Victor Lindelof’s strange debut exposed Aston Villa’s biggest .
Victor Lindelof made his Aston Villa debut against Everton on the weekend following his deadline day arrival as a free agent, but his first appearance certainly wouldn’t have gone the way he imagined.
The 31-year-old is predominantly a centre-back – in fact, he’s played over 90 per cent of his career matches in that position – but he came on in the 83rd minute of Saturday’s 0-0 draw as an auxiliary central midfielder. Lindelof didn’t have long enough to have a huge impact on the game but he did what was asked of him in an unusual role.
As the Hill Dickinson Stadium press box is very elevated, it was easy to see right away where Lindelof was trotting off to as he entered the field. As journalists, we looked at one another in disbelief when the Swede wandered into the central midfield role.
Lamare Bogarde was playing in the midfield double pivot before being replaced by Lindelof, but nobody expected it to be a straight swap. Instead, it would’ve perhaps made more sense for Lindelof to go at centre-back, Ezri Konsa to shift to right-back, fellow debutant Harvey Elliott to drop in alongside John McGinn, and Matty Cash to push on as a right midfielder.
Strange Lindelof debut speaks a thousand words
If you’d told Lindelof before kick off that he’d be making his Villa debut as a midfielder, he probably wouldn’t have believed you, but it was a good example of his professionalism. The Sweden international, signed as a free agent on deadline day following his Manchester United departure, didn’t put a foot wrong but it was still a strange sight.
It’s the first time Lindelof has played as a midfielder since a 10-minute cameo for United in the Carabao Cup back in 2021/22. Before that, you have to stretch back to his Benfica days as he featured 23 times as a defensive midfielder for the Portuguese club’s B team between 2013 and 2015.
The fact that Lindelof had to play in such an unfamiliar role speaks a thousand words about Villa’s situation. Villa were already on the verge of crisis in midfield before Youri Tielemans went off injured at half time, so it became extra problematic when the Belgian couldn’t carry on.
Midfield currently Villa’s weak point – not the wing
There has been a lot of talk about the lack of pace and creativity in wide areas being Villa’s shortfall, and there’s good reason for that, but the central midfield area is now the biggest weak point. Tielemans’ injury has come at an awful time as Emery will have to name a makeshift midfield for the time being, starting with the Carabao Cup trip to Brentford on Tuesday.
It’s a good job Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana aren’t far away from returning from injury, otherwise there would be some real problems for the long term. Ross Barkley is also expected to enter the fray again at some point soon, though, just like Kamara and Onana, he’ll be lacking in match sharpness.
Lindelof probably won’t have to play in midfield from the beginning at Brentford, but it’s an option Emery might have to consider. It’s rare to have so many injuries in one position at one time, so perhaps it’s bad luck rather than poor planning. But either way, Villa have been exposed in more ways than one.
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