Jamie Carragher feels the serious injury Diego Carlos suffered did not help Steven Gerrard avoid the sack at Aston Villa. The absences of Boubacar Kamara and Lucas Digne also hurt.
Carlos only featured in two Premier League games for the Villans after joining the club this June for £26m. The Brazilian ruptured his Achilles and needed surgery early into his time in Birmingham. He had been a vital part of La Liga’s best defence whilst at Sevilla last season.
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Los Nervionenses only conceded 30 goals across their 38 Spanish top-flight fixtures on way to finishing in fourth place. Carlos played in 34 of their games to help Sevilla qualify for the Champions League again. He had also played every minute of their Group G ties last term.
Carragher has noted in his column for The Telegraph that Gerrard aimed to build the Aston Villa defence around Carlos before his injury in August. But the 42-year-old could not make the 29-year-old the lynchpin of his plans as his issue could keep Carlos out for nine months.
Gerrard also went on to lose Kamara to a knee injury that L’Equipe reports is likely to keep the midfielder out until mid-November. Digne is also recovering from an ankle injury that could see the left-back miss the Qatar World Cup. Although he may yet return this month.
Carragher feels ‘cruel’ Carlos blow did not help Gerrard avoid Aston Villa sack
Kamara was another of Gerrard’s summer signings after joining Aston Villa as a free agent upon leaving Marseille in May. The midfielder had emerged as one of the Villans’ best off-season additions prior to his injury. He immediately settled into his vital ball-winning role.
But Carragher feels Carlos’ injury is a greater factor that contributed to Aston Villa sacking Gerrard on Thursday. The Villans fired the coach after 11 months in charge after a 3-0 loss at Fulham. The midweek meeting saw Gerrard start just one of his seven summer signings.
“Only one Gerrard signing – Jan Bednarek – was in Villa’s starting line-up at Fulham,” he wrote. “The loss of the player he wanted to make the foundation of his back four – Diego Carlos – was a particularly cruel blow, as was that of midfielder Boubacar Kamara.
“The recent absence of left-back Lucas Digne did not help. The [£17m] Philippe Coutinho deal – considered a coup when he was signed on loan from Barcelona – did not work.”
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