What does the above image tell us about Aston Villa?
The answer: Villa are unbalanced on the right side of defence.
Unai Emery is obsessed with refining Villa to the smallest detail, unrelenting in his drive to polish and upgrade every aspect of the footballing structure. Curiously, however, right-back remains a long-standing crease Emery is yet to iron out — just look at all the space between Ipswich’s Liam Delap (No 19) and that side of Villa’s defence, Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa.
Right-back is a position Villa’s squad is undoubtedly light in. Matty Cash — the only senior specialist option — is injured. In his absence, Emery has continued to moonlight alternatives. Twenty-year-old Lamare Bogarde made his debut against Leicester City at right-back, having played there once in 112 appearances at youth level and on loan. The other option is the recent arrival of 18-year-old Kosta Nedeljkovic, who was promoted to Red Star Belgrade’s first team last season.
In the 2-2 draw against Ipswich Town, Konsa filled in at right-back. The above image is a vignette of what transpired all afternoon, with Ipswich purposeful on transition and punishing the abundance of space.
The image shows Ipswich’s second goal, the equaliser. Konsa had given the ball away attempting to find Jhon Duran’s run and was caught out of position. Ipswich targeted the space he left and Delap drove into the box. Diego Carlos dangled a half-hearted foot while falling off balance, but was feeble in his attempt to delay the forward, and Delap finished expertly.
Konsa is among the Premier League’s most consistent central defenders and he admitted earlier in the week that he hoped not to play the right-back role too often. Equally, a little more than a month ago, Emery insisted he wanted the England international to remain in his best position this season.
“Last year we played sometimes very strongly and successfully with Diego Carlos and Konsa, but this year we are not starting in the same structure tactically,” he said. “Konsa is feeling comfortable playing at centre-back and at the moment we are with two full-backs — Cash and Kosta — and I prefer to keep each one in his position.”
It was an area Villa hoped to address this summer. Talks were held with Feyenoord’s Lutsharel Geertruida but Villa had reached their financial limit for complying with profit and sustainability rules. Geertruida headed to RB Leipzig instead and Villa accepted their squad would be short in some areas.
Konsa is a highly adept one-v-one defender, explaining why he was chosen as the centre-back to shift across. He has outstanding recovery pace and, in theory, there are benefits to using such strengths at full-back. By selecting the 26-year-old there, Villa can form a reliable back-three build-up structure in possession. Along with the two central midfielders, it often tends to mean there are five players behind the ball — a solid base to stop counter-attacks.
Against Wolves last week, Konsa was again playing at right-back. Crucially, he would move alongside Diego Carlos when the ball was on the other side to close the space on defensive transitions.
On Sunday, Emery was keen to point out that Konsa also played full-back in the famous wins against Manchester City and Arsenal last season, suggesting it should not be viewed as an experiment.
But Konsa looks increasingly uncomfortable at full-back, especially on the ball in high areas. Against Ipswich, he was tasked with combining with Leon Bailey, who held the width outside of him. This placed a greater emphasis on his line-breaking passing, which is an occasional weakness and was laid bare in Ipswich’s equaliser.
Both teams created in-possession shapes that were intended to unlock their left-backs. Each built in a back three, with Ipswich’s right-back Axel Tuanzebe tucking inside in the same way Konsa did.
This enabled the opposite full-back to stay higher. Ipswich’s Leif Davis would start on Konsa’s right shoulder, with Bailey having to drop deeper. This pushed Villa into a back five and trouble would threaten when either Bailey did not recognise Davis’ threat soon enough or Konsa started too narrow.
“It was one of their powers to attack on the left,” said Emery. “We were with Bailey and Konsa, then in the second half with Jaden Philogene. They have different powers and different tactical ways. We knew it.”
Going forward for Villa, Lucas Digne’s high positioning forced Chiedozie Ogbene back alongside Tuanzebe, illustrated by Ollie Watkins’ header. Note Ogbene (21) inside the box and mindful of Digne’s presence (12) behind.
But having again overturned a 1-0 deficit to lead, with goals from Watkins and Morgan Rogers, Villa’s defensive frailties were illuminated in the second half.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna demanded greater purpose in his side’s press and forward-thinking, while Villa, oddly, felt content to cede their 65 per cent first-half possession and play on the break.
Davis increasingly became Ipswich’s outlet, with quicker passes being switched towards the left and Bailey bypassed.
This left Konsa needing to close down Davis, but the distance would be too vast and the ball would be played around or over. Jack Clarke, who was often left unmarked, headed over from close range after a Davis cross in the first half but combined more after the break.
Ultimately, attacking the space around Konsa and isolating Diego Carlos worked.
“The way we played, we kind of fell into their hands,” accepted Watkins, talking to the BBC. “It was like a basketball game, end to end, and that’s what they wanted. They caught us on the transition a couple of times.”
Delap’s second, Ipswich’s equaliser, was deserved. They preyed on one of Villa’s few blindspots.
It is now eight clean sheets in the past 44 league matches and though a first draw of the season does not call for drastic changes, right-back is a problem Emery needs to solve.
