Unai Emery’s Lamare Bogarde call didn’t work out during Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
With Ezri Konsa injured and Matty Cash not fit enough to start, Emery opted to start Aston Villa’s academy star at right-back.
The 20-year-old has featured on several occasions already this season – starting back-to-back games when Villa beat Leicester and Everton.
Bogarde last featured during Villa’s EFL Cup defeat to Crystal Palace last month – coming off the bench – but, this time around, he was handed a start for the Premier League game.
He was tasked with trying to build a partnership with the out-of-form Leon Bailey on the right-hand side, but things didn’t go to plan early on.
Yes, Bogarde grew into the half, but it wasn’t enough as Emery hooked him off for Cash at the break.
Leon Bailey owns up to ‘mistake’ during Aston Villa’s draw against Crystal Palace
At one point during the game, Bogarde roamed forward and he tried playing a forward ball – in between the fullback and centre-back – to Bailey.
But the Jamaican international was well behind the opposition’s backline and the ball ended up going out for a goal kick to the frustration of the fans.
That’s when the camera panned to Bailey and you could see him saying to Bogarde ‘it’s okay, it’s my mistake. My mistake’.
At that point, it was easy for the Villa fans to look towards the youngster, but it was great to see Bailey take ownership and protect his teammate.
Bogarde’s stats for Aston Villa against Palace
The young kid needs time and patience, after all, he is playing out of position when he is usually used to performing at centre-back or defensive midfield.
It’s not his fault Villa are hopeless defensively this season, that was a problem during the second half of last season and it has continued this term.
WhoScored rated Bogarde’s performance at 5.96, but it’s moments like this where he needs to show what he is all about by picking himself and showing that he is learning when he is handed another chance.
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