Unai Emery reveals surprise Aston Villa decision involving Diego Carlos and Kosta Nedeljkovic

Emery was forced into a pressured substitution in the 15th minute of Saturday’s defeat as Matty Cash went off with a hamstring injury. The head coach’s instinct was to bring on the 18-year-old Kosta Nedeljkovic, rather tellingly instead of the experienced Diego Carlos.

Perhaps the more obvious choice was to move Ezri Konsa across from centre-back to full-back, with Carlos then filling the void in the middle. Nedeljkovic was the player called upon, though, in what was a bold call from Emery.

“It’s tactically a work we are doing. Konsa is feeling comfortable playing at centre-back and at the moment we are with two full-backs - Cash and Kosta - and I prefer to keep each one in his position,” Emery told Birmingham World in the post-match press conference.

“Of course, last year we played sometimes very strong and successful with Carlos and Konsa, but this year we are not starting in the same structure tactically. I can’t refuse in the next few weeks and months playing with both as we did last year, but at the moment I prefer to keep Konsa at centre-back,” Emery explained.

Nedeljkovic had a decent game for the most part but, as you’d expect from a teenager, he displayed the odd moment of naïvety. One instance was particularly impactful as the Serbian was caught ball-watching and failed to track Leandro Trossard’s peel-away for Arsenal’s opening goal.

If Cash is sidelined for next weekend’s trip to Leicester City, it’ll be interesting to see if Emery makes the same decision again. With a lack of depth on the right side of defence, Villa could really miss Cash’s presence if he ends up being sidelined for a sustained period.

Transfer activity is expected before the deadline next week and adding depth at right full-back is a priority, but Villa won’t just sign anybody for the sake of it.