Dan Bardell looks at the opportunity awaiting Taylor Harwood-Bellis against Coventry City as Aston Villa's £30million summer signing prepares to push for his first meaningful minutes and show Unai Emery why he can develop into an important leader at Villa Par
Taylor Harwood-Bellis could hardly have imagined that his first few weeks as an Aston Villa player would be spent watching quite as much football as he has, but Wednesday night's Carabao Cup tie at Coventry City should finally provide him with the opportunity to begin showing why the club were prepared to spend £30million to bring him in.
There has already been plenty of discussion around Harwood-Bellis because he was not included in Villa's Champions League squad and has yet to feature in the Premier League, which inevitably creates questions whenever a player arrives for that sort of money and is not immediately involved. There will be different interpretations of the reasons behind his European omission, but from the player's perspective none of that can really matter now because the only thing he can control is what happens when Emery finally gives him an opportunity.
Coventry looks like the obvious place for that to happen and, rather than viewing the Carabao Cup as some kind of consolation prize, Harwood-Bellis has the chance to use it as the beginning of his Villa career. He has reached an interesting stage at 24 because he has already demonstrated leadership qualities at Southampton and made a name for himself there, but moving to Villa represents another step entirely when you consider the level at which Emery's side are now trying to operate.
There is a significant difference between proving yourself at Southampton and establishing yourself at a Champions League club, and that is the challenge Harwood-Bellis accepted when he made the move. Villa have not bought him simply to provide another body at centre-back because £30million is a substantial investment, particularly for a club which has had to be extremely careful with its spending, and eventually he will have to show that he can become somebody Emery trusts in important Premier League and European games.
Wednesday can be the first part of that process because there should be responsibility placed on him even if Villa make substantial changes. If Emery surrounds him with younger players, new signings and footballers who have not spent much time together, Harwood-Bellis has an opportunity to immediately show some of the leadership which has been such an important part of his reputation. It is one thing being comfortable when you are dropped into an established side; it is another to help organise a team which might contain players at very different stages of their Villa careers.
Who partners him will be fascinating as well because I initially assumed he might simply come in for Victor Lindelof, but Emery's preference for having a natural left-footer at left centre-back makes the decision less straightforward. Tyrone Mings could play alongside him, although Villa will presumably want Mings available for Tottenham, while Lindelof has already shown that he is capable of operating on the left after performing there during an important run last season.
Either would probably be useful for Harwood-Bellis. Mings understands Villa, understands Emery and is one of the most experienced leaders in the dressing room, while Lindelof has played at the highest level for a long time and has already demonstrated his versatility within this team. Playing alongside either of them should allow Harwood-Bellis to concentrate on getting accustomed to Villa's defensive structure while beginning to understand exactly what Emery requires from his centre-backs in possession.
There is also an opportunity which stretches beyond Coventry because Villa's defensive situation is hardly settled. We have already seen injuries create problems and the schedule will only become more demanding as the season develops, so Harwood-Bellis will get chances if he makes himself ready for them. The quickest way of changing the conversation around his lack of football is to make his first appearance impossible to ignore.
I remember Curtis Davies describing his own Villa debut in the League Cup as a "pub player" performance after being thrown into the team having barely played following his arrival. It was brutally honest a, but it also illustrates how difficult these first opportunities can sometimes be. A new club, unfamiliar team-mates and the expectation that comes with a sizeable transfer fee can make a supposedly straightforward cup appearance anything but straightforward.
Harwood-Bellis has to embrace all of that because he cannot change the fact that he wasn't registered for Europe and he cannot do anything about the Premier League games Emery has already chosen to leave him out of. What he can do is make Wednesday night the point from which his Villa career properly begins.
If he wants to put himself in contention to start against Tottenham and begin establishing himself as more than simply defensive cover, Coventry is his first chance to make that argument on the pitch.
