a “Rolls-Royce” by former boss Dean Smith – lined up against Young Boys during Villa’s first taste of the elite European competition, with a clean sheet coming his way at the full-time whistle.
After receiving a low 5/10 post-match rating by Birmingham Live journalist John Townley in the aftermath of the Ipswich draw, it looks likely that Carlos will drop out of the team regardless of who Emery picks elsewhere, as the Premier League side continue their preparations ahead of huge showdown tomorrow night.
