Aly Cissokho was never going to be a solution at left back — but at times he was the only option. Serviceable(ish) in defense, able to get forward, and seemingly unable to do anything productive once forward. There is some kind of metaphor there for the whole of Villa.
The 29-year-old made 12 appearances in claret and blue this season — 58 in total since joining in the summer of 2014.
This isn’t the first loan for Mr. Cissokho having spent the first half of the 15-16 on loan in Portugal to his old club Porto. Following Jordan Amavi’s knee injury (stupid youth international matches....) Rémi Garde (remember when he managed Villa?) recalled him.
Olympiacos have an option to buy at the end of the deal -- so it is likely the left back has made his last appearance in the claret and blue.
The move may save Villa some money — but it leaves the team with only one senior left back in Amavi. But as our own Alex Carson put it — the maths doesn’t lie -- so some of the younger squad may be used as cover.
We will always have the memory of Aly giving away pentalties in two matches in a row. Aren’t you glad I reminded you of that?