What did Aston Villa learn in 60 minutes of Diego Carlos?

As Aston Villa finally made their way onto Walsall’s pitch to warm up on Saturday, just 19 minutes before the traffic-induced delayed kick-off, Diego Carlos stopped briefly to tie his shoelaces.

Carlos had waited a long time to be in a Villa starting line-up so a few more seconds were hardly going to hurt. And the delay offered a chance to four Walsall mascots, passing in a square nearby, to converge around the Brazilian, who took it all in good humour.

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It wasn’t just the mascots who were pleased to see Carlos. Villa supporters behind the goal immediately started to sing his name, and kept it up for much of the afternoon.

Perhaps it is cliched to say Carlos’ clean bill of health has the guise of a new signing, yet the enthusiasm of his presence certainly suggested a bubbling excitement.

Carlos was on the pitch for over an hour, possibly significant in the grander picture of his Villa career. Since August, he had only played 25 minutes, having ruptured his Achilles tendon and subsequently missed 23 Premier League games and seven months of last season. Signed for £26million from Sevilla and representing an acquisition of meaningful pedigree to then-manager Steven Gerrard — in a similar way Pau Torres does to Unai Emery – Carlos’ time in England has been one of endurance rather than immediate reward.

A return to fitness in March coincided with Villa’s best run of form and seven straight wins at home. The bedrock of success came through greater defensive solidity and a partnership re-established between Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings. It meant Carlos could not regain his starting place, remaining on the bench for 11 of the 12 games he was available for. During that time, Villa conceded just seven times.

Tellingly, when Villa did eventually line up at the Poundland Stadium — following a bizarre series of events where Walsall were ready for kick-off while their counterparts were still doing set-play walkthroughs at the other end — Carlos was at right centre-back, with 18-year-old Josh Feeney on the left. It may indicate Emery’s intentions to move Carlos across permanently, given Torres and Tyrone Mings are natural left-footers.

The 30-year-old largely played on the left at Sevilla, gaining plaudits for performing the meat-and-potatoes aspects of defending while staying secure in possession. Only occasionally would he open up his passing range when playing long, raking diagonals out to the right winger on the opposite side.

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Illustrated in the extent of Emery’s admiration for Torres, the Spaniard’s build-up methods necessitate refined centre-backs, capable of staying on the ball and making line-breaking passes. Akin to Brighton & Hove Albion’s success under Roberto De Zerbi, Emery asks players in deeper positions to put their studs on the ball, wanting to coax opposition sides to press before exploiting the space left. This, naturally, means confidence, courage and technical proficiency is required.

Left-footed centre-backs are prized because they have the ability to open up different passing lanes and generally provide a variation to build-up play. Torres, as outlined by The Athletic, is a major upgrade to anything else Villa have in this department.

Last season, the 26-year-old ranked in the top four per cent of centre-backs from Europe’s top five leagues for progressive passes (5.81 per 90 minutes) and in the top one per cent for progressive carries (2.24 per 90 minutes). For context, Konsa was in the bottom four per cent and 10 per cent for both, being more inclined to take safer options alongside Mings.

Smarterscout data, which gives players a series of ratings from zero and 99 relating to either how often a player performs a given stylistic action or how effective they are at it, highlights Carlos as more progressive than Konsa, but less so than Mings, who himself ranked in the 49th percentile for progressive passes last season (3.17 per 90), meaning 51 per cent of defenders were better forward passers. Torres, however, is far ahead of them all.

Carlos ranked 33/99 for progressive passes at Sevilla, indicating he was a reliable but usually conservative passer.

But against Walsall, there were small signs of Carlos wanting to take greater responsibility in possession. He was tasked with playing through the lines and on occasion, did so to good effect. Carlos recognised Walsall’s narrow 3-5-2 system meant the spare player tended to be Emiliano Buendia, drifting into the right No 10 position with Aaron Ramsey tucking in from the opposite side.

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Carlos’ first adventurous pass came 13 minutes in, when an attempted crossfield ball to an overlapping Lucas Digne went out of play.

Without possession, Villa squeezed typically high, condensing the space between units and Carlos, as the senior figure in defence, talking to Feeney throughout.

Walsall’s goal came from a corner after successive errors from Villa’s centre-backs. Carlos initially missed the header from the inswinging delivery, failing to get contact to divert the ball away from danger. With little time to react, Feeney’s deflection at the back post fell into the path of Danny Johnson six yards out.

The second half gave Emery more of an insight into Carlos’ tendency to deliver incisive passes under pressure. Having moved across to his favoured left side following the introduction of Konsa, Walsall invited Villa into making the first pass into central midfield, before attempting to press.

Carlos grew in composure, playing through Walsall’s traps and ended up driving forward with the ball himself. Defensively, Carlos held his position, catching runners offside and taking high and aggressive starting positions which should, in theory, aid Emery’s attempts to make Villa a better counter-pressing side.

Those small signs of promise should only grow as Villa’s pre-season preparations ramp up and Carlos attempts to elevate himself up the order within Emery’s pool of centre-backs.

(Top photo: Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)

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