Aston Villa 2016-17 player preview: Carlos Sánchez

To me, Carlos Sánchez is one of Aston Villa’s most enigmatic players. He is unquestionably an absurd talent. If you want proof look no further than his June 2015 performance against Brazil for Colombia in the Copa América. There he absolutely shut down Neymar in one of the best defensive midfield performances we’ve seen in quite some time.

Or, you can look at Carlos Sánchez: Aston Villa player. He has looked uncommitted at times, error prone at others, and solid in still others. But he has almost never channeled the player that led to his nickname La Roca.

So which Sánchez shows up for Aston Villa this season? The underperforming one we’ve seen so much seems more likely to be our version. Maybe it’s just the English style that doesn’t suit La Roca, but there’s something off when he plays for Villa. He’s probably not first choice right now, but if he started showing some of that Colombia-vintage skill, he’d break in easily.

And just think how happy that’d make us all.