If footballers are to be compared to thoroughbred racehorses — athletic, fast and with a muscular physique — Pau Torres is more of an ethereal, languid entity.
Elegant and flowing and at his own pace, Torres is rarely hurried.
“The adaptation of Pau has been quicker than I expected,” Unai Emery said in a press conference last season. “He is helping us a lot in our build-up.”
It is representative of modern football that the central defender’s best qualities are in possession. Fundamentally, they serve as the reason Emery wanted to reunite with him in the summer of 2023, the pair having worked together at Villarreal.
“He’s the coach that I’ve played the most games with and I’m happy with him,” said the Spain international in Villa’s programme last weekend. “He knows how to get the best out of me and I know he’s a professional who works 24 hours for football.”
What Torres can give Villa in build-up play is his outstanding trait. Other clubs, such as Manchester United, had looked at Torres but question marks remained regarding his mobility and lack of physicality. Emery, however, saw a left-footed ball-progressor who could greatly influence Villa’s in-possession style.
“He draws so many players in and gives us more space,” said captain John McGinn earlier this year. “He’s really good on the ball and a top defender. He’s one step ahead in the brain and adapted so well to the league. He’s a top player and we’re lucky to have him.”
McGinn’s views are shared widely across the club, with Torres regarded as an instrumental player to enable Emery’s system. Being left-footed naturally adds variation to Villa’s build-up, with his passing trajectory opening up different passing lanes and angles.
In possession, Villa often configure in an asymmetrical 3-4-2-1 shape, with their right-back tucking in to form a back three and the width provided by the left-back and right-winger.
By pushing a left-back upfield, Torres, as the left centre-back, has more space to either pass or dribble into more advanced areas, as illustrated below from this example against Wolves earlier this season.
“(Lucas) Digne is playing in our structure and he is the full-back (operating) more forward,” explained Emery in a press conference last month. “This means Pau can build up and get higher on the left side. He’s a very good player; connecting with our midfielders, wingers and strikers from there. With Lucas (at left-back), we can exploit his capacity to cross.”
Torres tends to take the highest and widest positions among Villa’s back three when his team have the ball.
For instance, when Wolves aimed to stop Villa from progressing in central areas in September, Villa could play around their defensive shape because of the centre-back’s positioning.
Here, Diego Carlos passes around Wolves’ front players to Torres, who started ahead of the ball.
Interestingly, as shown below, Torres has had a larger chunk of his touches in the attacking half this season, most notably in the inside-left channel (20 per cent). This is both a consequence of Villa being tasked with breaking down low-sitting defensive blocks and Torres effectively moonlighting as a central midfielder, connecting with nearby team-mates.
A high share of the 27-year-old’s possession is in the left channel and beyond the halfway line. Compare this to last season, where he was shuttling within a more constrained area.
Torres pushing upfield means Digne can hold a high position, allowing Villa’s winger/left No 10 — such as Jacob Ramsey, for example — to drift inside. This creates a triangular shape and through those three players and the closest central midfielder, overloads one side of the pitch.
Consequently, Ramsey offers a central passing lane while Digne stays close to the touchline and/or makes a run behind. This is particularly effective against teams who defend in a compact mid-block, such as West Ham.
During Villa’s 2-1 win at the London Stadium in August, note Torres pushing higher than traditional right-back Matty Cash, who has tucked in to form a back three with the ball.
It is not even unusual for Torres to find himself ahead of Villa’s midfielders either, as this example from their 3-2 win over Everton last month shows.
In the second half against Wolves a week later, Ian Maatsen replaced Digne as Villa’s left-back. Torres’ passing dexterity allows Maatsen to create the movements of a winger and, in this case, break beyond Wolves’ back line.
Meanwhile, Villa’s passing network in their 2-2 draw against Ipswich Town demonstrates the subtle change within Emery’s overall structure.
Torres (14) operated as an inverted left-back/central midfielder, in line with Amadou Onana (24) and Youri Tielemans (8). The considerable distance between him and centre-back partner Diego Carlos (3) is a concerted ploy from Emery, with Villa wanting to possess the ball across the width of their back line and move Ipswich from side to side.
Torres’ influence is a product of Emery bringing his strengths to the fore and the player’s inherent tendencies. He ranks in the top four per cent of Europe’s central defenders for carries into the final third (1.6 per 90 minutes) and, impressively, among the top three per cent for total carrying distance, which is the total number of yards a player moves the ball upfield.
His passing incision cuts through compact defensive blocks and, as Emery desires from his deeper players, the Spaniard is adept at punching passes into forward players’ feet, as shown below against Fulham last season.
This is key to several of Villa’s choreographed patterns of play. A common routine, for instance, is for Torres to find Ollie Watkins, who has dropped off his marker. This serves as a trigger for rotations to form around the striker (see another example from September’s 3-1 win against Wolves).
Or, as a variation on the theme, Torres’ vision can be used as Villa surprise the opposing defence with a run behind, with the standout case being Jhon Duran’s match-winning goal against Bayern Munich.
In that European triumph last week, Torres saw Duran’s movement and whipped a left-footed pass to match the Colombia striker’s run. The ball itself was slightly off the ground, ensuring Bayern’s midfield could not intercept and it had enough speed for Duran to take it in his path.
“He (Duran) has scored one goal similar, ” said Emery. “Last year against Hibernian (in the UEFA Conference League qualifying round). Pau passed one pass similar and Duran drove through to score.”
The graphic below illustrates Torres’ most common passes that travel 15 yards or more. His second-most common pass is the ball that comes from him being wider and in the left channel. This, in essence, is the pass Torres provided for Duran.
Breaking early pressure when playing out is a prerequisite for any Emery defender. It is why, in part, Villa’s manager thinks highly of academy graduate Lamare Bogarde, who is seen to make confident and clear decisions on the ball.
Torres, though, sets the golden standard and is comfortable in either dribbling through pressure to generate attacks — exemplified in that opening-day victory at West Ham…
… as well as incisive switches of play.
A lofted diagonal ball out to the right-back is one of Torres’ trademarks. This tends to materialise when the opposing team has set traps down one side of the pitch and forced Villa into the left-back position before pressing.
Last season, Torres completed more switches of play than any other Villa player (26). His ability to twist his hips and pass from left to right is intelligently disguised and a way of Villa evading pressure (this example is taken from Villa’s pre-season game against Columbus Crew in July).
Villa are at their best when Torres can affect the game in possession. He remains reliable defensively and concerns over his physicality — a reason why other clubs did not buy him sooner — have largely eased.
Yet it is what he does with the ball and how Emery deploys him which makes this aesthetically pleasing and graceful player so effective.
