The most versatile Aston Villa defender was moved around again against Eintracht Frankfurt but he needs a settled position
Aston Villa’s third friendly of pre-season ended in a 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Villa twice took the lead in the evening heat of Louisville but were pegged back by equalisers of their own making in the first outing of their United States mini-tour.
Donyell Malen played on the right and put the goals on a plate for Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers but Villa were punished for squandering possession with unforced errors in the defensive third.
Most of Villa’s senior players were back in the squad for the first time this summer but neither captain John McGinn nor goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez made an appearance against the Bundesliga side.
Matty Cash and Lucas Digne started the game in the full-back positions outside Lamare Bogarde and Tyrone Mings as Villa returned to a more familiar back four after a more flexible defensive set-up at Hansa Rostock. Ezri Konsa, Ian Maatsen and Pau Torres all featured in the second half against Eintracht.
Lamare Bogarde was the player who switched positions to allow all the others to play their preferred roles. He started the game as the right centre-back alongside Mings before moving to right-back to accommodate Konsa and Torres after the break.
Bogarde has also played on the right side of a back three against Hansa Rostock and in midfield against Walsall. The 21-year-old has been deployed in four positions in three partial matches and it’s not even August yet.
The push and pull of versatility
Being trusted in multiple positions as a young player can be a blessing and a curse.
Managers like to have players who can play in different spots and fulfil more than one role. It solves problems and answers questions but there often comes a time when the individual prospects of those players are improved by committing to a specialism.
Unai Emery in particular understands the value of players who can do different jobs. In many ways it’s the nature of the modern game at Premier League level but the irony of being too versatile – of not having a position to call their own – is that it puts players in a box.
Bogarde is on the doorstep of a career-defining season. His willingness and ability to plug different gaps throughout the defensive half of the team must endear him to his manager and earn him the playing time he needs and deserves in 2025/26, but he turns 22 in January and his days as a stopgap must be brief if he’s to reach his full potential at the club.
A multitude of skills is a great attribute but adapting and applying them to one or two more specific jobs is the real springboard Bogarde’s career needs, maybe not immediately but certainly soon.
Bogarde is a high-quality, high-potential prospect and we’re about to find out what he can really do. Being a Swiss Army knife with blunted blades isn’t a strategy he should be adopting as his career reaches a crucial new fork in the road.
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