Could a change in Boubacar Kamara's role help solve Aston Villa's defensive problems?

Aston Villa have made some encouraging progress with their new signings this season, and I think there is plenty to be positive about when you look at the quality of the players who have come into the football club. However, one area that hasn't quite come together yet is the defensive side of the team, and Saturday's 2-2 draw with Brentford provided further evidence that Unai Emery still has some work to do in finding the right balance.

Much of the conversation has understandably centred around the defensive mistakes Villa have been making, but there is another element to those problems that deserves some attention, and that's the partnership between Boubacar Kamara and João Gomes in midfield.

I actually thought both players had encouraging individual performances against Brentford. Gomes had a good game, while Kamara showed signs of getting back towards the levels we know he is capable of producing, although I still don't think he is quite where he needs to be physically. The issue is that, as a partnership, they haven't yet developed the understanding that Villa need from the two players operating in front of the defence.

Neil Dunworth made an interesting observation when we discussed the game on The 1874 Podcast, pointing out how much space Villa were leaving around the edge of their own penalty area, particularly for Brentford's second goal. There were occasions when both midfielders had dropped towards the defensive line, leaving nobody occupying the area immediately in front of them, and that's something opposition teams are going to exploit if Villa continue to allow it.

There is also the question of how the two players are positioning themselves when Villa have possession. Neil had looked at their heat maps from the Brentford game and noticed that both were spending considerable periods operating towards the right-hand side of the pitch, which raises questions about whether their positioning is by design or simply a consequence of a partnership that is still developing.

Gomes is a different type of footballer to Youri Tielemans, who previously operated alongside Kamara. He is more aggressive in his approach to winning the ball and wants to get involved in challenges, which brings obvious benefits, but it also means Villa have to establish a slightly different understanding between their midfield players.

That got me thinking about whether the solution might involve changing the way Kamara is used, particularly when Villa are building attacks.

Kamara has played at centre-back previously, and while I'm not necessarily advocating moving him there permanently, I do think there is an argument for considering it when Leon Goretzka is fit and available, with Goretzka and Gomes potentially forming the midfield partnership in front of him.

Whether Emery would ever entertain that idea is another matter entirely, and I'm generally quite sceptical when people suggest moving established players into different positions as an answer to problems within a team. However, there is a less dramatic adjustment that I think could make a lot of sense.

Could Villa return to building up with three players at the back, allowing Kamara to drop into the defensive line alongside the two centre-backs when they have possession?

It's something we have seen Emery use successfully during his time at Villa, particularly when Kamara was fully fit and playing some of his best football for the club. It doesn't mean changing the entire formation or asking Villa to defend with three centre-backs, because the team could still return to its normal defensive shape when possession is lost.

What it would do is provide another player in the first phase of build-up, offer greater protection against counter-attacks and potentially allow the full-backs to advance into more threatening positions without leaving the defence quite so exposed.

There were moments against Brentford when the game became far too open for my liking, with both teams finding opportunities to attack into space and Villa looking particularly vulnerable when possession changed hands. Given the amount of change within the squad and the absence of an established central defensive partnership, I wonder whether a little more security in the build-up would help everyone.

It could also reduce some of the demands currently being placed on Kamara, who has had his injury problems and doesn't yet appear to be covering the ground quite as comfortably as he did at his best. Rather than asking him to constantly operate across large areas of midfield, there might be an opportunity to use his intelligence and ability on the ball in a slightly deeper position, while still allowing him to perform an important role in Villa's possession game.

I don't think we should underestimate how much has changed for Emery over the summer. Villa have lost players who were fundamental to the way the team operated, and while many of their replacements have made encouraging starts, developing the relationships between them is going to take time.

That's particularly important in midfield, where the understanding between the two players in front of the defence has such a significant influence on how secure the rest of the team looks. It isn't simply a case of asking Kamara or Gomes to play better individually, because both have shown their quality, but finding a way of using their different strengths together.

Emery has already spoken about Kamara's ability to operate in central defence, and with Tyler Harwood-Bellis yet to establish himself in the manager's plans, there are certainly reasons to consider the different options available within the squad.

Ultimately, I don't think Villa need to make sweeping changes to everything they're doing, because there has been enough encouragement in their performances to suggest that plenty of things are heading in the right direction. They do, however, need to find a way of becoming more difficult to play against, particularly in transition and around the edge of their own penalty area.

Kamara has been such an important player throughout Emery's time at Aston Villa, and I still think getting him back towards his best is going to be a major factor in how successful this team can be.

Perhaps the answer isn't simply waiting for him and Gomes to develop a better understanding in their current positions, but looking at whether a slight adjustment to Kamara's role could give Villa the defensive security they've been missing while helping the midfield function more effectively.

It might not be something Emery considers necessary, and he certainly knows considerably more about the tactical requirements of his team than I do, but having watched Villa against Brentford, I think it's an option worth exploring.