Ritchie De Laet Lost for the Aston Villa Season
By Josh Tonti
Summer signing Ritchie De Laet will miss the rest of the Championship season. One month after signing for Aston Villa, the fullback shredded multiple knee ligaments in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Brentford FC.
Villa suffered another decisive blow in their promotion campaign on Wednesday. Versatile Belgian defender Ritchie De Laet was substituted off in the 67th minute with a knee injury. According to De Laet’s personal Twitter account, he suffered multiple ligament tears:
The official Aston Villa account later confirmed the news by announcing De Laet would miss the entirerty of the remaining season.
This is a massivle blow for the club; in the same ilk of losing Jordan Amavi last season to a similar injury. From left fullback to right fullback, time is a flat circle.
Even before De Laet’s unfortunate injury, right back remained one of the more weaker positions in the squad alongside central midfield. The loss of Ritchie only exacerbates the need for Leandro Bacuna to step-up in his absence.
Bacuna offers a wide presence in the attack by positioning himself well along the right flank. His crossing ability, while inconsistent, is at times extremely deadly with the pace and precision he applies to the ball.
His defensive work is adequate–certainly not a liability defending in one-on-one situations. The problem, however, is his defensive positioning. Bacuna struggles to backtrack on the right flank where he can get caught out in a full sprint back to his position. His careless passing while in possession only adds to this problem, as he loses the ball a fair too much.
De Laet’s injury probably reintroduces Alan Hutton into the squad which is obviously no bueno. Hutton should serve as the number two right back until January.
Ipswich Town host Aston Villa at 10am Eastern Standard Time. Roberto Di Matteo has opted for a 3-5-2 system with Leandro Bacuna and Jordan Amavi serving as wing backs.
ASTON VILLA XI (3-5-2): Gollini; Chester, Elphick, Baker; Bacuna, Jedinak, Westwood, Amavi; Grealish; Kodjia, Ayew